Armin van Buuren

Is it possible to start a whole new religion based on an audio cd? If so, this is the strongest contender to make it happen. Wonderful whispy female vocals, captivating synths. It is hard to ignore mr Van Buuren after this release. Not recommended for highway use! It will actually put you in a trance! Buy and enjoy. You can thank me later, at mass.

Ill start off by saying that i havent always been the biggest fan of Armin Van Buuren's ASOT (A State Of Trance) series. They always sounded kind of shallow or cheezy, and played more like a random compilation. I am more a fan of deeper progressive trance DJs that can tell a story with their track selection and mixing abilities, like Sasha, Digweed, Above and Beyond, and Markus Schulz. I will say that the ASOT series has gotten progressively better each year. Last year's 2007 ASOT was pretty good, but still didnt quite meet my expectations. His newest offering takes the series to a whole new level that the previous ones never seemed to quite reach. ASOT is by far the best of the series. Armin's taste and mixing abilities have matured by leaps and bounds from his last ASOT. For once, he exceeded my expectations. CD1 is phenomenal from start to finish. I can honestly say i havent heard a CD that has held my undivided attention from start to finish since Markus Schulz Ibiza 2006 CD1. CD2 is also extremely good, but i prefer the 1st one personally. If you are a fan of Progressive trance, buy this album. You will not be disappointed.

You don't have to be a top dj in the world to put someone else's tracks on a cd and start selling it. All you need is a name and Armin finally has it. Soo now he is selling... almost as well as Tiesto does. Glad I didn't buy this one because ASOT 2007 was a complete waste of money.
Although, I have to say I like a few tracks here

Thomas Bronzwaer "Certitude"
Giuseppe Ottaviani "No More Alone"
Markus Schulz "The New World"

Here we go again. Another amazing mix by AVB. Nothing more, nothing less. Very similiar to his 2 hour set on November 1, 2008 Fabolous Festival Las Vegas. To hear this set on an incredible sound system makes it 100 times better! Thanks again AVB!

The soundtrack to Heaven.

(oh and thanks above for recognizing the completely off track listing) I know I'm crazy but not that crazy.

Bland, generic, cheesy, and uninspired music. All songs are the same, they start with looong intros, then a female vocal shows up, and then a "climax keyboard" that you have probably heard something similar before.

I really enjoyed the album, especially the opening track because it's instrumental and because it covers all of Armin's production talents. It starts with a classical touch, then goes to a more trancier sound, and finally it adds some rocking electric guitar. Most of the tracks have vocals, all female except one which is the track "Going Wrong", which I think takes away from the album musically. I would have preferred a more balanced album with maybe 50% instrumental tracks and the other half with vocals because it seemed the vocals were over used on the songs. Overall, I think this is a really good album, but not Armin's best.

all i have to say that i really enjoyed this cd. it's one cd that made me dance by myself in the middle of my living room. very uplifting.

I would've bought this entire album if it wasn't so filled with female vocals. For me only a few tracks were worthy of purchase and download. The hard-charging opener, Imagine, seems to give a quick sample of different styles of electronic music AVB likes to experiment with. It's a nice little mix with sounds of haunting piano and guitar, rolling 303 Rave beats, and the magic he does with his synths to produce some of the best epic Trance tracks I've ever heard. The track fits the title because it can literally make me IMAGINE what kinds of things inspired the making of this track, and perhaps the album itself. Going Wrong is an interesting track. I can related to it because it reminds me of one those days or weeks where a long and stressful situation has the potential to make me cause mistakes left and right. I guess an alternate name for this track could be "Time For A Vacation" LOL. Face To Face is one of those melodic tracks that work well in intimate situations. The girl I'm currently seeing likes to listen to this track with me sometimes during our alone times. The nice little closer, Intricacy, sounds like it could be a sequel to his track "Rush Hour (A State Of Trance 2007, CD 2)". It's a good track to listen to while on a road trip. It also sounds like he's moving forward to evolve his style. Great ending.

