20. JOOP & Raneem – PLUR
Label: High Contrast Nu Breed (Be Yourself Music)
Genre: (Hard) Trance
So I say (Hard) Trance because there is an actual genre of hard trance, and this isn't really it... but I feel that I should differentiate between tracks like this and the other type of trance made by producers like Arty or Ashley Wallbridge. When you're working at high BPMs like this, I feel that you have to do a lot more work in order to make a track interesting. The cycles are much phrases are much shorter (in actual time) and you have to make the rhythms and melodies more interesting in the same amount of “space” so to speak. Because of this, the leads of songs at these BPMs (135+) tend to make spectacles of themselves, and this can be a great thing, or a terrible thing... depending on the quality of the lead. For JOOP and Raneem, I feel that things get interesting far before the lead.... around 1:40 to be precise.
The mini-breakdown in that section is truly a great teaser of what is yet to come. Given the past productions of these two producers, you know that the song is going to hit hard where it matters, yet with a name like PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity and Respect for you non-ravers out there) you're expecting it to have a lighter side as well, and the “hard trance” giants don't skimp on this aspect either. I've always loved “the calm before the storm” that you find in many songs written at this tempo, and PLUR has one of the greatest sequences I've heard in recent memory. The 3:00 mark comes around and you know you're in for something big when they begin priming you for the lead with one of the most delicate breakdowns you'll ever hear... and then it hits.
God damn. Literally had to stop writing during that entire section. It's just too much. Now I know that the lead does not hit everyone in the same manner, and I'm sure some of you could not care less about any and all portions of this song... but leads like that just get me HYPED. My life will never be complete until I hear this song on a club/rave sound system.
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http://soundcloud.com/thundersheep/lunatic-asylum
http://soundcloud.com/thundersheep/summer-rain