Armin van Buuren

I've always liked Trance music even though I've listened to various styles of dance music over the years. After sampling Tiesto and PVD, I can say that I've turned into a AVBuuren fan after listening to State of Trance 2006. State of Trance 2008 however, is different to me. It has more vocal tracks and less of that energy on the 2006 CD. I gave this 2008 ASOT CD 4 starts because I found the songs could've been mixed in a non-stop fashion to enjoy the beautiful tracks selected by AVB. I understand this is a different CD than the 2006 version but non-stop AVB Trance is better than interrupted AVB Trance. AVB being one of the most popular DJ's could've just mixed this CD non-stop. I bought the 2008 version here as a download. Am not sure if the version sold by the record company is mixed in a non-stop fashion. Either way, I've given the 2008 4 stars. Either way, buy the 2008 2-CD set. You won't regret it!

Ok, I'm not going to drag this out, so here is the nut shell review: I live in Miami, been to Ultra every year as well as WMC. I am 23 yrs old...go to all the clubs on South beach.. I have seen every Trance artist worth seeing.. been listening to electronic music since the age of 8 and I am a complete addict.

Out of every Cd, song, remix, mash-up, set, etc. This Cd is the best compilation of Trance I have ever heard. Ever. It beats Tiesto ISOS Vol. 4 and & Anjunabeats vol. 5 - Two of the best Cd's of Trance ever. Every song is perfect...and some songs are just beyond words. If you don't get this CD you might as well give up life. I would pay easily $100 for this CD if I had too. This Cd makes all other Trance and artists obsolete and irrelevant. You will probably never hear anything better period. I am a harsh critic, so know that this is not an exaggeration. Whatever... I am listening too it as we speak.. I don't need to listen to any other Trance ever again. Who is Tiesto? Armin did it... he is perfect. The end.

This is one fantastic collection of Trance music, spun by one of the best. The cover says it all; this is music that inspires transcendent thought... Ok so maybe that is over stating it a bit, but this is one of the best ASOT albums ever released by the talented Mr. van Buuren, and right up there with ASOT 2006 for the best ever.

There are some really interesting musical elements blended into these mixes. I especially liked the Asian instrumentation in track #2. As in all ASOT releases, the collection is separated into two CDs: THE BEACH and THE CLUB. They have distinctly different feels, with a bit more of an 'ambient' feel to THE BEACH and harder, more dance worthy tracks on THE CLUB. Those are broad generalizations I know, but typically I like THE BEACH cd better than THE CLUB. Not this time around; both are great and I can't choose a favorite which is a testament to how good this collection is.

Many of these songs are with-out-a-doubt beautiful. That's a tough trick for a trance track, as adjectives like 'intense,' or 'exciting' are far more common. But these songs are beautiful, and to me express all that's right in the world of trance. You can argue commercialization or lost roots, or too much house, techno, or what have you, but this collection eclipses all that. Just sit down and put it on some good speakers and let this stuff soak in. I guarantee you won't regret it.

Well i have heard this albulm 3 times. & quite frankly its not that good ( compared to last years )
I would recomend it to trance fans that love armin, But if you like driving & jaming to something with a little twist this is not for you. I think i've heard better ASOT episodes online.

Yes, finally the man has done it. Previous to this album the only good cd armin had was Imagine. I mean THATS IT. Everything else STUNK, PERIOD. To be perfectly honest I owned this cd digitally and a couple tracks off of the "Imagine" cd. So when I saw that my local cd store sold a state of trance 2007 I got pumped, bought it and was very VERY DISSAPOINTED. This CD HOWEVER IS THE BOMB! The mix is very very smooth compared to previous albums, and holds a very atmospheric mood to it. I enjoyed it very much. Buy it and make your year just a little bit better. Maybe even as a christmas present. Aside from a few seductively sounding tracks (roughly 2) it was very good cd.