Honestly, I love armin. He is a great DJ, but not quite as good as a producer. I like vocal trance, but most of this stuff is generic feeling complete with cheesy lyrics. I like a few tracks here, but overall, i'm just not feeling it. If you want to here a really good trance album, pick up Progression by Markus Schulz.

I am a AVB fan, but this album does not sound hot. In fact, there isn't much he can do at this point to mix anything good, because there's too much garbage out there. No matter how much you mix garbage it still stinks.

In short, this is one of Armin's better products. It really pulls you through the whole set of tracks with gaining momentum. It is pretty hard hitting with the rhythm and some fantastic mood changes. It is hard to compare this release and A State of Trance 2007, except I would say this is more like disk 2 of A State of Trance. It pulls you right into the groove. I have this on rotation as one of my favorite CD's.

This album is so good that the first three songs give me chills when I listen to it! Yes, it's that good! Buy it and I promise you will not regret it! It's awesome knowing that the crowd it there and that they were enjoying it as much as you are... by the screams that they are making. Just wish I could have been there live myself!

No shocker here, lately Armin can do no wrong. Armin + Ibiza = Amazing CD.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS CD!!!!!
Play it on a sunny day, or after a night at a club, and you would just feel relaxed/chill...The music will make you fly :p
I've been listening to this CD over and over and am not sick of it, because all the tracks have their own beats, the vocals are just great!
All Armin Van Buuren fans out there, buy this CD!! It is worth it!

AVB continues his "A State Of Trance" series with what I consider to be the best of the three so far released (in 2005, 2006 and 2007). Continuing the theme from the others, this product has two discs--one with a "light" theme ("On the Beach") and one with a slightly edgier tone ("In the Club"). The first disc--On The Beach--is #1 in my car's 6-disc changer, and I never get tired of listening to it, especially the first 6 tracks.

A great deal and some great music from AVB awaits you. Buy now!

While I'm an old timer to techno, i'm sort of new to trance. These mixes don't dissappoint. The replay value is VERY high. The quality is top notch. Unfortionately the MP3's ripped from the CD and put here do not bind together well. There is a little skip between each track even though this is a continuous mix. I will edit out the white space and recompile the CD.

This is a MUST HAVE collection.

A great mix from a guy who's really come up in the world. He's def one of the best!!

This is a great cd set, if you're considering this one, then go ahead and just get it -- you'll be glad you did!

Hello People...

Overall: Disc 1 definitely better than disc 2,But think of disc 2 as bonus tracks..

Such smooth,soothing songs, you really feel like you are on the beach in a state of trance..in a good state of trance.

VERY GOOD BUY

I'm not a trance fan for the most part, but I love Armin, no idea why, but that's not what you're here to read so I'll shutup about it.

Of all of his mixes, Basic Instinct my absolute favorite. It covers a lot of bases. It's dancy and energetic without being too epic/oakenfoldish. The argonaut track is a nice warmer-up song and the album progressively picks up through track 2, and then is suddenly issued a triple dose of get-off-your-ass-and-effing-dance with Yahel's "runaway". It kinda rides a nice plateau through the next few tracks and just gets down right sexy with futurebreeze's "smile" (no, really, this song makes me horn..eh, you get the point). Anyway, it continues a nice, dancey groove through the next few tracks before getting to the next yahel song "Suger 1", a darker, moodier piece that otherwise I would almost think awkward for a typical trance mix, but it seems to sit well here.

I've been listening to Trance music only recently. I've got stuff from Oakenfold, Ian van Dahl, Paul van Dyk, etc. and like them all. But Armin van Buuren is the bomb, is God, is the Big Bang. He's the ultimate when it comes to the most mind-blowing trance mixes. This mix is awesome. And I agree with the other reviewers about the CD1 v. CD2 difference. Don't let that deter you. This is Armin at his best.

