System F Featuring Armin van Buuren – Exhale

Even though I thought that Cyberdrive (Syntone's Airforce 1 Remix) by Clubmasterz, was a beautiful trance track, it was until early 2001 when I heard Ferry's approach to this melody, and I fell in love with it instantly, I totally forgot about Clubmasterz version. I got a copy of the CD and I played it every time I could making the crowd jump like crazy. I made my own extended version of the Original version as I always thought the 7:14 minutes was too short for such a masterpiece. The first time I tried it I was afraid to bore the people with my nearly 10:50 extended version, but for my surprise, nobody moved out of the dance floor it was a hit. This was long before the song entered the charts. This is definitively one of my favorite tracks of Ferry. As for the mixes, I found Sander Kleinenberg's version interesting and I gave it a couple of plays here and there. However, Armin Van Buuren's remix seemed a bit too flat for me, compared to the original version, it is good, but not enough, is missing something....

although I really love this track, it seems to be also some kind of rip-off. If you have a listen to the Syntone Remix of Cyberdrive (https://www.discogs.com/Clubmasterz-Cyberdrive/master/142336), which was released roughly half a year before exhale, you will know what I mean

since my first time listen this tune,i fall in love with this song, this is like a trance tune has to sound,ferry and armin make a powerfull and euphoric tune here.

The Sander K remix is more or less a textbook example of everything that's wrong with techno... Well, seriously, Mr. Kleinenberg has pulled the old trick when remixing, and made a completely different track. Monotonous and devoid of melody, next to nothing remains of the original. I guess Tsunami wanted to include something that'd appeal outside the trance crowd, given the nature of the A side.

When Ferry and Armin joins forces, you'd expect high quality, and in my opinion that's exactly what you get. Rather close to being a perfect trance track in the soft hyper-uplifting style prevalent around 2001; the melody soars sky-high through multilayered buildups and breakdowns, and the entire thing is slick as an oiled snake in the production department. However, as is also common for this style, the percussion itself is indeed a bit uninteresting, and feels rather like a copy of tons of other Ferry/Armin productions.

The original is, more or less, a textbook example of everything that is wrong with trance. Blippy, uninteresting percussion, overbearing pretentious build ups, and a gag-inducing string patch. However, Sander K's mix is gritty, funky and deeply driving. House and techno DJ alike perk up their ears when they catch the thunka-THUNK beat coming in.