What was the first ever 'Uplifting' subgenre track? Who coined the term?

[Julian Del Agranda]

Giving stuff a new genre name ‘in retrospect’ feels like the silliest thing ever.

If that’s possible I know will call anything from Rank 1 “mega trance”.

It’s anthemic, but like, even more. Big sounds… mega!

Its mega trance.

 

[Hensmon]

Giving stuff a new genre name ‘in retrospect’ feels like the silliest thing ever.

Not entirely in retrospect though, as the Anthem Trance label was being used at the time, but obviously wasn't considered precise enough or quality enough to become part of the etymology permanently.

Uplfting Trance today does feel like a specific sub-genre, because it feels like there's a clear formula behind it, but tbh I struggle to then argue or articulate what distinguishes it from VDM - Fly Away, Out of the Blue, Rank 1 - Airwave from that. I never considered those Uplifting Trance, but I guess they could be?

 

[Julian Del Agranda]

Its literally ‘my style’ what you refer to as ‘anthem trance’ and I’ve never ever heard that term.

Not in cds, not in marketing for big events like Trance Energy or Sensation, not on trance.nu… nowhere.

I stand by Magdelaynas stance, back then, it was simply called trance.

Just like “Dutch trance”, that’s not a genre. The “guide” is just one random dudes opinion.

 

[tranceissomewhatalive]

the obsession certain listeners have with labeling music not only common broad genres but very specific subgenres smells ocd

 

[hoopoe]

Up until 2006 I believe the term Uplifting trance did not exist. Everything was just Trance or maybe Progressive Trance. All the big records, no matter how much super-saw goodness or BPM epicness was injected, it was all just 'Trance'.

So when did all the big melodic stuff stop becoming Trance and start becoming Uplifting? Was it a track or labels doing? What actually makes a track like Synaesthesia separate from tracks labelled as Uplifting Trance in 2008?

Just for fun discussion...

I think you are spot on and not getting many helpful replies. I'm sure plenty of people had used 'uplifting' as an adjective to describe trance music over the years, but in my experience 'uplifting trance' as a genre tag was the one that stuck as part of a backlash against the whole McProg/Trance 2.0 stuff in the mid 2000s. This really kicked off around the time Anjunabeats launched Anjunadeep (2005-6); soon everyone launched a progressive sublabel and many of the big established artists started to drop the tempo of their productions. I recall some very vocal people on forums/social media etc. who could not stomach trance being anything below 138bpm, and really took exception to this. Their heroes were Daniel Kandi, Andy Blueman, Bjorn Akesson, Manuel le Saux, and a thousand other artists I couldn't name a single track by. 2007-2008 are the years I would associate this with.

I don't particularly like relentlessly sub-dividing the genre, was never much of a fan of Ishkur's guide. 'Uplifting Trance' was one of a small number of sub-genre tags available to me while I was releasing my tracks through a distributor last year, so it is definitely a thing some platforms are using to categorise music.

 

[Magdelayna]

We had Compilation CD's in the early 2000's dividing Trance into sub genres...

 

[erickUO]

I always see uplifting (wasn't epic trance the more popular term back then?) as an umbrella name for the regular fast BPM trance. Not just the happy/feel good, but also the darker ones like Matt Darey's Nocturnal Delight or VDM's Desdemonia. And then the golden era of Anjuna happened. They became big and influential, and suddenly we have a lot of Anjuna wannabes in the scene, especially those who expand on Kandi's fluffy style. Which sets the blueprint to the uplifting we have nowadays.

 

[Air_Water]

I don't know about some of these explanations. Gouryella (original mix) no way should be labelled as uplifting trance. Same for Signum - Coming On Strong. These are both fast BPM, synthy and with big breakdowns. Noctural Delight is just Trance music too, isn't it?.

Uplifting as an actual subgenre genre came after, like 2007 or around there. To me it's taking many of the elements of Trance but dialing it all up. Faster, harder kicks, bigger and more emphasized breakdowns, bigger emphasis on melodies and hooks, more volume in all the layers, like a wall of sound, very positive themes, sometimes sickly so.

 

[Magdelayna]

I don't know about some of these explanations. Gouryella (original mix) no way should be labelled as uplifting trance.

Eh?? Its 'Uplifting' though? So is Saltwater...

I dont know what the obsession with Anjunabeats is on this thread either....

 

[Aquarium]

Uplifting as an actual subgenre genre came after, like 2007 or around there. To me it's taking many of the elements of Trance but dialing it all up. Faster, harder kicks, bigger and more emphasized breakdowns, bigger emphasis on melodies and hooks, more volume in all the layers, like a wall of sound, very positive themes, sometimes sickly so.

Yup, that's how I feel.

Saltwater sitting with Factor B or Ciaren McCauley the same subgenre ain't flying homie.

 

[HTY]

If you grew up on the 90-95 trance then watched the genre move to the Dutch stuff then of course you see It's a different beast and needs different language. So calling tracks like Out of The Blue, Strange World, For An Angel, Galaxia, Bassfly, Synaesthesia etc Uplifting is as good a label as any. And fundamentally Factor B, or other modern uplifting outputs are not much different from those tracks, other than that things got louder, faster, more melodic more formulaic and with a much worse sound design year on year.

