'Trance Europe Express' is a timeless compilation made by the people from Volume with a full-information 192 page book. The repertoire represents an excellent choice of what we used to call trance music, with a more sophisticated use of the elements in the music composition. That's the case in the brain dance 'Semi-detatched', from Orbital, with an elegant use of TB 303 bassline. Bandulu's 'Gravity Pull' shows a very well made techno trance full of melodies and with a smart use of drum machine, and the veteran Thomas Fehlmann also appears with his Readymade alias, in a futuristic conception on 'Face the Day'. Through spacey melodies and textures, System 7’s ‘Desir’ makes us reflect if musicianship really depends only on the technology; ‘Persuasion’ brings a lyric vocal esthetic under melodies and a modulated synth base from Spooky. The diversity is also evident when we hear the more minimal-abstract tribalism of Material’s ‘Mantra’, or in the sweet percussion involved by textures and a lovely piano solo of The Black Dog’s ‘Xeper’. The different conception of the genre of this serie also counts on the trancy bassline of ‘Celestial Symphony’, or the dub influences on the introspective 030’s ‘Midnight in Europe’. The teutonic influences, like Barbarella's 'The Mission' and 'Space Track' from Cosmic Baby couldn't be anywhere else, and the belgian label R&S gave CJ Bolland's 'Random' and 'The Color of the Sun', from Mellowy MLO. The deep abstract experimentalism of Aphex Twin’s ‘Analogue Bubblebath 3’, the shadowy figures of Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia, Moby, The Orb, Source and Trance Induction complete the amazing selection. Don’t miss the chance to read the book, a legacy in electronica.

i thought this was actually a pretty weak release compared to the following volume which sounded much more modern and cutting-edge. the mastering on these cd's is very poor and there is a definite lack of "oomph" in the mixes. indeed, some great artists and a few great tracks, but overall i was very disappointed after being exposed to volume 2 before this one. still keeping it in my collection though for prosterity's sake.

The entire series is beautiful, unfortunately the booklet was impossible to read without damaging and quickly fell apart.

All volumes of these series came with a 192-page booklet. Full of interviews, pictures, trivia, etc. about the featured artists and the musical styles they represent, written with a sense of humor and creativity. In those times (before the internet existed) that was an incredible and unique source of information, something that's never been repeated by any other compilation as far as I know. Together with all those classic tracks from legendary artists, these releases are truly essential.