How can it be that Chicago is world-class in everything except Trance? I wish Armin would visit here at least once a year and turn us all on to mixes like this one. Basic Instinct? Get it. You'll not be disappointed!!!!!

The problem with a 2 cd set...ANY 2 cd set is that you are invariably bound to end up with one that blows your mind and the other that can be used for a frisbee !! Armin's "Basic Instinct" follows this pattern and while I'm a huge Armin fan it still stings a little to pay the high price of a double disk to get one solid cd of material.

Now for the Good News: CD 2 is fantastic and keeps hope alive that DJ's can still rip it loose in terms of energy !! CD 2 is classic Armin....down and dirty....hard as a nail and masterfully mixed, with perfect crescendos and dazzling melodies and driving beats !! As for CD 1, if it had not been in the same package, I would not have guessed this to be Armin's work...it lacks his pacing, inspiration or imagination. It falls into what I call "sofa" trance....the sound runs together and creates an effect that makes you sleepy and zoned out...not that its not loud and driving but rather monotonous and not up to his standards. Great for a nap but avoid this one on the ride home from a club...it really makes your eyes feel heavy !! I'm a huge hard trance fan and CD 2 delivers...while on CD 1 you will be hard pressed to find a tune that really puts that big sinister smile on your face !!

Overall I'd give it 4 lollies because of hardpounding trance-dancibles like "ghosts", "touch me", "exhale", "green heaven", "amber", and "cloudwalking"...all on CD 2 !! Good stuff but only if you can afford it !!

Armin does it like Oakie but more upbeat. Most of his spins you won't find in the US clubs, especially LA where im from. So originality is the key to his sound.
He's destined for stardom in Europe and then who knows?

You should stick with what you're doing now. Mixing great albums, remixing good tunes and rocking the world as a deejay. This CD though only has a good A-side, the B-side is not that good. However the A-side makes more than good. Top tracks by the uber-talented James Holden and a remix of the loveparade classic techno stomper; Der Klang der Familie by Dr. Motte.

Rush to the store to buy

I came across this album in Camden Library so I decided to borrow it. I thought it would be quite disappointing but it was actually really good. I've heard of Armin Van Buuren ever since I heard his awesome remix of Motorcycle's song "As The Rush Comes".

Disc One is the best out of the two discs. The first two tracks were a bit too slow but then after track #3, it gets good. I especially like track #7 so much that I even bought the full version of it. But unfortunately, after track #8, the mix gets kinda boring.

Disc Two is a club CD. I'm not usually turned on to this CD. But according to previous reviews, track #4 does sound weird but in fact, it's not the original - it's the KvA club version of it. The original of track #4 is MUCH better. Track #5 makes up for track #4 a bit. It reminds me of being up in a cloudy land (like in the Spyro games). But I'm not really into the other tracks.

Mixing: 10/10
Choice: 6.5/10
Quality: 9.5/10

The reason I didn't put five stars was that the choice of tracks could be improved. But overall, an awesome compilation to have in your collection.

Theres a reason armin is at the top of trance scene. He took over Tiesto's #1 spot this year because of albums like this. Most of the songs on this album are a journey of themselves. Also this album sounds like music out a year later. Again armin keeps ahead of the times. Slightly better than A State of Trance 2004-one of my all time trance favorites. I listened to this album while snowboarding and had a great run. Great to listen to while out on the mountain in an ipod.

AVB does a good job of mixing and matching to produce an up-tempo summary of the State of Trance in 2006. If you're into electronica, dance and trance, this is a must have... and his 2007 version I like even better.

A State of Trance 2006 may have been released in this year, but the sound of the album is much more outdated. Trance purists such as Van Buuren and the artist's that produce most of what he tends to feature on his mixes are still holding fast to a sound that is nearly identical to the way it was 10 years ago. Cresendo drum rolls, annoying keyboard sounds, shallow rapid baselines and a void of any decernable rhythm. Am I the only one who is getting tired of this genre?