Difficult territory however because then the conclusion becomes "anything more melodic or energetic than the 90-95 baseline is all Uplifting". So then Trance as a genre almost ceases to exist past the year 1999, because nothing sounds like the 90-95 again really, meaning only subgenres like Uplfiting, Progressive and tech remain to fill.

It's also imprecise, as Tasteexperience - Aqua Sun and Pulser - Cloudwalking are different in a big enough way.

 

[Motion]

I remember Anthem trance being used every now and then informally, but it was mostly the terms Ibiza Trance, Epic Trance, Euro Trance that I heard being used to describe those older, typically Dutch or UK productions. I don't remember Uplifting being used, but that's my limited experience growing up and partying in Switzerland in mid to late 90s.

If I had to pick a popular old track that feels like a precursor to what we define Uplifting as today, it would be this one

 

[Spacetime]

And fundamentally Factor B, or other modern uplifting outputs are not much different from those tracks, other than that things got louder, faster, more melodic more formulaic and with a much worse sound design year on year.

Well, all these differences you listed equate to lot in my mind. I think you are describing the formula for Uplifting well. There’s a certain increase in intensity to the production, and heavy positive or epic melody work. I think this is what makes Uplfiting its own subgenre today, and why I have difficulty seeing Salt Water or even Gouryella is the same.

@TheTranceHistorian what is your take?

 

[TheTranceHistorian]

Well, all these differences you listed equate to lot in my mind. I think you are describing the formula for Uplifting well. There’s a certain increase in intensity to the production, and heavy positive or epic melody work. I think this is what makes Uplfiting its own subgenre today, and why I have difficulty seeing Salt Water or even Gouryella is the same.

@TheTranceHistorian what is your take?

If I understand correctly, the question is about what defines Uplifting Trance, right? Coincidentally, I’m currently writing a fairly extensive segment about this very topic for my book and for one of the documentary-style videos I’m working on. In it, I’m trying to outline both the key pillars that define trance as a genre and the principles along which its substyles emerge and take shape. So the question is actually very timely for me.

In my view, every substyle that forms a truly legitimate branch of the genre tends to emphasize and foreground a particular core element of trance. Hard trance, for example, intensifies the forward momentum and inherent energy already present in trance. Ambient trance highlights atmosphere, mood, and spatial sound design. Progressive trance, true to its name, places the main emphasis on consistent, gradual development and forward progression. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence, then, that virtually all major trance subgenres appeared already in the very early years (around 1991–1993), even if at that time only through a handful of pioneering tracks.

Uplifting trance is a bit of an anomaly in this regard, because it is associated with a much later era. To be honest, I’m not yet entirely sure whether it truly constitutes a fully independent subgenre with its own structural identity, or whether it is better understood as a particular aesthetic tendency that manifests within already existing trance styles (or combinations of them). What I mean by this is that the essence of the style lies in foregrounding the emotional impact of trance. Yet structurally, many of these tracks are fundamentally built on progressive trance principles in the most natural sense of the term: in order to achieve the desired emotional intensity, they place great emphasis on gradual build-up and the significant escalation of tension. Of course, on top of that, you often find elements and sonic gestures borrowed from classical music, as well as a certain theatrical, grandiose character in the overall presentation.

Ultimately, though, a lot depends on what exactly we mean by the word uplifting. Some would argue that the term itself is not the most accurate, and that labels like melancholic trance or epic trance might actually capture the emotional journey more precisely, especially since many of these tracks follow a darker or more bittersweet emotional trajectory rather than a purely uplifting one.

When I think about this style, the first artists that come to mind are Ace Da Brain, Andy Blueman, Ronny K, and SoundLift, particularly from the late 2000s. In a way, they represent the final flourish of trance’s classical era. At the same time, the picture becomes even more complicated if I try to define the genre retroactively and more broadly. In that case, for instance, one of my personal favorites — 1994's Fantasia (Celestial Harmonies) by Cosmic Baby — could arguably also fall under the same conceptual umbrella.

That’s about as far as I can go with it for now. But I will definitely return to the subject later, once my thoughts about the nature and legitimacy of the substyle become clearer and more refined.

 

[Hensmon]

virtually all major trance subgenres appeared already in the very early years (around 1991–1993), even if at that time only through a handful of pioneering tracks.

Really? What you considering uplifting trance from 91, 92 etc? Same for progressive trance, give some examples. Tech trance? Bit surprised to see you say this.

 

[SaltAcidFatHeatAcid]

That’s about as far as I can go with it for now. But I will definitely return to the subject later, once my thoughts about the nature and legitimacy of the substyle become clearer and more refined.

 

[TheTranceHistorian]

Really? What you considering uplifting trance from 91, 92 etc? Same for progressive trance, give some examples. Tech trance? Bit surprised to see you say this.

Due to linguistic barriers and the state of music distribution, trance was mostly limited to Germany pre-1996 (with a few tracks from random places like Sweden, UK, Australia, etc. here and there, and the wave of Italian tracks starting in 1995).

