The Thrillseekers – Synaesthesia

"Synaesthesia (En Motion Mix)" - which is "The Thrillseekers" mix - is the best imo. A timeless trance track that still gives me goose bumps!

There's a lot of confusion about what the "original" mix is. I'm not quite sure myself anymore. On Van Dyk's Vandit label, there's an "original" included (6'50). Some say the original is the En-Motion Mix (because it was included on the first release in 1999), but although it is by far the best of all versions, this is an instrumental mix. I think the original is a vocal track. Or is it the "Thrillseekers Club Mix"?

Totally agree - I am referring to the non vocal mixes though - and I did like the 51st State :)

Superb Original and remix Ylem

OK some people forget but a super catchy hook

I am not ashamed to cross genres and appreciate poetic trance

Not forgotten - playing tomorrow :)

I quite like this. I know I'm not supposed to. It's the aural equivalent of an empty carbs rush, a Gatecrasher-era fortress of cheese. And for someone who grew up on Eye Q/Harthouse, MFS etc., it felt like a personal insult when this style of music suddenly appeared towards the end of the century and they had the nerve to call it "trance". "Syneasthesia" was one of the most successful records in this genre (42 different versions on discogs at the time of writing), so obviously it includes several of the annoying elements that you'd expect; plastic-sounding, sterile, saccharine synth leads, boring rhythm arrangement, that stupid off-beat bassline. But it steers clear of the most hyperbolic melodrama, and it's got a really nice melody. And compared to EDM or whatever the hell they call it these days, it's a piece of art. So yeah, I quite like it. The only euro-trance track I like, in fact. I even have it on vinyl. So sue me.

Steve Helstrip started out making trance music while working for the computer games developer, Manic Media. Whilst living in Chipping Norton, on the Oxfordshire border, with a relatively basic home studio he produced a euphoric trance track which he called ‘Synaesthesia’. This track became the first release under the name ‘The Thrillseekers’. Signed and released by ‘Neo Records’ at the height of the 1998 trance boom, it went on to sell over 12,000 copies on its initial UK release.

The original version of the track got massive support from top DJ’s such as Paul van Dyk and Paul Oakenfold and it’s still mentioned by many people as one of the ultimate trance classics. Besides the original instrumental version, there was also a vocal version with vocals written and performed by Sheryl Deane. People like Paul van Dyk (who also signed it to his own label ‘Vandit’) and Darude (Ville Virtanen) took care of remixing this track. The vocal version was released as ‘Synaesthesia (Fly Away)’ in the year 2000. On some of the releases you can find ‘Steve Helstrip's Essential Mix’, which is a continuous mix containing the following 4 versions: ‘Paul Van Dyk's Vocal Mix’, ‘En-Motion Mix’, ‘Paul Van Dyk Dub Mix’ and ‘Alaska's Sunset Mix’.

In 2004 ‘Synaesthesia’ saw a re-release on Steve Helstrip’s very own label ‘Adjusted Music’. This re-release became a big success again worldwide. Especially because of the nice new remixes that were done. Dutchman Jack Molenschot did a remix under his ‘Mesh’ alias, Steve Helstrip himself remixed the track again as well, Russian producers Dmitry Almazov and Sergey Vinogradov made a cool remix under their ‘Bobina’ name, Andy Perring remixed the track as ‘Pulser’ and last but not least, ‘Synaesthesia’ got a very nice Ferry Corsten treatment. Ferry’s remix was supported by DJ’s such as Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk and of course Steve Helstrip and Ferry himself played the track a lot.

The original version of the track is also in the movie 'The 51st State' with Samuel L. Jackson. During the rave party when Felix DeSouza and Dakota Parker are kissing eachother you hear 'Synaesthesia' in the background ...