Customer Reviews

Sirens of the Sea

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Oceanlab is the side project of Above & Beyond and singer Justine Suissa. Having unleashed some of clubland's most epic trance songs over the years (Sky falls down, clear blue water, satellite) a long overdue album finally materializes from this musical collaboration.

First, to fans who expect an album of thumping dancefloor vocal trance tunes you may be disappointed. The album is a mix of club ready cuts, chill out tracks and even some down tempo ambient type stuff. If you picked up Above and Beyond's own "tri-state" album last year expect something along the same line except with ethereal female vocals.

This album in my opinion is quite amazing! For those needing a dance floor fix "if i could fly" "come home" "lonely girl" and "on a good day" serve up Above and beyond's trademark dance beats, moody syths and nice electronic flourishes. For me "if I could fly" is worth the album purchase alone.

The chill-out tracks are awesome as well. The album opener "just listen" starts the album with a soft but insistent twinkling and sparse piano that sets the album tone of quiet beauty. The album mix of the club smash "miracle" is an acoustic/chill-out workout that takes the song in a more intimate and though provoking direction. While the message of climate change is present in both the album mix and last year's club version its easy to lose the message in the club beats. The album mix puts the message front and center. And only Above and Beyond cold make a globally conscious track about climate change avoid being cheesy and pretentious. The other down tempo tracks "I am what I am" "ashes" and "secret" also play to the groups songwriting strengths - lyrically not the deepest but beautiful and melodic.

My only true complaint of this album is that the act elected not to include their 4 earlier singles on the album. I can certainly understand Oceanlab wanting to present an album of fresh newcohesive songs however it would have been nice to get a bonus disc that collects those older songs-especially for fans late to the game who are just now discovering this act.

I'm hopeful we'll see a "Sirens of the Sea remixed" much like "Tri-State" was last year. In any case for fans who like beautiful vocals and pretty melodies wrapped in electronic sound scapes purchasing this album is a definite buy.

This album is the perfect example of how a great melodic trance CD should be!

The vocals are absolutely stunning.

A must have for any trance fan.

You can check the domestic release for the music reviews of this amazing CD. Here is a listing of this Singapore Only 2 disc import edition with the Bonus Disc of previous club hits...;8^) Enjoy!

Tracklisting:

"Justine Suissa teams up with Above & Beyond to form Oceanlab"

Includes an exclusive bonus disc containing OceanLab's Greatest Hits.


No. of Disc: 2 CD
Official Release by: 2008 EQ Music
Slim Double CD Casing

Disc 1 : Main Disc

01. Just Listen
02. Sirens of The Sea
03. If I Could Fly
04. Breaking Ties
05. Miracle
06. Come Home
07. On A Good Day
08. Ashes
09. I Am What I Am
10. Lonely Girl
11. Secret
12. On The Beach
13. Breaking Ties (Movie Mix)


Disc 2: Exclusive Bonus Disc (Available For Singapore Only)
OceanLab's Greatest Hits & Remixes

01. Beautiful Together (Radio Edit)
02. Satellite (Radio Edit)
03. Clear Blue Water (Ferry Corsten Remix Edit)
04. Sky Falls Down (Above & Beyond Club Mix)
05. Sirens of The Sea (Kyau & Albert Remix)
06. Beautiful Together (Nitrous Oxide Remix)
07. Satellite (Above & Beyond Club Mix)
08. Clear Blue Water (Above & Beyond Progressive Mix)
09. Sky Falls Down (Armin van Buuren Remix)
10. Sirens of The Sea (Above & Beyond Club Mix)
11. Sirens of The Sea (Cosmic Gate Remix)

Fantastic dance album that is varied and surprisingly unrepetitive, with full-out trance anthems as well as down-tempo chillout tracks...

Justine Suissa's voice isn't the most powerful, but her plaintive vocals suit the beats well...

The bonus disc (available only in the S'pore edition) include remixes of past hits like 'Beautiful Together' and 'Sky Falls Down'...

I know I'm discovering this CD several years after it came out, but I'm *so* glad I did.

To be honest, I don't know much about trance. What I do know is that Chicane's "Behind the Sun" is probably one of my favorite albums of all time. And since Chicane hasn't released much music as of late, I tried to find more info about the artists Chicane has collaborated with (especially on the song "Autumn Tactics" and it led me to Oceanlab.

This is a fantastic, mesmerizing compliment to "Behind the Sun". Beautiful vocals, awesome lyrics (the lyrics are especially poignant), incredible compositions. I listen to it all day- in the car, while swimming (have an underwater mp3 player), while working, etc. It's especially great when I am working out because it makes the hour and a half go by very quickly.

This CD is just mesmerizing. I can't recommend it enough. It you like this, ABSOLUTELY get the remixed version of the same album. Sirens Of The Sea Remixed

Now I want more...

