Miranda - Phenomena

This is a brilliant album! If I had to pick 1 album to sum up and represent "goa trance", Phenomena would be it. But I don't think it's a good album to introduce someone to goa trance with unless they're used to hard and intense music, they'll probably get a headache.

It's not revolutionary, but it's definitely a distinctive style and perfectly executed, there's not one weak track here. Miranda's style is thick, heavy and juicy. It's almost verging on psytrance yet so far from it. The amount of layers and melodies in this music is incredible for 1996. And I should also mention that in many of her tracks, perhaps most clearly Subtropical Forest, Miranda comes up with a great bassline that absolutely rocks the entire track.

Steps To The Stars is a half-chilled opening track that slowly builds up from nothing and draws us in to the album. After that we get pounded and twisted all the way to Weightless, which is a beatless ambient track to cool us right down after the peak madness of the preceding Phenomena. Finally Concorde brings it to a close goa style but not too twisted or intense, relative to some other tracks on the album of course. ;)

I can't praise this album enough. It's in the top 3 or at least top 5 goa trance albums for me, and I've heard hundreds of them so I have a fairly good idea where it should rank.

Phenomenal debut album from Miranda, the former queen of goa trance hailing from Sweden!
Quality music all the way, far from revolutionary, just five star general goa trance, and then some. Well crafted and uplifting melodies, far reaching and wide soundscapes, old school samples about alien life forms and hallucinogenic substances, before those began to plague each and every psy trance related release, amazing breaks and energetic climaxes, with an obligatory downtempo tune, and you have yourself a true to the heart gem, which is obviously chained to the basics of the goa trance spectrum, but very successful in avoiding cliches and trivial traits of the often somewhat formulaic releases.
More or less all the tracks, with the exception of the chilled out number Weightless, follow the same path, but the opener Steps To The Stars, Labyrinth and the title track Phenomena are just a notch above the rest.
A must for old school lovers, but I would also recommend this album to those who would like to try and get a quick glimpse at what is the whole old school frenzy about, as well to those who are new to the genre. Some other acts you'd want to try out if you are looking for some flat out great, straight up old is gold goa trance, are Etnica during their prime, pre 1999 period, Total Eclipse and Transwave.