Disc 1 is an interesting interpretation of what Armin Van Buuren considers a set played "At the Beach" should sound like. A lot of acustic guitar rifts and piano. It does have much more depth that the second disc. "White Sand" (DJ Shah's Original Mix) by Sunlounger and "Timeless" (Digifruitella dub) by Matthew Dekay are fairly decent tracks.

The set in disc 2 is just an empty shell surrounded by a rapid tempo of souless beats. Named, "In The Club" (yes I know...yet another one), an unmistakable set by Van Buuren, and affirmation why I've never had an interest in hearing this guy live. "Walk Down" (KvA Club Mix) by Kyau vs. Albert is just plain crap with the remaining tracks being below average.

A better title for this series would be "A Stasis of Trance".

Disc 1 get 3/5 stars, and disc 2, 2/5 stars.

Pretty good album.. Over 2 hours of music. But, in places it sounds like a kid with a casio keyboard waiting for the first beat of a basic 4/4 time signature.

I am Trance DJ from SF Bay Area. I've been listening to trance since 1996 when raving was the thing. This album spans those ten years of Armin's work. He is an Awesome Artist. I cannot say that I am a fan because I do not believe in fanism like most mofo's do. I love his work and its very inspiring. I'll use his music in my sets and people dancing always want more. You want one? Go buy yourself a copy.. Better yet, save your cash and download it for free, that is if you know how...

Armin is a great DJ and this is a great CD, nice beat, i love trance!!!! put that in your car cd changer, lower the windows, put the sunglasses and vroom vroom........

Superb music.. He's the true master of trance..

A well deserved no:2 position in the DJList and we're waiting for the day that he'll be number one..:)

Looking at this compilation, it's so hard to pick one or two favorites, but if you're a first timer for AVB's music, it is a great introduction to his music and a chance meet the classic hits like Communication part3, Yet another day and Love U More...

But if you truly want to understand his style and DJing, "a state of trance compilations and radio series" are also strongly recommended..

I've been listening to electronic music for over a decade, and trance for about 8 years. While trance is good, in general, there's very few songs that I'd want to actually OWN, thus, I mostly just listen to online radio stations. There's a few songs on this album that have made this one of the handful of albums I've bought over the years. I think that speaks volumes.

"Simple Things" is one of my favorite tracks.

This is the first Armin van Buuren I've ever owned, and so I am unaware as to his talent outside of the tracks on this album. However, I felt like this is a pretty good CD, and I felt like a got a good deal for my dollar with two CD's in the album. The fast tracks are great, but my only problem is that there are a few songs that I'll always skip over because they aren't good at all.

This has to be one of Armin's most underrated and under-the-radar releases. It has nothing to do with the strength of the track selection or the mixing, rather, it was never as heavily promoted as Tiesto's Magik series and certainly Armin was nowhere as popular as he is now back in 2001. To a lot of current Armin fans, the two discs will remind listeners to his ASOT series, with one progressive and one side epic.

The first disc is heavily progressive trance, but still brings some killer tunes like the Janeiro re-work by Harry Lemon, which almost makes this CD start off like a chillout disc, is then finely mixed into Shaman's Wake Up. Orinoko's Island (Saints and Sinners Mix) follows, and it's one of my favorite tracks on this record. Then Armin switches it up into his production, Startheme. These first four tracks are as solid as any four on any mix record. The best thing about these tracks is that they're either remixes of well-known tracks like Janeiro or Flowtation or they're almost obscure tracks that weren't that big in '01, but have proven in this record to be absolute gems.

The second disc is all epic trance, and these are the types of tracks that Armin's famous for playing to the big crowds. Again, the mixing is spot on. A big start to the disc with A Taste of Summer and mixed into Such is Life. I'm not a huge fan of this Rank 1 track, it's just never really warmed to me--- although, the Marco V version is slightly more appealable than the original mix. Needlejuice is one of my faves on this disc, because it's a slow burner. It starts with an ordinary bass beat, but builds up by 3:00 into a massive dance hit that'll have your head nodding back and forth. The record closes with a bang with Armin's Clear Blue Moon. The tracks on the second disc are all, individually, for the most part strong. But here, the sum is less than its parts. Somewhere along the way, the listener loses the direction of where the record's taking him.