Most tracks from that era never saw the light of day in other countries, which may help explain why the general trance audience's knowledge about this era is very limited, including people I know who have worked in the industry for decades and even people like Armin van Buuren who explicitly said there wasn't really trance (aside from a few examples) before 1995-1996 (the commercialization of the genre and the strong push to different countries started in 1996, possibly driven by Robert Miles' Children that came out the prior year and had insane success).

Thus, it may not be surprising either why many sources point to later years when it comes to the birth of at least half of trance's subgenres (especially the ones that only really started getting produced in larger amounts in the late 2000s like progressive trance that you have mentioned).

I give you a few proper examples:

Depending on how broadly or narrowly you interpret Dream Trance and how much you want to stretch its definition, it either started in 1991 with the Subliminal Mix of Moby's Go, in 1992 with Confession's I Found Love (Club Mix) and DJ Hooligan's It's A Dream Song, or in 1993 with the Gianni Parrini Remix of Roland Brant's Nuclear Sun (both artists became the key members of the Italian Dream Progressive movement in 1995, along with artists such as Mauro Picotto and Robert Miles).

For ambient trance, you have to look no further than Sven Väth, who (after the founding of Harthouse) started to help to define various styles of trance in 1992. What is relevant here is his track Transpulsation (released under his Pulsation alias), but Sensorium by Zero Gravity is another worthwhile pick. On a sidenote, many tracks like these could also be retroactively labeled cosmic trance in my opinion (if we also accept vibe-based categorizations such as balaeric trance) due to their strong sense of spiraling, cosmic, spacey sound.

As for Hard Trance, my favourite record to point out is Final Fantasy's Sometimes I See Your Mind E.P. from 1993 which houses three amazing hard trance bangers (Control Your Fantasy, The Sky Is In Your Hands, Sometimes), but you can go back until 1992 to find Influid's Mastermind. And, Hard Trance could be further broken down into smaller categories if you really want to. There's 'rave' trance, like Andromeda's Trip To Space from 1993 and Spacewalker's Tenerife Dream from 1994. There are those I already mentioned which Ishkur likes to call german hard trance (basically hard trance, just clocking at higher BPMs than productions from let's say the early 2000s). Then there's hard trance from the 2000s, and you could also make a case for a type of trance (infused by happy hardcore) like Meteor Seven's Signs of Life from 1994, and can define acid trance (characterized by the cutting lines of TB303/808) by pointing to various tracks from the NIP Collective (Brainstorm from 1993) and Nostrum (Trance on Ecstasy from 1994).

For Tech Trance (so a form of trance more focused on small vibrations, techical proficiency, creative layering of sounds and development and less about drawn out, extensive melodies), there's Solitaire - Chasing Clouds (Cosmic Baby's Free Gliding Mix) and Instinctive Spirits - Omen 01, both from 1993. The first is a production by Cosmic Baby and Jens Wojnar (they also did a vinyl-only remix in 1994) and the second is produced by the guy who released Master DJ Rob - Energy Base in 1994. Northern Lights by Mr. Oz & Larry Lush, plus Grace's Skin on Skin (Orange Mix) - which is also known as Orange (Original Perfecto Mix) - from 1995 are also great picks, although I guess you could also label them as Progressive Trance, and maybe even the prior examples due to their heavy focus on subtle harmonic shifts and sustained development, but then again, I think there's a lot of overlap between those styles.

So yeah, for Progressive Trance, I would also possibly pick from the previous examples. Or I could potentially point to Eden Transmission's I'm So High (Ubud Mix) from 1991.

And, while Vocal Trance is not technically a genre, I think (I believe it only became its own thing when trance started to becoming nothing like trance to begin with), there are some early tunes that incorporate vocals in a stylish and complementary manner. Confession - I Found My Love (Club Mix) from 1992, Snap - Do You See The Light (Dance 2 Trance Remix) from 1993, or Lotus Eye - Enchanted (Komatex Remix) from 1994.

Of course, a whole lot depends on how one may interpret subgenres (and it becomes quite tricky especially when it comes to progressive trance as there are multiple interprations of the world itself). Though I think my approach and understanding, that essentially each substyle of trance tries to emphasize a singular, specific aspect of proper trance makes the most logical sense.

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Or I'm just realistic enough to know the current limits of my knowledge and don't want to make a statement about things I don't know (enough) about. I currently covered pretty much everything until 1994 and part of 1995 as I checked around 35,000 tracks from those years. I can't say the same for the years after that, and based on my current understanding of uplifting trance, it's primarily a thing of the late 2000s. I'll potentially revise and update my views when I reach the later years of trance music and accumulate more knowledge.

 

[HTY]

@EnigmaState would you classify your music as Uplifting?

 

[EnigmaState]

@EnigmaState would you classify your music as Uplifting?

I just classify it as Trance music

 

[Magdelayna]

I dont think there is a sub genre of Uplifting Trance. Saltwater is uplifting,and its trance. Therefore its Uplifting Trance.