| 1-01 | Cass/Slide* – |
Opera (Stealth Mix)
Written-By, Producer – C Cutbush*, Pete Martin |
6:54 | |
| 1-02 | Synaptic Gap – |
Sick
Written-By, Producer – Stephen Porter, Tony Burgess |
7:12 | |
| 1-03 | Cass* – |
The Trader (Booty Bounce Mix)
Remix – Tom Mangan Written-By, Producer – C Cutbush*, T Mangan* |
4:14 | |
| 1-04 | Ben Shaw Feat. Adele Holness – |
So Strong (No Daddy, Not The Whip Mix)
Featuring – Adele Holness Remix, Producer [Additional] – Cass & Slide, Meat Katie Written-By, Producer – Adele Holness, Ben Shaw, Romain Whyte |
6:40 | |
| 1-05 | Sean Cusick & Rogue Audio – |
Fire Escape
Written-By, Producer – C Cutbush*, Pete Martin, Sean Cusick |
7:58 | |
| 1-06 | Ben Shaw Feat. Adele Holness – |
So Strong (Soul Mekanik Mix)
Featuring – Adele Holness Remix, Producer [Additional] – Soul Mekanik Written-By, Producer – Adele Holness, Ben Shaw, Romain Whyte |
7:42 | |
| 1-07 | Slide – |
Future Disco
Written-By, Producer – Pete Martin |
6:25 | |
| 1-08 | Cass* – |
Revelations
Written-By, Producer – A Holt*, C Cutbush* |
6:12 | |
| 1-09 | Yunus* – |
Nefes
Written-By, Producer – Yunus Guvenen* |
8:55 | |
| 1-10 | Cass* – |
Genesis (Pro-Tec Mix)
Remix, Producer [Additional] – Jamie Stevens, Phil Smart Written-By, Producer – A Holt*, C Cutbush* |
6:02 | |
| 1-11 | Excession Vs. Ben Shaw – |
Sunscape
Written-By, Producer – Ben Shaw, G Collins* |
8:36 | |
| 2-01 | Void (8) / Twisted Science – |
Shock
Written-By, Producer – C Platter*, J Tye*, K Robinson* |
0:44 | |
| 2-02 | Yunus* – |
70 Watts
Written-By, Producer – Yunus Guvenen* |
6:50 | |
| 2-03 | Marscruiser – |
Insanity Rains
Written-By, Producer – Alex Hall, Paul Determan |
7:05 | |
| 2-04 | Cass* – |
The Trader (Inner Sanctuary Mix)
Remix – Lemon8 Remix [Credited To], Producer [Additional] – Harry Lemon Written-By, Producer – C Cutbush*, T. Mangan* |
8:37 | |
| 2-05 | Cass/Slide* – |
Opera (Evolution Remix)
Remix, Producer [Additional] – Evolution Written-By, Producer – C Cutbush*, Pete Martin |
6:51 | |
| 2-06 | Sasha – |
Lupus (Jimmy Van M / Cass & Slide Mix)
Producer – Sasha Remix – Cass/Slide*, Jimmy Van M Written-By – A Coe* |
6:35 | |
| 2-07 | Brethren – |
Reservation
Written-By, Producer – Andy Page, C Cutbush*, Pete Martin |
8:21 | |
| 2-08 | Aria – |
One
Written-By, Producer – Justin-Scott Dixon*, R Rosario* |
8:44 | |
| 2-09 | Andy Page / Lee Burridge – |
Maladjusted
Written-By, Producer – Andy Page, Lee Burridge |
6:41 | |
| 2-10 | ASAP – |
Firebird
Written-By, Producer – Andy Page |
6:56 | |
| 2-11 | Excession – |
Vega
Written-By, Producer – Grant Collins |
5:32 | |
| 2-12 | PB & J Feat Hannah Dorsey – |
The Way
Featuring – Hannah Dorsey Written-By, Producer – B Gorske*, J Dunne*, P Determan* |
5:53 |
Packaged in CD-size book-like case.
It goes without saying that all the tracks included here are stellar productions. Fire was easily one the strongest prog labels at the time and their catalogue is pretty much flawless, so you know when you drop this into the player that the tracks themselves will have stood the test of time.
The mixing and track selection of this mix are just phenomenal. The first disc starting out with the heavy drama of the stealth mix of "Opera" before evolving into the robotic electro breaks of "Sick" and then exploring dark prog before the funky disco (!) influenced pairing of the Soul Mekanik remix of "So Strong" and Slide's "Future Disco". Cass's mixing is really paramount to the effect of the way these tracks work so well together, he is beat perfect and the transitions of varying styles is never jarring. SMOOTH is definitely the order of the day. He continues the mix with straight up big-room prog tracks before finishing with the mighty "Sunscape" by Excession & Ben Shaw. I have to say that this is the only flaw with the first disc (and admittedly I'm probably just being nit-picky here) but while "Sunscape" makes for a great last track, the end of the track itself doesn't make for a great finish, as it just kind of peters out, which is great for mixing into the next track - but that's the problem, there is no next track. It's just kind of an uninteresting ending in my opinion, but I must re-iterate that this really is the ONLY flaw on Disc 1!
Disc 2 is jam-packed with more moody prog and beautiful soaring breaks - It's the 2nd disc however that for me really stops this album from being perfect. The transition from "Insanity Rains" into "The Trader" is ever so slightly off-beat. The fact that the rest of the album is SO tight is what makes this kind of stand out. The rest of the disc is flawlessly mixed though. It is again, unfortunately, the ending of the disc that falls a little short of the mark in my opinion.
The version of 'The Way' that is used on this compilation is different to the version that was finally released as a 12" in it's own right. I can only assume that this was still an early demo version - and whilst all the elements that make it such a phenomenal track are still present, it's the addition of a heavily affected male vocal, that is supposed to be working in a call and response manner with Hannah Dorsey's vocal, that somehow turns this from breathtaking to, well, a little insipid. Thankfully someone saw sense before this track was finally released and removed the male vocal, as it really does spoil the track completely. You can still hear the male vocal harmonies in the final version released as a single, but they are pushed much further back in the mix, but the call and response element was totally removed. It's a shame this wasn't done before Cass included it as the closing track to this mix, as it really detracts from the overall strength of the album.
Overall though this album is of an extremely high calibre, in fact if it wasn't so close to perfect, I'm sure I wouldn't be as pedantic about it's flaws!