Perfecto Presents... Sandra Collins

Sandra Collins | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 3, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Thrive
• ASIN: B0000CABL8
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,755 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #44 in Music > Dance & DJ > Trance

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Junkie XL - Reshurc

2. U&K - Atmosphere

3. Agent 001: Bubble Bath (Martin Accorsi Remix)

4. Rhythm Unlimited: Reflections (Flash Brothers Remix)

5. Moby: In This World (Slacker's Rain Before Carnival Remix)

6. Layo & Bushwacka!: It's Up To You (Lee Cabrera Unreleased Dub)

7. Avedon: Flux

8. G-Pal Presents Ghos: No Other Man (The Greeks Remix)

9. Kosheen: All In My Head (Planet Funk Remix)

10. Voyager: Cosmic Fugue

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Intro

2. Saiko-Pod: Phutures (Atmos Remix)

3. Will Saul: Cliff (Infusion Remix)

4. Camouflage: Me and You (Humate Mix)

5. Sydney: Losing My Religion (Humate Remix)

6. QuestVs. The Dirty Fours - Bass Trap

7. Rolasoul: Desire

8. Avedon and Stig: Spite

9. Transformer 2: Just Can9t Get Enough (Infusion Remix)

10. Voyager: Spectacle

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Paul Oakenfold

³Sandra Collins is simply one of the best DJ¹s on the planet, period. This wicked set is a musical testament to that fact.²

Product Description

Sandra Collins is, without question, one of the most recognizable, well loved, and respected DJ¹s on the planet. With her incessant nationwide touring, massive press coverage, top selling mix CDs, and rock star persona, Sandra has developed into not only the top female DJ in America, but the top DJ, period. In fact, the DanceStar Awards (the dance music ³Grammy¹s²) made it official, awarding the 2003 ³Best DJ² award to Sandra over the likes of Louie Devito, Deep Dish and Bad Boy Bill among others. This award is the most recent accomplishment in a long list of stellar career achievements which include her award as URB Magazine¹s 1999 "Best Female Artist" (in honor she shared with Lauryn Hill), her six hour set following Moby in front of 80K screaming fans at the ¹99 Woodstock Festival, best selling mix CD¹s for Tranceport and Cream, a massively popular residency at legendary NYC club Twilo alongside Sasha & Digweed and Paul Van Dyk, and breakout coverage in mainstream press such as Spin and Gear. Recently signed to the Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto roster, Sandra Collins presents her most accomplished work to date, a brilliant 2XCD mix which builds upon her signature combination of melodic vocal anthems and darker prog material.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars should have known..., March 28, 2004

By 

Timothy Dannenhoffer (NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perfecto Presents... Sandra Collins (Audio CD)

I have a few Sandra Collins CD's and I am not overly impressed with any of them.

I buy a lot of CD's because I am an aspiring DJ myself and I like to get a "heads up" on some of the better records that are on these CD's - so that I will know ahead of time what I want to get on vinyl myself, before they are released - most DJ's that put out these CD's generally get these records way in advance of when they will become available to you and I.

I recognized (and like) a few of the producers that did tracks or remixes on this CD - and so I figured I'd take a chance, even though I did not expect much from the CD itself as a whole.

The problem with Sandra Collins in my opinion is that she plays too much trance - too many tunes that bang you over the head - and then slow down and get all pretty and silly in a cheesy kind of way - and then speed up and make you feel like banging your head again.

In my opinion dance music should have a funk or a "trippiness" to it - to make you want to dance! Sounds simple enough, right?

And the tracks that Sandra selects do not make me feel like dancing at all.

Don't get me wrong - perhaps she is a good DJ in a Paul Oakenfold/Tiesto/Christopher Lawrence/Ferry Corsten kind of way - but these are not the kind of DJ's that I like.

I like DJ's like Deep Dish, John Digweed, Nick Warren and Sander Kleinenberg - DJ's that bring the funk and the "trippiness", yet keep the "cheese" a million miles away.

For those of you familiar with all of the DJ's that I mentioned, then you know exactly what I mean.

If you like trance - Paul Oakenfold, Tiesto, Christopher Lawrence, Ferry Corsten - then go buy this CD.

