Before I start the criticism, this is an excellent release, and it includes many trancy tracks, and commercially-styled tracks as well. Props to Oakenfold for spotting the future big hits and mixing them pretty well. This album doesn't flow that well, however; its simply anthem after anthem (a style thats commonplace for trance DJs today).

By the time this was released, the original Berlin trance had been in decline for several years, and gave way to progressive, a still credible genre but a stepping stone on the path to the crap most people call trance today. Oakenfold went on to produce a massive electronic pop album named "Bunkka"; I recommend it.

No one really doubts that Oakenfold's Goa days were his most legendary sets, but this mix is an enjoyable CD from the musical perspective, not so much from the trance perspective. Tracks like El Nino sound very pop-like, and tracks like Enervate sound like the generic uplift that plagued trance the following years. It's all excellent music mixed well, for sure. But if I could ask Oakenfold a question, I would ask him why the change in sound? Understand I'm not bashing him for it, but just curious as to his reasons for it. Perhaps it was the changing times; the Goa movement peaked long before this CD, and trance even longer ago - there was no longer was a scene for either genre.

Overall, this CD is worth every dollar. Memorable? Maybe - it was somewhat groundbreaking as it virtually inaugurated the new sound of trance, but there was nothing Oakenfold himself really did in this CD that was memorable besides compiling big hit tracks (from well known artists).

I used to be a real jerk and insult new trance all the time, but its gone elsewhere, and its not coming back. I don't really think it'll be successful - as many say, innovation is the key to good music - and modern trance is lacking severely in this regard. I've moved on - and I'm surprised as what great music is out there besides trance. If there's anything you might want to take out of my "review", its that you should explore the new and the old with an open mind.

Anyways, that's the end of my rant, if you don't like anything I said feel free to PM me with your grievances, just don't take anything I said personally, I'm trying to be as unbiased and objective as I can while still disseminating my personal opinions.

I'm going to skip the discussion on whether this was a marketing effort, as for me this was one of the first introductions into electronic music (ironically, only later I found that this was more like the end of underground trance and the beginning of commercial).

I have to say that even though every single track is beatiful the way Oakenfold mixes them leaves kind of an unpleasant aftertaste. It's almost like an action movie that is too dragged out--Oakie wastes some potential in the energy that the tracks can reach... and some tracks could be mixed in for a shorter time.

As far as undergroundedness of the tracks, to the my best of my knowledge, most of this stuff was underground back then--as a genre. But many of the artists, like Matt Darey, Paul van Dyk, Sasha and Energy 52 were already fairly big names in the scene. Oakenfold was lucky to foresee that those would be the tracks to stay around for years to come, but I think partly because he usually sticks to big tunes and not too many obscure or original tracks.

Anyhoo, not too bad for a good song collection, but as far as Oakie goes--try his New York and/or Oslo and Goa stuff instead.

I'll have to agree that this mix is packed full of classics and the mixing is half-decent (for Oakenfold anyway), but the fact that this was released in the US only, at a time when albums like Paul van Dyk's "Seven Ways" were just starting to get attention, makes me think of it mostly as a well-aimed marketing tool. To hear it today, it's almost amusing, one gargantuan anthem smacking right into another, climaxing with "Gamemaster", a track you can't even play in my part of the world anymore, lest you be laughed out of town. It reads almost like "NOW That's What I Call Trance! Vol. 1", designed to crack the American market open for later series like TranceGlobalNation and TranceMix USA -- not to mention a Paul Oakenfold US tour in the summer of 1999, after the mix had been given six months to simmer. This mix is good to listen to if you want to rediscover your love of some old classics, but I just can't shake the feeling that it was more business than pleasure.

i bought this CD in early 2004 along with a few others, mainly because everyone around me has been raving about what a classic this is.

There are indeed some classic tracks in the mix, like gamemaster and greece 2000, but i found the mixing to be extremely mediocre, and almost all tracks have very low energy and pace, with extremely long buildups and not so great breakdowns. definately a disappointment

in summary, if u appreciate this CD for what it is - a breakthrough release by oakenfold back in the day when trance was still being shaped into what it is today, you may just enjoy this CD. if you do not care about the history, and just want some good trance, steer clear of this antiquated prog album

cheers