Unpopular trance/electronic music opinions

Quethas

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Jul 15, 2020
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Armin van Buuren never was particularly good producer. Not even during the golden years of trance.

Once again this is not saying he was bad and I have his first two artist albums, but I feel it was the work with A State Of Trance which really made him a rising star back in the days.
 

Macker

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Jan 18, 2021
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Armin van Buuren never was particularly good producer. Not even during the golden years of trance.

Once again this is not saying he was bad and I have his first two artist albums, but I feel it was the work with A State Of Trance which really made him a rising star back in the days.
Yeah I'd largely agree.

Burned With Desire was pretty good, and his remixes of iio - Rapture and Moogwai - Viola are absbolutely amazing but sadly the production on them hasn't stood the test of time.
 

Archon

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IMO Armin was a really good producer - not extraordinary or supremely talented, but very good. His arrangements were mostly impeccable, everything was where it needed to be. He has produced stunners, even (or especially) early in his career. I feel like some of you guys might be overlooking some of his Hypnotizin', Electronicly Entertained stuff for In and Out of Love (which is also a good track, admit it!).
 

Progrez

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Jun 17, 2022
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Yeah I'd largely agree.

Burned With Desire was pretty good, and his remixes of iio - Rapture and Moogwai - Viola are absbolutely amazing but sadly the production on them hasn't stood the test of time.
What about his remix of Solarstone 7 cities, Solid Sessions - Janeiro, Shane - Too Late, his house productions were pretty good like for example, USA Remedy - Disco, 4 elements, Rush Hour, his remix of As the Rush Comes, Shivers, Sunspot, Slipstream, Astronaut, Serenity, remix of Love you more, Sound of Goodbye, Dub/Dust Wav, Clear Blue Moon, Exhale, From the Heart, Star Theme, Star Theme (Universal Religion version), El Guitarro, Xmarks the spot
 
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aSeb

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Jul 13, 2020
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Markus Schulz is overrated. Never liked a track from him.
Definitely.

He had some good tunes 2004-07, but after that his success has been a mystery for me. Easily one of the most overrated artists in the scene.
 
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dmgtz96

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Jul 13, 2020
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Armin van Buuren never was particularly good producer. Not even during the golden years of trance.

Once again this is not saying he was bad and I have his first two artist albums, but I feel it was the work with A State Of Trance which really made him a rising star back in the days.
This is partially true because Armin's best work *isn't* from the golden years of trance. He was still very much an amateur producer until Imagine, which is around the time his career as a musical artist peaked.
His real magnum opus(es) aren't Blue Fear and Communication. They're Imagine and Mirage. Both the albums and their eponymous tracks, plus all the pop-ish productions from those albums are far more interesting than his rather dull trance work from 76.

Imagine and Mirage (the tracks) are also some of the more complex tracks released during their time, if not the best.
 

dmgtz96

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I could say the same thing about Tiesto.
This is tricky because what even is Tiesto's sound? How much was he really involved in the production of the tracks which made him famous (Silence, Suburban Train, Traffic)? How much was he involved in the production of songs from his early career, like West & Storm - Porpoise?
What is a good example of a 100% Tiesto track?

I don't think there's any, so it's hard to say that Tiesto is or isn't a good producer. And no, I'm not defending Tiesto here. I know that the brilliant, innovative tracks like Silence, Suburban Train,, Goldenscan remix, and the Tears from the Moon remix were all produced by his ghost producers and just happened to be released under his name.
 

Magdelayna

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Currently laughing at people who are saying Armin was not very good/overrated. Id like to know who you actually thought was a good producer haha??

01 Aria - Dido (Armin van Buuren's Universal Religion Mix)
02 Armin van Buuren feat. Gabriel & Dresden - Zocalo
03 Ayumi Hamasaki - Appears (Armin van Buuren Sunset Dub)
04 Armin van Buuren pres. Darkstar - Feel Me
05 Vincent de Moor - Shamu (Armin van Buuren Remix)
06 Mark Otten vs Carrie Skipper - Time Is Serene (Armin Mashup)
07 Perpetuous Dreamer - Dust.Wav
08 Denzil & Dwayne - Force Of Habit (Armin van Buuren Remix)
09 Armin van Buuren - Communication
10 Solid Sessions - Janiero (Armin van Buuren Remix)
11 DJ Manta - Holdin' On (Armin van Buuren Remix)
12 Gouryella - Walhalla (Armin van Buuren Remix)
13 Riva - Time Is The Healer (Armin van Buuren Remix)
14 Shane - Too Late To Turn (Armin van Buuren Remix)
15 Armin van Buuren - Shivers
16 Oceanlab - Sky Falls Down (Armin van Buuren Remix)
17 Yahel - Devotion (Armin van Buuren Remix)
18 Perpetuous Dreamer - The Sound Of Goodbye (Armin's Tribal Feel)
19 Armin van Buuren - Blue Fear
20 Armin van Buuren pres. Rising Star - Clear Blue Moon
 

Archon

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rather dull trance work from 76
That's a rather unpopular opinion, quite fitting the thread. I am a bit biased since 76 is one of my favourite albums of all time, but I just listened to Mirage the other day and...even though I loved it in 2013 when I discovered it, 76 is in a league of its own.

I wonder what exactly you find special about Imagine and Mirage, especially over his earlier work. This is a proper question, I would really like to know how you judge these tunes.