But if you prefer progressive house - the "Global Underground" or "Renaissance" sound - then I would recommend passing on this CD.

Hope this helped!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Progressive Trance and Melody do not equal cheese!, May 8, 2004

By 

Jia (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfecto Presents... Sandra Collins (Audio CD)

I have been listening to progressive trance, and progressive house for several years. I know all the big names, and have listened to all of the big CDs, be it Global Underground, Renaissance, DJ Tiesto, Danny Tenaglia, Northern Exposure, whatever ... I've heard it. I would like to think that I have fairly good grasp of what I'm talking about. I become upset when I read reviews of fantastic CDs such as this, and find people labeling it as trance, and therefore cheesy.

Number one, since the late 90's the lines between trance and house (or progressive trance and progressive house if you prefer) have become so blurred, that comparing them and classifying them as one or the other is an exercise in futility.

Number two, melody does not automatically equate to cheese. We are listening to music aren't we? I can't think of any music that I like that doesn't at least have some semblence of melody, be it dance, electronic, rock, rap, classical, or whatever. Of course not everybody will agree, but I think the worst music in the electronic dance scene is the so-called progressive house scene where dark, trippy, tribal, and relentless beats are the norm, with little to distinguish song from song. There are tons of these albums being released yearly, each one sounding the same. There are of course exceptions (Sander Kleinenberg being the most notable), but this stuff is just killing the scene. Maybe it's good for clubs, and I'm sure it sounds great when your intoxicated with whatever your substance of choice might be, but this is not the kind of stuff one can to listen to on CD.

Here, Sandra Collins has created an exceptional mix, that combines outstanding track selection with simply impeccable mixing. Yes there are vocal tracks, and they are gorgeous and melodic, but they are also tasteful and fit perfectly with the mix's whole motif. There are also thumping beats, and trippy basslines as well, but they are balanced out with the right amount of melody. There are no dramatic cheesy build-ups, and there are no droning basslines/tribal drum beats that put you to sleep.

Bottom line, the best mixes in the progressive scene are those find the correct balance between melody and groove. Sandra Collins does that here.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome progressive trance sets, October 2, 2004

By 

Timothy Humphrey (Rock Hill, SC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Perfecto Presents... Sandra Collins (Audio CD)

These have got to be the best progressive trance sets I have, period. Not that I have a whole lot mind you, haha. Regardless, I've heard my share of trance and progressive trance and I definitely prefer progressive trance over the standard trance fare. Why you say? Because the progressive style incorporates more emotion, more feeling. Progressive trance and progressive house sound so similar it's hard to distinguish exactly what is progressive trance versus progressive house. Maybe the blending of house with trance turns off the pure trance heads. Not me, I love fusion of styles, and Sandra's two sets span enough styles and tempos to make this a thoroughly enjoyable listen from the first song on the first disc to the last song of the second.

The first disc starts off slow and with lots of feeling, like the start of a journey kind of. By the third song the tempo picks up noticeably along with the beat, but not so much you feel like frantically dancing your butt off. In fact, both sets are somewhat mellow in a sense. Maybe not mellow, it just seems like their's a purpose to the music, it's not all about increasing the excitement song after song to reach some climax and then slowly coming back down; it's a smooth danceable ride all the way through. There are pockets of excitement and the following slowdown, but the entire sets aren't like that, unlike a lot of trance sets.

I won't go into each song individually and describe each of them, because I don't really feel like it, but trust me the songs are good, nice track selection. Sandra does have a penchant on these sets for including a soulful section all of a sudden and then cranking up the beat right after. I actually like it because, ya' know, it adds variety :) keeps the sets from becoming boring and predictable. There's enough danceable, soulful, spacey, trancey, housey, and other -ey elements to keep me happy.

The two sets that these two CDs comprise are some of the few, spanning any genre, that I can honestly listen to from beginning to end and like the entire thing. Well, okay, the last track on the first set is kind of slow for my tastes, but it's the closer so I can forgive that. The last song on the second disc, "The Great Escape (Attention Deficit's Freewill Remix)", is awesome, it's an excellent close to the entire CD and always moves me, I LOVE that song!