Quite possibly Paul van Dyk's most underrated work so far. The vocal's from Saint Etienne are simply gorgeous, and combined with Paul's infamous kick make this track an absolute stunner. The breakdown has a fantastic guitar riff, with the vocals layered superbly over the top. The track progressively builds, making the peak even more special. On the second kick in, we hear Paul van Dyk's reverse kick on the 64th beat and a quality key change. It's the little touches like this that make this one of my all time favourite Paul van Dyk productions. Fantastic!

Volume 3 is personally my favourite volume. The new Ronski Speed Remix of the legendary track Binary Finary keeps the originality of the original, but adds an updated 2003 feel to it. It is a very un-needed remix though, completely pointles in my opinion. I can't understand why they didn't call the track 2003 either, keeping to the theme that all previous remixes have stuck to. As for Veracocha - Carte Blanche (Ronald Van Geldern Remix), it in no way compares to the original mix, arguably one of the greatest tracks of all time, but with a lack of remixes of this track back a few years ago, it's certainly nice to hear a new interpretation of it. Out of all the tracks that have been updated, my personal favourite is BBE - Seven Days And One Week (Ferry Corsten Remix). Ferry Corsten has done a superb job of making an already amazing track even better. The new remix is very high paced and quite energetic.

Volume 2 contains Perpetual Motion - Keep On Dancin' (Let's Go) (Andy Manston's Retro Remix), a track I am sure you won't have forgotten in a hurry. I still remember the days of this being hammered by Judge Jules. The Scott Mac vs. DJ Cams Remix is a much harder interpretation of the original, with a typical Scott Mac sound. Volume 2 offers a much more chilled version of the track Transformer 2 - Just Can't Get Enough, as well as a much harder version. It is the Infusion Remix that is more chilled with a heavy but relaxed bassline, and is quite slow paced. The Cosmicman Dark Remix, the harder version, is much more energetic and as the title of the remix suggests, much "darker."

Prototype 1 (Original Mix)

As soon as the track begins we are greeted with a very unusual bass line. It has a hard house kind of feel to it, and definitely works a treat. The intro is quite short, and really picks up the pace from the beginning, with sirens, and drums to get it going. The buildup to the breakdown is amazing, highly uplifting, and we continue to hear what can only be described as high pitched sirens every 32 beats. As the main riff approaches the track becomes quieter and approaches silence. It suddenly explodes into some amazing trance, and the synths are very uplifting. Soon after comes the kick, which is very loud and impressive, and melody combined with the unusual bass line work very well off of each other. As the track kicks in second time round, it seems to be even more uplifting than the first time, and as the track finally reaches the outro it seems to come to a stop very quickly..

Time To Die (Seraque Remix)

A fantastic intro, with quiet a hard bassline. A kind of low pitched siren takes the tune into the next stage, where we are left with a more energetic melody and a hard beat. The buildup really is quite incredible; the kind of buildup that leaves fans with arms waving through the air. This goes on for quite a while until we are hear and awesome drum roll followed by the pitched siren again. The tune explodes into some awesome uplifting trance, and a truly pumping beat. This track has a fantastic melody, of highs and lows and is extremly unique sounding. Definitely one of the top tracks of 2002 by a long run!

As The Rush Comes (Armin van Buuren's "Universal Religion" Remix)
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This Remix reminds me very much of Armin's Remix of Rapture, and mainly because of the following; In his remix of As The Rush Comes, the first section of the song follows a pretty similar structure to that of the Sweeping Strings Remix, with the typical Armin percussion and bassline. The synths are very powerful and are effective with the melody. But then out of nowhere comes a whole new riff that gives this progressive track a much more 'trancey' edge. This is exactly what he did with Iio - Rapture, with the adding of a whole new section. It's very effective, and as a result makes it my personal favorite out of all the remixes. I believe it was first debuted at Global Gathering in 2003 and the effect on the crowd was simply immense. A fine remix from Armin that keeps all the key elements from the Sweeping Strings Remix whilst adding his signature to an awesome piece of Electronica.

As The Rush Comes (Above & Beyond's "Dynaglide" Remix)
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Not what I have come to expect from the legends that are Jono Grant, Paavo Siljamäki & Tony McGuinness. Not that this is a bad thing, it's just very different from their usual style. Just like Armin, they add a very ‘trancey’ riff that adds a lot to the track. The bassline is quite hard and typical of Above & Beyond. It's very strange hearing these type of uplifting synths in such a progressive track and to me doesn't 'fit' as well as Armin van Buuren's synths do.

Time Of Our Lives (Paul van Dyk Club Mix)
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If you ever wondered what would happen when rock meets electronica, then now’s your chance to find out. Paul van Dyk teams up with the UK rock band Vega 4 to bring to us a track that has proven itself very popular in the clubs. The legendary bassline used on classics such as Columbia and Out There And Back, returns to us yet again to accompany this stormer of a track. I've said it before, and I’ll say it again; I really do believe that there is no one out there that can make kicks as powerful and effective as Paul van Dyk. The intro is very simple, and quickly we are taken to a short pause where we get a taste of what is to come with some very 'electric guitar' type synths. The beats resume, pounding all the way to the breakdown. In come the ‘electric guitar’ synths again, only this time with lyrics sung over the top by John McDaid. "There's a time for us to let go, there's a time for holding on. A time to speak a time to listen," etc. During this breakdown, there is an amazing key change that really takes the track to a new level. It's moments like these in songs that define the word uplifting, and you can't help but get Goosebumps. The track resumes the same as before, the hard bassline pounding, but only to be taken back to hearing John McDaid sing again over the melody. Right before the track explodes for the last and final time we hear the lyrics "Oh this is the time, of our lives." Now the melody, the bassline and the vocals from the previous parts of the track all come together. It really is such an exhilarating track, and out of his recent productions definitely one of my personal favourites.

