Markus Schulz – Without You Near

A good progressive effort by Mr. Schulz - certainly his strongest album to date (although after Progression the contenders become sparse). Channeling that cool mid-2000s coldharbour progressive thing they had going on. Interstate and Elevation collabs are hallmarks of the prog trance movement of the time, with a lovely Airwave collab as well. Nice mix of the excellent 'Won't See Me Cry'. All around a solid progressive trance album.

Top tracks:

Clear Blue
First Time
Ballymena

This is definetly Markus Schulz best Album, most of the musics are very satisfying, touching, emotional, Romantic, deep, uplifting and dancable. My favourite tracks are: "First time", "Without you near", "Ballymena" and "Peaches and cream". I love the remix by Airwave. Laurent Vee is one of the best choice for Remixes.
I still prefer the female vocals as usually, they are more beautiful, soft and sexy. Every trance music lover with a big Heart should aquire this Superb Album.

To start out with the negatives: even though it is classified as progressive trance, to my observation the one thing lacking in most of the tracks is progression (development). Most of the tracks have fairly sparse texture and little development from start through the climax to the end; this is more characteristic of house rather than trance, let alone progressive trance. Additionally, the sound mixing/mastering quality could be better; some of the tracks, notably Travelling Light, have audible glitches in several places in the song (even the CD version). And by the way Markus Schulz definitely deserves credit for releasing this album (a large chunk of it, anyway) on vinyl as well as on CD. Few artists bother to release albums nowadays, let alone release albums on vinyl so they may get some club play.

However, what the album itself is lacking in its musical qualities has long since been addressed in a good number of remixes released later (and sometimes earlier) for its comprising tracks—so much so that the album probably merits a reissue with all those remixes replacing or complementing the original arrangements, like Markus Schulz did with his next album Progression. Most notably:
1) The title track Without You Near: Alex M.O.R.P.H.'s Sacred Light Remix released in 2008 outdoes both versions on this album in all respects. In that arrangement, it would have really deserved both the name of a title track and the tag of progressive trance.
2) Never Be The Same: Mike Shiver's Catching Sun Mix, likewise, should have been the real progressive trance here.
3) Finally, You Won't See Me Cry: the Deep Sky Remix buries this "new and improved" version nicely, even though it was released as far back as 1998! How is that for progressive?

Being done with criticism, let us move on to the praise. The album has two major redeeming qualities—the atmosphere and the vocals. Almost all tracks feature vocals from different performers, male and female—and that is unique enough on trance albums already. Even if some vocal arrangements sound somewhat clumsy (First Time), for the most part the vocals, low keys, enthralling lyrics, and (every now and then) heavy synths create an atmosphere that varies from sad to serene (Sorrow Has No Home, Peaches and Cream). As per the tracks without vocals, Red Eye to Miami, with its slower tempo, breaks and chilly synths, is a good track to listen on a cold winter sunrise, whereas an old-school trance enthusiast will probably find Ballymena the best track on the album.

Finally, Travelling Light deserves a special mention as one of the best works on this album despite its mediocre mixing quality. Its theme is very likely inspired by Jules Verne's adventure novel The Steam House (especially its ending), which must be read in order to understand the lyrics. This was and remains my personal favorite for a long time.

"Without You Near" is one of the best trance albums I have ever heard. It starts with "Clear Blue" - a melodic and chilling tune. Almost all tracks are kept with similar style, but there are also some exceptions like Ballymena for example, which has faster tempo. The chilling climate makes that album perfect to listen in a car or if you want to relax yourself before sleep. The title tune is my favourite on this CD. I love the Gabriel & Dresden remix especially, but sadly this publication does not contain it. Maybe that's right, because there are two other versions of that song already. A reprise mix (?) of "Without You Near" sounds quite interesting and surprising. It's a bit familiar to Andain's "Beautiful Things" remixed by Gabriel and Dresden.
All in all, it's an outstanding release really worth buying and listening longer than a moment. I recommend you this album, because "Without You Near" shows that trance - progressive particurarly - is developing nicely (for me at least :)). Hope you will enjoy.

PS. Guess, what I was listening to writing this comment.