In the end, I found the first disc more satisfying, which I didn't expect. My goodness! The Janeiro remix is fantastic. For a completely 180 degree experience, listen to the Janeiro Armin's Rising Star Remix, which is also fantastic.

For trance fans. This isn't a must-purchase disc, unless you're a huge Armin fan. With that said, if you do purchase the record, I almost guarantee that you'll be satisfied.

happy listenin'

well its my first one from armin and this cd makes him my favorite dj ever... firt cd is more house relax chilling and second one harder and strong melodies really orignial after listening about 50 time the albums I still love all tracks... peace!!! enjoy!

this is one of the best mixes i ever heard..much better than state of trance and of course than disappointing 76.
From the beginning to the end avb hypnotizes you with his perfect selection of tunes.. I'd say it is masterpiece and people who gave this cd 3 or 2 stars i guess prefer commercial or cheezy trance which iz not my type of trance...If you're a trance lover then you should definnitely get this piece of work its worth every penny

Having listened to 67 of Armin's Ibiza sets, and his very first 001 State of Trance set, I have to say he really let me down on this one.

I know that people have different tastes in music, but the progressive style that made AVB so distinctive in my mind seems to have been lost on this set: I began to see it in his second one, but this one really broke the camel's back.

Most of these songs aren't progrossive at all. For me, this disc was definitely not as enjoyable as the first album--namely the first disc: There's not a single bad song on that disc. It's the kind of CD you can pop into the stereo and listen to from start to finish. Not so with this one, though. I spent most of my time listening to this CD by flipping tracks; and only listening to about 5 seconds of each song to boot.

All in all, if you want really good AVB, go for his first. The songs actually have a point.

These sets are just OK. If you're into Progressive then you'll love the first disc and if you're into dark techno-ish trance then the second disc will make you smile. Since I prefer uplifting melodic trance that can be found on "Boundaries of Imagination," "001: State of Trance," "002: Basic Instinct," and "004: Tranceparance," these CD's just didn't do it for me.

The first disc is as boring as "002: Basic Instinct's" first disc with only one good song being the last one (Vincent de Moor's "Flowtation 2001." The second disc reminded me of Tiesto's Spage Age 2.0 with a lighter touch. It did contain more good tracks though.

All in all, buy this CD if you're into Progressive and/or dark techno-ish Trance. If you expect Armin's usual uplifting melodic Trance, you'll be disappointed.

Tons of female vocal tracks and samples, more dancable and "pop" than 04 i guess but pop just gets more listeners doesn't it? Armin's signature style(mellow). The selection, more upbeat than 04. Starts off with 4 female vocal tracks(I likes that!), Interstate's I Found You which I thought Oakenfold did a great job on in his Creamfields mix cuz it's just sounds better as a uplifting track rather than a building intro. Beautiful and feminine, why i like electronic dance (but some deep trance heads will find any vocals conflicitng with the actual trance experience.) So for you deep trance lovers Enmass' Beyond Horizon and Kyau vs Albert's Falling Anywhere (Rework)stands out. Armin tops it off with Sophie Sugar's call of Tomorrow (John o'callaghan remix) nice vocal sample with a little break beat in between, what a set! Great selection!

cd 2 "dark" starts off like heart attack comin, wtf! Peter Martin returns with Simply Blue, another instant hit... look i could name the stand outs but there's just too much, this one is a must buy! By far the best in the series, 06 is ok.

I loved this compilation. This is an awesome introduction to Armin's work to me! I will definitely be getting more from him in the future. A must for someone looking for a fresh dose of trance at its best.