Connected (Moto_05 Mix)
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It's not everyday you see a track on the b-side that has the makings of being more favoured than the a-side, and for that reason this makes it arguably one of the greatest b-sides of all time. Connected (Moto_05 Mix) is the legendary track famous for its preview in the advert on television Paul van Dyk did with Motorola mobile phones. The melody is very catchy, depressing in places but uplifting in others, which makes this track very unique. What is most great about this track though is the way it appears to come to an end after the first breakdown, but then out of nowhere the melody just explodes again, and kicks straight back in. Great track, and just like Time Of Our Lives, a personal favourite of mine out of his more recent productions.

Somewhere (Clear Blue) (Markus Schulz Coldharbour Remix)
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This remix starts with a very lengthy introduction, very calm and relaxed like your typical 'Coldharbour' remix from Markus. As the track starts to progressively take off, we hear the Clear Blue melody very subtly coming through in the background accompanied by Markus Schulz's quality kick. As the melody start's to really build the track slowly starts to fade into the breakdown, and we are greeted with vocals, quite fitting to the style of the remix. The beautiful melody that is Clear Blue superbly soon takes over after it kicks in with a powerful bassline, and is soon again nicely combined with the vocals. The unique stabs of synths on the second breakdown makes the buildup to the second kick in even more fantastic. It keeps on building until the ridiculously long outro! A real quality progressive take on this awesome track, totaling just over 12 minutes.

Clear Blue (Airwave Instrumental)
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Your typical flat beat introduction starts us of, with L-Vee's hard as they come kick and bassline. Straight to the point, we hear the melody coming through with some cool percussion and stabs of synths that are common in all remixes and original, purely because they are fantastic sounding. It doesn't take long to realise that this track is quickly building into a monster of a trance tune. As we get to the breakdown the track just about explodes into a crescending anthem, getting louder and louder before L-Vee's awesome kick hammers its way in with some added flange for good measure. Obviously being titled Instrumental means there are no vocals in this remix, but L-Vee does hold in his possession a version containing vocals held back from the general release. The bass suddenly starts to fade before briefly entering the second breakdown. The key changes in the riff are quality and really adds that special something to the catchy melody. This truly is a real excellent effort on a real decent trance interpretation of a well established progressive tune. Mr L-Vee does it again!

Lola's Theme (Main Mix)
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The Main Mix is simply a dubbed version of the Extended Vocal Mix. The track simply starts with a progressing introduction, with an all round solid kick and bassline. Soon enough, we are greeted with a more uplifting synth, and the track starts to take a more funky turn with some quality strings, and a superb catchy house melody. As we approach the breakdown, the vocals are heard. The vocals are quite fitting to the vibe that the track gives out, and the cut vocals make this a mix much better than the full vocal mix in my opinion. The breakdown just builds and builds before exploding into a crescending array of synths, instruments and basslines. The melody so funky, and catchy, will no doubt make this one of 'the' summer tunes of the year for 2004!

Lola's Theme (Eric Prydz Mix)
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Being a huge fan of Eric Prydz, for such works as Oliver Lieb Pres. Smoked - Metropolis (Eric Prydz Remix), Futureshock - Pride's Paranoia (Eric Prydz Mix), etc, I was most looking forward to hearing what he could achieve with this house summer anthem. The bassline is very powerful, typical of Eric Prydz. The track builds quite powerfully, and we are introduced with stabs of synths shortly followed with a superb acid line. This remix is a much more 'techy' interpretation, with very powerful synths making it a quality acid house tune. There are some very unusual effects used, particularly towards the end of the track where Eric Prydz makes excellent use of some very strange sounding synths. This is certainly a very interesting take on the original.

Butterfly
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Just from the sound of the first chord you can tell this track is going to be an uplifting killer. The intro really is full of energy, full of pace and is hard and uplifting. There's no messing around here, the tune starts as it means to go on. After no time at all comes the build up. I have had the pleasure of hearing this track in a club and the feeling you get on the build up is insane. Just before Butterfly kicks in, there is a sudden decrease in volume, followed by a quick drum roll before the tune kicks in, back up at normal volume. The second build up has a kind of break beat effect right up until the tune kicks in second time round. The melody is truly quality, and for those that said dreamland could never be topped, you may just well have been wrong!

Supersonik Way
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This track also has the typical Nu-NRG intro, and by that I mean full of energy and power. The build up has a kind of piano synth to it. The kick is extremely powerful and comes without warning, which makes it such a favourite in clubs.

Universe
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Last track on the EP is Universe. There was a lot of talk amongst Nu-NRG fans whether this track would ever see a release. Straight to the point, this is a monster trance track. The intro is short and has a break beat effect to it, before the tune gets going. It slowly builds with the typical Nu-NRG high b-line. The build up just like the intro is also break beat, with the occasional "universe" vocal over the top. There is a small pause before the kick, and then we are greeted with a superb melody with the added bonus of a powerful and driving bass line. Unfortunately, there is no second breakdown, but perhaps that is for the best since most of us wouldn't be able to recover from the first.