|
Out There And Back Review
07/13/2005 7:38 AM, AMG
Berlin's most acknowledged trance producer inches forward on his third full-length album of seamlessly edited up-tempo electronic music. Nearly every other song functions as a peaking anthem exploding with sentiment-charged elation. The songs that aren't fueled with energy merely serve as landing and launching pads for the many anthems. After a quiet beginning, Paul Van Dyk's album builds until it first peaks on the third track, "Another Way," with its monolithic synth riffs and inescapable melodies. Two songs later, the intensity returns on "Avenue" and continues into the slightly more explosive "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)." From here, the album continues on its path of ups and downs. "Together We Will Conquer" serves as a nice period of near relaxation with its soothing female vocals and subdued intensity, toying with dance-pop formal characteristics. Following this song, "Face to Face" and "Out There and Back" try to recapture the spouting adrenaline of the earlier anthems but don't quite do the job, giving the anthemic second-half of the album a slightly anti-climatic feel. Of course, these last few songs are in no way mediocre and still surpass the output of nearly any of Van Dyk's peers in 2000. The second half just begins to sound a bit clichéd, with the Berlin artist re-using the same synth-driven peaks-and-valleys template that made "Another Way" such a standout song. Safely assumed to be the peak moment of the entire album, the title track comes off sounding too obvious. The melodic synth riff just seems too artificial -- too typical. There is no arguing the fact that Van Dyk's third album still overshadows any pre-2000 attempt at a full-length, self-produced trance album and will surely satisfy anyone with a taste for its sticky melodies, synth hooks, and constant syncopated rhythms. One still wishes though that Van Dyk would take a few more risks rather than simply delivering a predictable, yet satisfying, album that effectively expands upon the most successful moments of his previous album, Seven Ways; in sum, he is giving the people exactly what they want. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
|