Based on my pre-Sirens "vocal trance" experience, I would have suggested the following tweaking:

1. Add more harmony,
2. Ease off on the "whumpa whumpa" club beat,
3. Add beautiful vocals.

BANG, this is exactly what "Above and Beyond Featuring Oceanlab" has done with traditional "vocal trance" music with this fantastic collection called, "Sirens of the Sea." My son introduced me to "Above and Beyond Featuring OceanLab's" "Sirens of The Sea," and I am still searching for, and have yet to find "tance" music by any other group as well balanced and pleasing to the ear as "Above and Beyond." I should mention, because I'm not a fan of the "club" type mixes, fans who prefer that kind of music will probably prefer the Remixes version of "Sirens of the Sea" also available on Amazon.

The lead track, "Sirens of the Sea," (track #2) is PERFECT. I could listen to music like this continuously for weeks or months. It is fantastic. As a scuba diver who loves to be under the water, the whole song, including the wonderful lyrics, really does a number on me. The whole CD is a collection of songs similarly produced, and they are all on my I-Pod along with my favorite music. But "Sirens" is my favorite track.

Justine Suissa does a great job on this CD. I love her timing, because it contains the personality of imperfection. Because of this, it seems to me that the her performance strikes a perfect balance with the electronic precision of the music. Her singing to me is the gorgeous icing on the cake.

I hope "A&B" continue to release music just like this, which I am coming to understand is not mainstream "trance," if there is such a thing. They have added a new, interesting and intoxicating dimension to the typical and often (to me at least) boring "trance" experience. (Remember that Verizon Wireless commercial which made fun of "Klaus and Deter's" music at the youth hostel?) If you are new to "trance" or "A&B," I would suggest starting with this CD, then carefully exploring other CDs in the genre, because most of the genre falls short of "Above and Beyond."

Everyone has there taste when it comes to music. Some like hard trance, some like vocal and so on. Personally I love nice trance with vocals. If your trance taste is vocals, then I say add this album to your collection. You won't be sorry. The other hater's should admit that they don't prefer vocal trance. I think Justine Suissa is a great talent a I look forward to hearing more from her in the future. By the way I was lucky enough to get an autographed copy of this cd by Justine and the rest of the crew. Enjoy! my vocal trance fans.

Maurice
aka. Underground Music Junkie

I have been through a ton of Tiesto and Armin Van Buuren Albums in the past two years.... as I just caught the Trance bug (10 years late as my friends say)!

I've since bought the whole ISoS Series and ASoT Series... listened to all of them time and time again and I love each and every one for the individuality put into each Compilation. I even bought a few of the Anjunabeats Albums from Above & Beyond. But once I got ahold of this album, I was floored!

You can play this album for someone who can't stand Trance and I guarantee they will still enjoy every single track! I can't honestly say enough good things about this Album. I actually dang near cried when I heard #7 and it is still my favorite song to date! It has so much meaning to me and I can say a lot of other people will relate to this song! But this one song is just one of many great tracks on this disc - just once this song hits the whole CD comes full circle and you realize the meaning that Above & Beyond were trying to portray!

Buy the Album & I guarantee you will NOT be disappointed. If you are... then you have major major issues with music in general and you should go back under the rock which you came from!

This is just lovely melodic orgasmic trance that will be stuck in your CD player for years to come!

I had heard one OceanLab track on satellite radio, but hadn't given it much more thought. Now that I bought it, I have to say that it was a shame I hadn't picked it up earlier. The vocals on this album are quite beautiful, and it's mixed and produced very nicely. I would rate this as one of my current faves, along side "Breathe" by Blue Stone, which is a frequent play on my mp3 player. Not sure why OceanLab didn't get more popular - but it should be! Works both for trancing out and on while huffing on the treadmill - versatile and enjoyable.

De in 2000 opgerichte Britse vocal trance group OceanLab laat op dit volledige album een boeiende mix horen van chillout, ballads en up-tempo club dance en progressive house. Jonathan Grant, Tony McGuinness, Paavo Siljamäki (Above & Beyond) vormen daarbij de instrumentale onderbouwing voor de zang van Justine Suissa (die eerder met Chicane en Armin van Buuren optrad). Op de op ogenschijnlijk eenvoudige loops gebaseerde opener Just Listen doet Justine aan Note for a Child doet denken. Op de de dromerige titeltrack en Miracle heeft ze hetzelfde timbre als Dido . If I Could Fly is geknipt voor de dansvloer (Sophie Ellis Bextor meets dBA ), waarna Breaking Ties als eb en vloed heen en weer kabbelt. Come Home is een lekker vocal trance nummer, zoals ook de Zweedse Nevarakka maakt. On a Good Day sprankelt ook met pianospel op een vocal trance patroon.

Ashes pakt het percussieve chillout van Just Listen en de titeltrack weer op, waarbij opbouw en vocalen me verrassend aan Vector's Simple Experience deden denken. Na de ballad I Am What I Am is er progressive house in Lonely Girl, andermaal chillout ballads Secret en On The Beach, waarna de Flow Mix van Breaking Ties afsluit. De 70 minuten zijn een genot voor het oor. Meer video's en mixen vind je op Last.fm .