Simply Awesome cd 1 light song 9, 11, and 13 i will go hunt for those 12 inch versions im impressed to say the least and speechless i will now take the vocals blarred by those babes on the songs and incorporate them into my prom queen pimp test if my new babes cant hit a vocal that loud i will drop them like the hoes they are or want to be / however he did an impressive job of tweaking and reformatting those songs with those other artist musicians listed, play those songs in an auditorium at the same height of pitch, sound, bpm, and sound rotation on extended versions you will have the crowds go insanely massive cd 2 dark 6, and especially 4 & 5 oh my god simply awesome take these above songs extend them and mesh them with the same intensity and creative soul that can be heard of those song versions and make an extended bootleg mix or blare these sounds at 50,000 auditorium stadium the crowds will go massive i mean this cd is good the other songs are kinda of ok but they are loud but need to be extended however this compilation brings new light to new artists i will hunt them down and buy their other 12 inch versions who knows it may sound better but i have to give armin credit the sound versions played on this cd of those songs is simply awesome good job go buy this cd its worth the price for good dance music.

I liked it but it did not go to my favorites.
I love diferente stiles of music, the variation in stiles, beats but this did not did it for me.

This is the tracklisting for Armin's "State of Trance 2005" not the State of Trance Yearmix! So either the photo needs to be changed to the proper one, or the tracklist needs to list the well over 60 tracks that appear on the YEARMIX. Either way, no one knows what they are paying for.

Tons of female vocal tracks and samples, more dancable and "pop" than 04 i guess but pop just gets more listeners doesn't it? Armin's signature style(mellow). The selection, more upbeat than 04. Starts off with 4 female vocal tracks(I likes that!), Interstate's I Found You which I thought Oakenfold did a great job on in his Creamfields mix cuz it's just sounds better as a uplifting track rather than a building intro. Beautiful and feminine, why i like electronic dance (but some deep trance heads will find any vocals conflicitng with the actual trance experience.) So for you deep trance lovers Enmass' Beyond Horizon and Kyau vs Albert's Falling Anywhere (Rework)stands out. Armin tops it off with Sophie Sugar's call of Tomorrow (John o'callaghan remix) nice vocal sample with a little break beat in between, what a set! Great selection!

cd 2 "dark" starts off like heart attack comin, wtf! Peter Martin returns with Simply Blue, another instant hit... look i could name the stand outs but there's just too much, this one is a must buy! By far the best in the series, 06 is ok.

I loved this compilation. This is an awesome introduction to Armin's work to me! I will definitely be getting more from him in the future. A must for someone looking for a fresh dose of trance at its best.

Simply Awesome cd 1 light song 9, 11, and 13 i will go hunt for those 12 inch versions im impressed to say the least and speechless i will now take the vocals blarred by those babes on the songs and incorporate them into my prom queen pimp test if my new babes cant hit a vocal that loud i will drop them like the hoes they are or want to be / however he did an impressive job of tweaking and reformatting those songs with those other artist musicians listed, play those songs in an auditorium at the same height of pitch, sound, bpm, and sound rotation on extended versions you will have the crowds go insanely massive cd 2 dark 6, and especially 4 & 5 oh my god simply awesome take these above songs extend them and mesh them with the same intensity and creative soul that can be heard of those song versions and make an extended bootleg mix or blare these sounds at 50,000 auditorium stadium the crowds will go massive i mean this cd is good the other songs are kinda of ok but they are loud but need to be extended however this compilation brings new light to new artists i will hunt them down and buy their other 12 inch versions who knows it may sound better but i have to give armin credit the sound versions played on this cd of those songs is simply awesome good job go buy this cd its worth the price for good dance music.

I liked it but it did not go to my favorites.
I love diferente stiles of music, the variation in stiles, beats but this did not did it for me.

This is the tracklisting for Armin's "State of Trance 2005" not the State of Trance Yearmix! So either the photo needs to be changed to the proper one, or the tracklist needs to list the well over 60 tracks that appear on the YEARMIX. Either way, no one knows what they are paying for.