Eclectic! Tresor compilations would never be so diverse as this CD. There are very very fine examples of so many sides of techno here that it is quite hard to fully appreciate it all without many listens. The punishing Maurizio remix of "Lyot", and Hell's "Red Bull" start the album off with a more schranzy feel, but 3 Phase's "Das Rennen" and Maurizio's own "T.T. / F. F." stray into more minimal Germanic territory. There's more of this later with the quirky 3 Phase piece "Current 1". Rather repetitive, but hypnotic.

Then of course come the Detroit contributions. What can I possibly say about UR's "Jupiter Jazz" other than it's practically the epitome of Detroit Techno-soul? CLASSIC, CLASSIC TECHNO! And along with 3MB & Juan Atkins' devastating "Die Kosmischen Kuriere" (a different and better mix here to the two on the "3MB and Juan Atkins" album!!). I'm almost too flabberghasted to notice the other fine pieces slotted in around them: Mills' "Changes Of Life" is a classic stomper, Sun Electric's edit of Illuminism is wonderful minimal-melodica, and K-Hand's "Mystery" is a rather simple but energetic slab of melodic techno that nicely rounds off the comp.

Essential, wonderful techno. The only slightly poor additions here are the Noxious and Violet Micro tracks - somewhat dodgy hard tech that sound a tad dated now. But everything else rules mercilessly. Best track = CAN'T CHOOSE!! *brain promptly explodes*

This release like its predecessor "Tresor Berlin 1992" is an excellent representative collective documentation of some of the finest in early techno music. The tracks cover a vast array of styles and never falls into the formulaic monotonic approach to some comp releases. This isn't all house or all trance. You get it all. Some tracks are hard and bangin', some are light and airy. All are very electronic and chock full of phat, analog sounds. Not only that, these are done by some of the Godfathers of early techno. I believe this was the very first techno release that I heard and actually said "WHOA! This "techno" is HOT!" Before that I only heard the commercially ravey stuff that reeked of cheesiness. But this comp had life and is still a favorite in my collection. I encourage anybody to give it a listen. I feel this is a milestone in the development of techno music.