Customer Reviews

Kaleidoscope

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(40)

 

 

First off let me start off by saying that this is NOT a personal attack on Tiesto, I doubt that he will even read this but just to offer my perspective and opinion on this album. I have given prior 5 star reviews on Tiesto so I am not hating on him or the album.
This album is strictly intended for the mainstream, notice all of the collaborations noticeably with Nelly Furtado and with various up and coming artists. The Goal is to make Dance/Electronica music more known in the US, where while making strides, is still in its infancy and who better than to have a household name like Tiesto make an attempt at reaching this feat and make the general public more aware of this genre. Tiesto has reached an amazing amount of success for one reason, his music! No doubt the man is a great businessman as well but he has built legions of fans throughout the world by his great DJ sets and tracks like Silence, and albums like In My Memory, Just Be, etc. This album however is completely different and is NOT how Tiesto became who he is today. This is a completely new direction and perhaps a huge gamble as he aims to please and attract a new legion of listeners while perhaps turning the shoulder to his fanbase (I certainly feel this way). I can understand wanting to be different and not sounding the same but you can stay faithful to your genre without falling into that pitfall.

I feel as though the album sounds incomplete, extremely cheesy a bit rushed and the collaborations are there to attract attention but in and of themselves have no substance or identity. The production level on this record has gone lower than previous efforts and that is the biggest disappointment of all. The tracks sound extremely simple and predictable with the exception of fresh fruit and the title track Kaleidoscope. If you listen to his Club Life series then you know that there is way and I mean WAY better music being produced nowadays by up and coming artists. I mean when I think of the name Tiesto, I expect top quality and nothing less then the best. However this is not the case with this album by no means. There will no doubt be people that disagree with me and perhaps love this album for what it is and thats fine but for those that have been fans since the magik days know that he is walking away from who we became to know and love and perhaps for good. That is fine with me, if you wanna be a sell out that's ok, if you want to be commercial that is fine too, but please just don't suck in the process of doing it! I say this because this albums production level is very low. Go listen to Above and Beyond, DJ Shah, Airbase or Remixes by "The Blizzard" or Richard Durand and you will know exactly what im talking about!

By the way what is up with the cover photo!?! Could you possible scream "EGO" any louder!?! Seriously, massive photo shop work done, its unreal. Also they make him look 21, talk about propaganda! What is up with that pose? By the way have you heard the actual lyrics to these songs? One only has to sing along to realize that half the time the music makes no sense. How about the song titles, wtf!?!
Louder than Boom? Bend it like you dont care? You are my diamond? Who came up with these title names? Get out of here with that Shhh!
Regardless of my dislike with this album, I still have tons of respect for Tiesto for his previous work and because the man is a phenomenal DJ and I support him whenever in town. But boy this album is a massive letdown. Perhaps its a personal demand from the current label he is working with to shape this new sound or whatever but certain artists cant handle commercial success, I.E. Metallica, while the genre is different the concept remains the same as they get bigger and labels demand different styles there music isnt as great. I know he mentioned that LA had influenced his work but let me tell you right now this is NOT L.A.! The clubs are not bumping this type of music.
Im really hoping this is just an experiment and that this is just a fluke. Im not expecting Tiesto to go back to his roots but just to create something better than this. I know he definitely has it in him to do a lot better. Cheers!

well,this is a sad day for any Tiesto fans.we have here an album who doesn't make sense.At first Tiesto has said in an interwiew he was influenced by the music in LA,I have seen the best music and musicians comming out of LA,I have seen some of the best Trance parties comming out of there as well.This new CD is just pure garbage.The songs are poor,the music has no sustance,it will please a goup of kids who don't know better but for anyone else just don't waist your money and look for another CD set instead.
It is also very disapointing we have to pay $235.00 to see Tiesto in a Miami night club(Liv),total insanity at this point.I am not sure where he thinks he is going but at this point it is just all wrong.
If you not convinced yet just listen to Tiesto past albums then listen to Kaleidoscope,it looks someone else put it together for him...

