Darude – Rush

You could argue that "Rush" isn't a Darude album, as it bears a sound more typical of Finnish colleagues Dallas Superstars, who co-produced it. Although Ville is credited, I see "Rush" as more of a precursor to DSS' own debut album "Flash". There's a fantastic selection of high-energy Trance on here, highlights including "Drive", "Obsession", "Next To You", and my personal favourite, the Bostik Remix of "Music", which is unfortunately only provided here in edited form.

To any listeners who were pleasantly surprised by this album, I would say to go check out Dallas Superstars' productions and remixes between 2002 and 2006. Their signature blend of Trance and House is highly recommended and they have a sound all of their own. It's amazing to think they lent it to Darude in the way that they did here.

What can be said about Darude's second album? For all the flack old Darude gets, this album is not bad at all. Coming off his first album which had some nice cuts on it, Rush is not a bad effort. The first two tracks are euro-trance cuts, but on the less-cheesy side. The third track, 'Bitter Sweet' , is an a complete league of its own. A stunning trance track, the album should be bought just for this! Fantastic stuff! The rest of the album is very pleasant trance/trance-lite. No real cheese to avoid, Darude presents some very upfront early-00s trance tracks. Particularly of notice are 'Passing by' and 'Drive'. A much more coherent album than most being released these days, this album is a nice mix of early-00s trance a la signum and rank 1.

Top Tracks:

Bitter Sweet
Drive
Passing By

If you are not into this type of Trance you should give "Ranta" a shot. Great chill track which translates to "Beach" in finnish.

All I need to say about this one is that I know Darude has gotten a lot of flak over songs like Sandstorm & Feel The Beat, and if you're one of those people that can't stand those songs, you should still give this one a try. This is the album where Darude really shines, proving his capabilities as a great trance producer. The album is energetic throughout, every song is club worthy. Definitely give it a listen...I think it'll change how you think about Darude.

Say what you want about Darude, this album absolutely blew me away. This album does not compare to his other two albums because this one sits on a whole different level sound wise. This album can stimulate, exhilarate, lull and soothe.

So let's look at the tracks.

Opening the album is a track called 'Music' which is an absolute club banger. This spotlight track is totally dance floor orientated. When it's going, it completely goes off and it's easy to see why it's had so much success in the clubs once you hear it. The variation used as the album opener is the 'Bostik (Radio Edit)' which I thought was the most impressive and most appropriate for the feature album.

'Next To You' got quite a lot of attention for it's vocals which compliment the whole track nicely. The tune is composed of anthemic synths coupled with tight drum patterns. Like the previous track 'Music', this goes down well on the dance floor. As mentioned above, I felt as though this variation was the most appropriate for the feature album.

'Bitter Sweet' is where this album truly takes off. The melody and atmosphere in this song makes me feel as if I can fly!

'Serendipity' is a track which rolls out very nicely. The drum beats are nice, well timed, brute yet lustrous without overwhelming the track. The entire track builds up and breaks down progressively then concludes with an astonishing harmonious outro. I actually feel somewhat reposed by the first half of this track. The second half is more of an up-and-at-it type of beat.

'Healing' is a beautiful track. The first break down to run the track in and get it into swing is just incredible. It does sound a little Robert Miles influenced with the acoustic piano riffs. I think it's the piano and the nice trancy edge this track has that just carries me off to a place of paradise of my own. If you haven't already guessed, it's my favourite track on the album.

'Rush' is an energetic track. There's a certain 'twist' in this track that I just can't quite seem to put my finger on. Very nice.

'Drive' is a track that just gets you up going with the vibe it induces you with. The track almost sounds as if it's being played during live performance.

'Passing By' picks you up and carries you off to a place of empathy. This track is more progressive orientated with its lengthy build ups and break downs. I just love the broody synth lines Darude used in this track.

'Obsession' sounds like the sort of track for a seduction or to get some other flirtatious action happening! Bold to get the blood pumping, mischievously edged and sexy.

'Ranta' is a very soothing tune to close out an album. When you play this one, lay down, close your eyes, relax, then dream.

The last two tracks "Music (Original)" and "Next To You (Original - Vocal Mix)" are from the singles of each respective song. I didn't think they were necessary for ending this album. I thought that the versions at the start of the album were sufficient enough.

The bonus remix album for this edition fell short of expectations because the feature album was amazing. My favourite track on the remix album was JS16's remix of 'Out Of Control'. This track was already released on the "Out Of Control" CDM back in 2001. The remix disk does treat you to Darude's video clips in MPEG format. That's about all I can say for it though.

I know I'm going to get negative attention by saying so, but I declare this my personal favourite trance album, ever. This album is by far Darude's best work to date, although it looks highly unlikely that he'll produce another album like this ever again. As a trance album, it'd be a hard one to beat IMO.

Nothing short of 5/5 (rating only the feature album).

Reall enjoyed this. Prior to listening to this the only thing I'd heard from Daurde was the classic Sandstorm. Although I liked that track I did find it a little too repetitive. I was expecting that here but did not find it. CD1 (the album) is excellent. Nicely layered and unique. Ranta was a nice surprise sounds like old skool Massive Attack. Very nice. I also really liked the Original Version of Music and Serendipity. CD2 is another story. I think I have heard all the remixes of Sandstorm I care to. The remixes of Feel the Beat really didn't do it for me. The only track I like was Out of Control JS16. My copy of this release did not include the videos, so I can't comment on that. I'd give the album 4.5/5, bonus cd 2/5.