I rarely comment on a DJ. Most of them are fairly good and very enjoyable so I tend not to rate or comment on a particular DJ expect for their mixes. There are some I come across that's just absolutely not my cup of tea so I'd just stay clear from him/her. Paul Oakenfold, though, is my cup of tea.

Unfortunately, I found his music as of late very pop-sounding and uses very odd track selection. There's vocal trance and then there's Paul's vocal tracks which is just very bizarre. Perhaps it's his style or the direction he wants to take. Daring but original. Simply, I find Oakenfold's music different than what it use to be.

Although reading other listener's comments, I will say I'll give him another chance or very open to his latest offering. Take his 2004's Creamfields album for an example. The man still has it after all those years. It's probably the most played Oakenfold cd(s) I own, next to Resident and Tranceport.

While not the world's greatest and has his ups & downs(like everyone else), I still like the majority of his music.

If you're new to trance, you should definately start here and then work your way up with the rest of the mainstream artists like Paul van Dyk, John Digweed, Sasha, Pete Tong and Armin van Buuren.

So what if Oakenfold has become a HUGE commercial success - all the more for dance music! This is a man who in essence has defined dance music and DJ status around the world and people expect him to be ashamed of it! Bollocks! Oakenfold has become a star in his own right, he has earned it - not by luck but by sheer bloody hard work. What you are looking at is a professional career spanning over twenty years. Take a look and see what he's accomplished - then judge the man!

Oakenfold's Goa Trance, Silver and Gold.
What an amazing sound. 1994. Yes, that was 12 years ago.
Many of the people who "know" electronic music today, didn't even know about this magnificent sound. It was so far out of mainstream and far out of reach of 99% of the general population.
One needs to study Oakie's beginings. He has really done a great job, and has worked HARD to get to where he is. Yes, he is now a household name, and well, Bunkka is an album that should not be compared to his earlier works, because it is an artist album, not a dj mix album.

Many of you may not even know that Oakenfold did some fantastic mixes for New Order, World (PRICE OF LOVE), and True Faith 94. The Perfecto Mixes.
Back then, those mixes were far out the best mixes of both songs.

While a new generation despises Oakey as a sell out, I strongly suggest spending time listening to his early works, and placing them in the time-context when they were released and you will find a True visionary man..
Long live Oakey, and other artists that paved the way to the electronic music scene.

I am used to judge artists by what they give to me. That may leave some factors out, like if the artist is a "sell-out" or if he has been a pioneer of the scene. But it also prevents me from ignoring the few good works of a mostly bad artist. This may be the same with Oakenfold. I really love three of his releases: Tranceport, Oakenfold in Ibiza and Great Wall. I don't like most of the songs from Bunkha but "Southern Sun" and its Remixes are awesome good stuff. Well and the earlier Mixes he did in the Nineties, to much of classic house stuff. Simply not my taste. Still I assume to know only about 1% of his stuff. But that's what i want to point out: Take what you like from an artist, but don't judge the whole guy by a part of what he did and what he is. It will do your openmindedness no good. He simply does not create only for you, but for loads of people from all directions and tastes. And for the "sell-out": He is only one of many sell-outs out there, as others on this page already said. Eventually those sell-outs are needed, to constantly subject the "uneducated" masses to new currents of electronic music, how else should they learn about good music anyway?

Okay...

There are several factors that we can consider about Paul Oakenfold, but it really boils down to these basic subjects.

His beginning - Oakenfold was a pioneer. Truly, no other DJ had the kind of sound he did back in the days when his influences leaned more into the realms of psy-trance. Let's not forget "The Dream Traveler - Time"

His rise - Oakenfolds live performances have never dissappointed me, despite i haven't seen him live since 2000, many people I know who have seen him live recently agree. He still has skill.

His "peak" - Okay, everyone who listens to trance is horribly familiar with the "sell-out" Oakenfold. I've found this to be a rather annoying truth that was compounded in its scope simply because alot of people who were getting into electronica, who were not educated on the scene, found common ground by discussing Oakenfolds shortcomings with their musically educated peers. I've heard people bash the man relentlessly, in which I promptly ask them to name 3 tracks he's produced. You'd be surprised how many times i get a silent response. Let's get over it people, a bad album is a bad album. Quick money is quick money. Let Oakie deal with it; because he obviously still is.

Now - The mans reputation is horribly tarnished, almost irreversibly. However, if the people who listen to this genre of music are willing to put aside their preconceptions and perhaps give him one more chance, then perhaps he can pull himself out of the corporate DJ image that he has plunged himself into. People seem to forget that when the electronic music community began, it faced a great deal of adversity. It required open-mindedness and no small amount of blood, sweat, and tears to even gain half the recognition that electronic music has today.

Let's give one of the pioneers of dance music another chance shall we? His success may be viewed as a black mark for the scene, but let's face it, without Oakenfold, many people today would still be just calling it all "techno".

Lighten up people.

I don't understand why everyone tends to attack Paul Oakenfold and blames him for becoming commercial and such...

I really like trance, and seriously, one of the most influential DJ's that ever made a deep impact on me has been Oakie.

You just can't blame him for bunkka, being a nice album (yes, we have to admit it) and not exploring the far side of trance anymore. However, very good stuff has emerged from it, as the Tiesto remix of Southern Sun.

I guess you need to hear more from him to give a final judgement... therefore, I recommend you these albums which you really need to hear before saying that Paul Oakenfold is a "crappy" artist. This guy deserves a lot of respect for what he's done for the contemporary electronic music, being a dance music pioneer and setting such landmarks to follow as a musician and artist. (Grace's - Not Over yet, Perfecto Label, Tranceport)

- Tranceport
- Perfection
- Perfecto presents another world
- A voyage into trance
- Global Underground Oslo
- Resident, two years of Oakenfold at Cream
- Perfecto presents: Great wall (Yes, I like it... it's good)

The best Oakey stuff are his Oslo and New York Global Underground Mixes, those were quality mix of trance, breakbeat and melodic drum and base. He has some really quality live sets circulating around on MP3's --one of the best being his Ibiza set. After the GU Mixes and Tranceport, he progressively became more and more commercial and monotone... Bunkka was cool, but nothing that stood out for a long period of time.

I like Oakenfold very much. Never looked up anything 'bout him, but today i found som sites. I love his remix of Dead Can Dance's Host of Seraphim. But I can't understand why some ppl don't like Starry Eyed Surprise... Whether it's pop (i would rather say hiphop), I really like it. Who said that DJ has to play only trance, house or techno? He can try everything he wants... And I think Paul did it right, even if the Starry Eyed Surprise' groove is simple...