Thank God I got to hear this album all the way through before I bought it, otherwise I would've thrown it out the car window and regretted ever purchasing it. Let's just make this short. Tiesto is a master. No matter what he puts out, he will always be one of, if not, the best trance DJ's ever. If you ever doubt his talents, please listen to "Parade of the Athletes" all the way through. He's a musical giant, an incredibly talented DJ, a great entertainer. Unfortunately, judging from this album it sounds like he is focusing more on entertaining, and less on putting out quality trance music that his fans demand from him.
I am all for artists branching out and expanding their musical horizons. For some, this album will be great. But for those of us who have every Tiesto album and have followed him for years, this album is cheesy trash. The only reconcilable piece of this album are the instrumental tracks, in which Tiesto gives us junkies just a little fix of his signature style. Apart from a couple other songs (Kaleidoscope is cool, and "I Will be Here" is decent, too). The rest is club-trash, suitable only for those who enjoy clubbing and acting like douchebags. Vocals are cheesy and painful, the music is nothing to brag about, and I had a hard time getting through 80 percent of this album. Seriously, at one point I said out loud "What the f--k is this??" I thought I had accidentally bumped the radio dial or something. After checking my iPod, I felt my stomach sink.
If you are looking for signature Tiesto, this is far from it. His new sound... let's just say it's not for me or for any other true Tiesto fan I've spoken to about it. I'm now debating whether or not it's worth the money to see him live in Vancouver. If he's playing the commercial junk that's on this CD, I think i'll pass.
Hopefully, In Search of Sunrise 8 will be more of his true sound. I'll always love Tiesto, but I may just have to stick with his past catalog and turn my ear more towards the "other" DJ's. PS Armin's newest Universal Religion is pretty good, too!

I am a huge tiesto fan, and i have been so sorely disappointed with this album.
He sold out to create this bland, commercial - dance - pop sounding album.
Why else would it be on discount when it was released not too long ago?
it doesnt have the essence of trance music.. just sounds like it came straight out from a bad disco.

it's time tiesto tried to step up the game .. this is even more of a disappointment than ISOS 7 Asia.

save your money, buy his older compilations like the earlier ISOS, Magik series, and albums like Elements of Life or Just Be.

and.. what happened to the really nice album covers from before? no i don't want to see his face!! it's just too "i wanna be a (90's) pop star"

10.15.09

I have amost all of Tiesto's CD and truly love his style and sound. I was so please when I got the Elements CD that I bought the DVD version and the extended versions as well. Sadly, Keledoscope is now my least favorite CD of the 15 Tiesto CD I own. It's so "voice laiden" that the true Tiesto style is lost. I will by the next CD that is released but please no more of this.

As a longtime Tiesto fan, I could see this one coming. Mr. Verwest is a commercial animal. He has plugs for things like Armani Exchange in his shows. It was only a matter of time before he tried to cater to his fans' baser instincts.

So he tried to make a pop album, with elements of trance. Trouble is, it's not even good pop, and it's even worse trance. Granted, Kaleidoscope is a fantastic opening track, and Louder Than Boom, love it or hate it, is really groundbreaking music. But the rest is like what you would hear off an Ultra compliation, but worse. I almost feel bad for his collaborators.

This gets two stars only because he manages to work this stuff into a live show and make it sound halfway decent. But I suppose anything sounds halfway decent if you play it loud enough.

I listened to it once, and it is going to sit and collect dust on my shelf for the foreseeable future.

I heard one review compare this on par with Oakenfold-like change and I almost agree. I can definitely tell that Tiesto is trying to do something different, and I have heard some of this mixed ok in Tiesto's Club Life podcast. I am just not impressed with this work. There are only a few tracks here that have some semblance of Tiesto and trance, but that is really exaggerating the impression. Maybe I will grow into some of the songs, but most of the stuff is just weak, bad vocals and unimpressive on first couple spins. To be real honest, I think the work is just boring and sometimes actually annoying. If you want Tiesto, check out stuff from Elements of Life and earlier.

Talk about disappointment. Wow. The first 5 tracks are nothing but mainstream, cookie cutter dance music. tracks 6 and 7 are much better, but then it goes back downhill again. I wish I could send this back to Amazon because it's a piece of crap. Do yourself a favor, order Above & Beyond's Anjunabeats Vol 7 instead. Seriously.

Horrible dance album in all respects. Many songs start with a 4 bar generic intro that leads directly into an equally generic verse/chorus layout that feels very cookie cutter and totally uninspiring. I love dance albums that evolve, develope or at least have some thought in the development of the song.... here it's very much lacking.

There are some nice sounds and big dance beats, but DJ Tiesto, good sounds alone might get you babes from around the world, but not the respect of people that love dance music and expect more from someone with your reputation and ticket price.

Way too many songs with lyrics that are generally a tad too hot, low end mix is lacking (probably will sound great in clubs with their mega subwoofer systems) but again, the biggest issue of all: there is not a single song on this album that I want to bust out on the dance floor.

If I got this at a yard sale for .50 cents, I'd be okay with it. But a digital download of this album for 9.00 is too much and there is no cusstomer support department to visit and try to get my money back. I'm not a happy dancer..... Very disappointed.

2 star vote in hopes you do better next time at bat.

I own a number of Tiesto albums but this one the worst Tiesto release ever.
You can definetly skip on the purchase of this one.
Tiesto can you go back to your original style that was played years ago?Trance is not the same anymore.
Stop with that singing nonsense on each and every track.
Enough.