Sasha & Maria* - Be As One

Definitely the best Sasha track to date (in my opinion!) Although he may well have had a lot of help from Richard Dekkard (of Kristine W - Land of the Living' remix fame) rather than a young BT as is it often rumoured, this is still a classic example of epic prog at its very finest - the track that got me into dance music and inspired me to buy decks... Timeless!

This is Trance music as it was in the begining, and as it should have stayed, this song is a masterpiece, it starts with maria's sampled "ah's" everywhere and a weird synth in the bottom that sounds like a classical band preparing to play, then comes the piano playing beautiful chord arrangements, the rhythm starts after a while with synth sounds that were very advanced for its time, then Maria starts singing one of the most beautiful trance lyrics ever made... the song keeps changing a lot, 11 minutes that don't get you tired because the song is very dinamic.

Brilliance. Very un-Sasha like, and rumors have spread that this is in fact the work of a then young BT whose "co-production", Heart of Imagination appears on the flip-side. While I don't know if that is true, the song has a lot more to it than the typical Sasha offering. Maria Nayler's vocals are breath-taking; this track breathes emotion. On more than one occasion I’ve seen people cry while hearing this track under the “right” circumstances. If in fact this is a Sasha creation, than it is without any question, his masterpiece.

Yet another brilliant Sasha venture, this time featuring Maria Nayler on vocal duties. Whilst she doesn't have an incredibly broad range, and has been brought down on occasion by the musical elements of her pieces (Robert Miles - 'One And One'), I feel that she compliments Sasha's lush score here to perfection. True to form, Sasha paces the peaks of the track nicely, and allows it to evolve and develop. 13:20 is modest for the amount of inspiration here.

The only downside to the CD release is that 'Heart Of Imagination' (also known as BT Qat) has been edited from the original 11 minute version. As per Sasha and BT's other collaborations, the B side stands up to, and almost runs the risk of outdoing the A. Excellent progressive release all round.

What a piece of masterwork, this beaty. What else can we expect from Sasha & Maria Nayler. Chilling-straight-to-the-heart vocals and a progressive dreaming tune in the background. This track is quite old, but I heard it in a club a while ago, and the crowd went nuts :)