To start my review I just want to list some of my favorite artists...Bob Sinclair, David Guetta, Adam K, Kaskade, Deadmau5,Yves Larock, Mark Ronson, Ferry Corsten, Alex Gaudino, Gabriel & Dresden.....I can't believe some of the reviews on Imagine. I guess some people must have no taste at all when it comes to amazing music. This by far my favorite cd set of 2008, the vocals are amazing to say the least. The cd he released after this one(A State of Trance 2008)was ok, but not even close to this release. I personally can't wait for his next one.

Start to finish, this is the best effort yet. Music and lyrics a suprise worth listening to repeatedly.

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.

Truly amazing trance albums come along so very rarely. This is one them. It's fantastic, and on par with some of the greatest of all time, like Oakenfold's Tranceport or Seven Ways by Paul Van Dyk. Armin Van Buren has almost gotten to this point before in State of Trance 2006, but this album really takes things to a whole new level.

I knew this was a special album half way through the first track "Another Day on the Terrace," when the audience first begins to cheer; I literally felt chills. The rhythm building into a crescendo of sound, and then the crowd clapping out the beat. I'm not normally a live music fan and prefer the more polished sound of studio albums, but sampling the live audience into this track was masterfully well done.

Each song builds off the last, making the CD feel seamless and like a complete work of art. Trance is best when served with more than just a great beat; its those small touches like the live audience, careful synthetic melodies in the background, songs that ebb and flow together, making them more than just individual tracks and into something more. Call it ecstatic trance, call it 'religious' trance, call it whatever you want, but this CD has that oh so hard to define 'it' that separates it from the rest of the track.

Now on my favorite CDs of all time list, Universal Religion is one of the most satisfying trance collections ever assembled. If you enjoy trance, this is a must, must MUST have.

Just buy it.

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.

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 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'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

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.

I'm definitely not an Armin fanboy to say the least. Most of his music is at the same tempo with the same sounding base beat throughout. The exact same "thump-thump-thump-thump" at the exact same BPM for 60 minutes. You know what I'm talking about and don't kid yourself to say this isn't true. Yet, this isn't 100% true all the time, so I do like some of the tracks on his ASOT mixes.

Regardless, I still apreciate good tracks when I hear them and good mixes, and I DO really like Armin's Year Mix series and the concept that it is. 40-50+ of the best tracks in a 60-70 minute CD is awesome! You get great tracks mixed with great tracks.

The first CD I'd give 4 stars. It's what you want from this series. Great mix.

The second CD, however, falls into the old Armin trap of same beat/BPM/bass/tempo. The track selection is heavily weighed to disc 1. Not the best selection on disc 2 and it's all the same thump-thump-thump again. I think his mixing EQ board on this is set to "Armin" and locked in. Disc 2 is a throwaway.

For reference from where I'm coming from, I prefer DJs like Markus Schulz, Gabriel & Dresden, Above & Beyond, Cosmic Gate, Andrew Bennett, Sander Van Doorn, etc. over Armin. I'd LOVE it if one of these guys did the Year Mix format. That result would probably be a 5 star CD.

Not much to say other than this service was excellent and the product arrived in excellent condition and the speed of the delivery was as good as expected.

The music is good but if you already have the yellow state of trance 2007 cd, you are wasting your money here. I was expecting new songs not the crappy remixes of the other cd

Amazing. The tracks are all the best from last year's radio show and the mixing is great. you can't go wrong w/ anything armin does. his radio show is right up there with tiesto's and (my personal favorite) markus schulz. definitely pick this mix up, and be sure to check out "a state of trance 2007" (if you don't already have it) and "universal religion 2008".

If you like Armin's ASoT (which imnsho is the epicenter of trance), this is a must have. Great choices and ordering of his favorites rolled into an extremely creative mix. The technical work is top-notch with a few so blatantly obvious change-ups just to let you know that he is completely in charge.

The weave is very rich and snippets sneak back in from time to time to create an incredible vibe.

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.