Search - Paul Van Dyk :: Out There and Back

Pure pvd

robert scott brown | los angeles, ca, usa | 06/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"OK, OK...first things first. While some dour, pessimistic, and hopelessly tragic people out there may have declared the popularity of trance as its death knell--with all the trashy, same-y comps littering the record store shelves this summer with last years' ibiza holdovers and 'updated' remixes of four year old songs--you MAY be inclined to believe it. BUT I BEG YOU, DON'T DESPAIR...Out There And Back is truly the trance record that Paul Van Dyk had to make, and one not only the trance, but the dance community across the globe, will thank him for. While some DJ/producers batter the same themes over and over until they decide to run it into the ground only to annoy us with their 'new', 'different' direction (BT are you listening?), PVD improves on his entire back catelog and makes music that is truly progressive on the dancefloor and off.'Vega' is a welcome starter, echoing Paul's fantastic new-ish fascination with breakbeats as a set-starter ala his oft-included Starecase track 'First-Floor Deadlock'. The beats on this track are a perfect intro; a welcome change from most albums' tendency to begin with some murky synth nonsense. From then on in, Out There and Back starts like an album should...it progresses like a live set, not a collection of singles. Songs like 'Pikes' contain so many hooks and such crafted care that you swear it truly isn't possible for dance music to do all this. Perhaps the nicest treat is the fact that PVD newly remixed his three previosuly released singles, 'Another Way', 'Avenue', and "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)' espescially for the LP. These new versions mean that those who previously bought the singles get new versions of all tracks, all blended together in a seamless triple threat of power and grace. From there on in, get ready for the true PVD experience as he unleashes the prime time, soon-to-be anthems, four-on-the-floorfillers that anyone who has witnessed Paul live will truly enjoy and want to repeat ASAP. 'The Love From Above' and 'Columbia' are just amazing, pure and simple. Honed and headed straight for your solar plexus, these tunes just demonstrate that you don't always need chemicals or even a club to appreciate the creme de la creme of dance music. And as if that wasn't enough, the album ends with 'Alive', a song PVD has been playing on his US/UK tour lately and sounds like an anthem you've heard a thousand times while still seeming like it came from a daydream from 3012. The vocal and the hook summarize the-heart-in-your-throat beauty and power that PVD closes his sets with. It couldn't end any better than this.This album is a mandate for the dance community. It pulls no punches, yet it doesn't pretend to be something obscure or different due to the tastemakers' disdain for current popular trends. Instead, it just makes plain that Paul Van Dyk is working at the peak of his powers and that is something we can be thankful for from the dancefloor to the freeways, out there and back."

Paul van Dyk is INSANE! But he's made some beautiful trance

TranceCanada | Montreal, Canada | 07/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I mean exactly what I said... I have no idea how Paul van Dyk manages to produce such mindblowing albums or spin such dizzyingly hypnotic DJ sets(if you haven't seen him live then you are missing THE BEST sessions ever...). This disk harvests some enormously powerful tracks, starting off with the breakbeat-ish Vega, moving along till Another Way, then the faint background sounds of the "Tell me why" single featuring Ste-Etienne (also a gorgeous song, on Disc 2). Together we Will Conquer and the Love from Above are both songs that will curl your lips no matter how hard you try to resist. Finally, Out There and Back leads into We Are Alive, possibly the most emotional trance anthem(or, soon-to-be-anthem) that I have ever heard. Simply put- BUY THIS ALBUM and learn why Paul van Dyk is called King of Trance.By the way, for those who haven't heard PvD mix live, I HIGHLY recommend downloading his "Ministry of Sound Session" off of Napster or elsewhere."

I must be too old...

deltafront | Silverdale, WA United States | 12/25/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This CD set would be perfect in only one of two situations. 1) You want to throw a party and you need a premixed CD with the loops built in, or 2)you listen to the first CD (since the second is remixes and a video) two songs at a time, leaving at least a day in between sittings. Sure, the melodies are nice, gentle and listenable - but they only last a few bars apiece, and are repeated ad nauseum over the same four-on-the-floor beat. No subtlety, no variance, just establish beat, cue in effects, and bliss out to the melody of the minute. That makes a song here. I must be getting old. I guess too much past 30, and the "ten songs looped together as one" concept just looses its appeal. Not that there aren't moments, mind you - but after five straight songs, they all just blend together and kinda get to sounding the same. Maybe that's the point?"