And BTW, Imagine is when he started working with Benno.
 
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Archon

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Currently laughing at people who are saying Armin was not very good/overrated. Id like to know who you actually thought was a good producer haha??
I get that people have tastes and all, but come on, just look at that list. And the crazy thing is, I could put a lot more tracks in that list most people haven't heard of.
 
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Magdelayna

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I get that people have tastes and all, but come on, just look at that list. And the crazy thing is, I could put a lot more tracks in that list most people haven't heard of.

Not a lot beats his 2002/2003 sound imo - his remixes of Ayumi,Shane,Solid Sessions etc.....i preferred it over his later albums with the more pop/vocal stuff on.
 
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Julian Del Agranda

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Jul 3, 2020
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He was still very much an amateur producer until Imagine
What?

This is one of the craziest things I have ever read on this forum. So these tracks are all from an amateur:

Communication, Serenity, Sail, Shivers, Clear Blue Moon. 4 Elements, The Sound of Goodbye, Touch me, Sunspot, Precious, Slipstream + countless remixes that Magdelayna mentioned.
 

Progrez

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Jun 17, 2022
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That's a rather unpopular opinion, quite fitting the thread. I am a bit biased since 76 is one of my favourite albums of all time, but I just listened to Mirage the other day and...even though I loved it in 2013 when I discovered it, 76 is in a league of its own.

I wonder what exactly you find special about Imagine and Mirage, especially over his earlier work. This is a proper question, I would really like to know how you judge these tunes.

And BTW, Imagine is when he started working with Benno.
He started working with Benno back in 2007 with the tracks 'This World is Watching me' featuring kush

Imagine (Eller van Buuren)", "Fine Without You (Jennifer Rene)", and "Intricacy(Sean Tyas)" were all written by Armin himself. The rest of the tracks were written by Benno.

In 2010, he co-wrote and co-produced all tracks on Mirage except for "Minack", and in 2013 he did it again on Intense (all tracks) and Embrace (except "Looking for Your Name").

He and Armin have also co-produced songs under the alias Gaia; at the 2014 Ultra Music Festival,
 
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Progrez

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Jun 17, 2022
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What?

This is one of the craziest things I have ever read on this forum. So these tracks are all from an amateur:

countless remixes that Magdelayna mentioned.
and myself too - I included his uncommon tracks like xmarks the spot and his house tracks which were/are still great.
 
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Jetflag

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Jul 17, 2020
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Id like to know who you actually thought was a good producer haha??
Benno de Goeie or ferry was mentioned here a couple of times. I find it no surprise armin teamed up with both of them then and later.

I find their productions, especially solo one's and as a children from the same era, to be miles better then Armin solo.
 
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Magdelayna

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Benno de Goeie or ferry was mentioned here a couple of times. I find it no surprise armin teamed up with both of them then and later.

I find their productions, especially solo one's and as a children from the same era, to be miles better then Armin solo.

Armins best work was before he started working with Benno imo...and yes i do agree Armin did many great remixes,more so than originals.

Markus Schulz was mentioned earlier...he would be far more overrated that Armin imo.
 
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Jetflag

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Armins best work was before he started working with Benno imo...and yes i do agree Armin did many great remixes,more so than originals.

Markus Schulz was mentioned earlier...he would be far more overrated that Armin imo.
yeah but Markus Schulz being overrated isn't an unpopular trance opinion :p
 
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dmgtz96

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Jul 13, 2020
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Currently laughing at people who are saying Armin was not very good/overrated. Id like to know who you actually thought was a good producer haha??
The gold standard for golden-era trance is the Tiesto Silence/Suburban Train/Goldenscan remix/Tears of the Moon sound. I'm not saying Tiesto is a good producer, but instead the team responsible for making that sound.

That's a rather unpopular opinion, quite fitting the thread. I am a bit biased since 76 is one of my favourite albums of all time, but I just listened to Mirage the other day and...even though I loved it in 2013 when I discovered it, 76 is in a league of its own.

I wonder what exactly you find special about Imagine and Mirage, especially over his earlier work. This is a proper question, I would really like to know how you judge these tunes.

And BTW, Imagine is when he started working with Benno.
No matter how much I tried to like it, I couldn't get into 76 other than Precious, and that is largely because it's essentially an Airwave track.
Imagine and Mirage (the album tracks) are some of the most technically complex tracks Armin ever made. They sound like they took Armin weeks to create and arrange, and the production in them is top-notch. There's so much attention to detail and ambiance that you just don't hear in his earlier productions. They're also decently catchy and still sound great in 2023.

The rest of the tracks on those two albums are pretty basic. But I can tell you that I'm more likely to listen to Face to Face, In and Out of Love, I Don't Own You, and Virtual Friend instead of the non-Precious tracks on 76.

That could also be the effect of Benno working with Armin, and not just Armin working by himself. Maybe the producer that I actually like is Benno.

What?

This is one of the craziest things I have ever read on this forum. So these tracks are all from an amateur:

Communication, Serenity, Sail, Shivers, Clear Blue Moon. 4 Elements, The Sound of Goodbye, Touch me, Sunspot, Precious, Slipstream + countless remixes that Magdelayna mentioned.
Yeah, to me Imagine and Mirage sound more professional, like they were recorded with state-of-the-art equipment at a professional studio