[divider]1994-2001[/divider]
[highlight]1994-’96[/highlight]
This era in trance was dominated by the faster beats, and hard trance was in its glory years. On the flipside, many producers sought to soften up the intensity with symphonic and angelic sounds. The result would give us the beginnings of uplifting trance. Look to Aurora Borealis’ Raz for a prime 1994 example.
Trance had taken over the dance music world. The party scene in Goa grew to an apex, and several psychedelic tunes made their way all around the world. Sun, composed by Virus (Paul Oakenfold), and remixed by trance legend, Man With No Name, gives us a timeless example of that wonderful sound.
Our Top 10 trance producers and DJs for this era: Banco de Gaia, Chicane, Cygnus X, Gouryella, Man with No Name, Matt Darey, Mijk Van Dijk, Moby, Paul Oakenfold under the names Rise, Virus, and Grace, and Paul van Dyk.
[highlight]1997-2001[/highlight]
These years largely continued on the wave of the pervious era, expanding to include several massive scale raves that set the tone for rave and festival culture worldwide. The Sensation White event, started in 2000, takes place every New Year’s Eve in Amsterdam. Boom in Portugal and Rainbow Serpent in Australia, both started in the late 90s, continued to set the pace for psytrance festivals worldwide. And for something a little closer to home, check out this bit of gold from New Orleans’s Freakfest in 1999. It’s not all trance but there’s signs of it, and you get a great glimpse at old school rave culture.
The popularity of trance transcended the dance floor and made it to the mainstream. Protect Your Mind by DJ Sakin and Friends reached the German and UK Top 5 Singles chart in 1999. And ATB’s 9pm (Till I Come), truly a classic, reached the #1 spot on the UK charts!
As we enter the 2000’s, vocal trance took the main stage, which is perhaps best explained by Madonna choosing Above & Beyond’s remix of What it Feels Like for a Girl for her music video.
Vocal trance, which is more of a common attribute than its own subgenre, has made the genre what it is today. We encourage you to take a look at the Vocalists section of this article for a wide range of singers that have moved us repeatedly as trance developed.
During these years, there was a shift in the creation of dance music – as a whole, not just trance – to a more digital medium. The analog synthesizers that had reigned supreme since dance music’s inception were on the way out. The shift went from an instrument capable of producing sound from nothing but a power source to Digital Audio Workstation applications such as Ableton, Logic, and Fruity Loops. They are able to mimic and approximate the analog synthesizer sound as well as create something totally new and not possible with its analog predecessors. Paired with an infinitely expanding library of unique sounds and the ability to put tracks together much more quickly, it was easy to see why so many producers were favoring this medium.
Perhaps as a product of the new technology, or purely a shift in musical desire – trance from this period had a markedly bigger sound. The epic feature of trance really blossomed here, giving us the anthemic themes alongside a long breakdown, buildup, and drop(s). Although that probably sounds like most trance tunes you hear now, for an example from “way back in the day”, when it was still a new idea, check Airwaves 1999 track, Alone in the Dark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14OjfQ5malo
Trance had reached its all-time peak in popularity both in the dance world and in pop culture. And as is so often the case with things that become popular, it was also the last period to have groundbreaking developments for the genre.
Our artist selection for this section was daunting to say the least. Thus, we have chosen those that are still relevant today as well as some of the stars of the period. We removed Paul Van Dyk from the list for the sake of getting some other names in there. He is, without a doubt, one of the longest standing producers/DJs on the scene and continues to blow us away. Forgive us if we did not include your favorites.
Our Top 15: Above & Beyond/Oceanlab, ATB/Sequential One, Binary Finary, Delerium, Ferry Corsten as System F, L.S.G, Kyau & Albert, Matt Darey, Markus Schulz, M.I.K.E, Paragliders, Rank 1, Solarstone, The Thrillseekers, and Tiësto.
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