Miami trance master George Acosta and his latest compilation offering on a double compilation featuring some superb euphoria and uplifting madness.

Recently released on Ultra Records in the USA is Florida trance mogul George Acosta with this double CD release featuring tracks which would definitely appease to the uplifting and energetic trance fans.

Tracklist:

George Acosta - Touched

Disc 1 - Epic Side

1. Touched Intro
2. Armin van Buuren ft Ray Wilson - Yet Another Day (Riva Mix)
3. Insigma - Open Our Eyes (Chiller Twist's Mantra Mix)
4. Eyal Barkan & A-Force - Revolution (Eyal Barkan Extended Mix)
5. Rapid Eye - Circa Forever (Rapid Eye R.E. Mix)
6. Gouryella - Ligaya
7. Solar Stone - Seven Cities (Armin van Buuren Mix)
8. Driftwood - Freeloader (Green Martian Mix)
9. Airwave vs Rising Star - Sunspot (DCML Mix)
10. Cosmic Gate ft Jan Johnston - Raging (Storm) (Flutlicht Vocal Mix)
11. George Acosta - Secret Memory (Marc La Cruz meets Acosta Mix)
12. Marc Dawn - Expander

Disc 2 - Darc Side

1. DJ Subsonic - Time Traveller (Wavetraxx Mix)
2. DJ Shog - The 2nd Dimension (Dave 202 & Phil Green Mix)
3. Green Court ft. Lina Rafn - Silent Heart (Voodoo & Serano Mix)
4. DJ Sakin & Friends ft Run DMC - Thunderbird
5. Pro-Active - The Beat Goes On (DJ Wag Mix)
6. Jay Walker - I Am Here (Spoke & Vespa Mix)
7. Cosmic Gate - The Wave
8. Dave Joy - Second Chase
9. DJ Wag - 2nd Step (Yakooza Mix)
10. Avatar - Red Planet
11. Energy 52 - Cafe del Mar (Marco V Mix)
12. George Acosta pres. Shadow Warriors - Dance With The Sun

The first disc is what it claims to be, epic-like.. The vastly atmospheric "Touched Intro" starts things off with 41 seconds to get the vibe going before George puts in Riva's remix of "Yet Another Day" from dutch trance maestro Armin van Buuren. The buildup of this definitely sets the mood of the uplifting trance of 2002, complete with the vocals that you either love or hate from ex-Genesis vocalist Ray Wilson.

For those who have been into trance for a few year, you will likely know of and remember the huge "Open Your Eyes" from Insigma back in 2000/01 with the Odyssey One Remix which tore open dance floors with its unparalled euphoric melodies and basslines. George Acosta chooses up-and-coming talent Chiller Twist and his remix, which I felt was probably not the best choice of remix as this remix never really fully makes use of the atmosphere which the original Open Your Eye's intended.

We then move onwards towards Israeli producers Eyal Barkan & A-Force with a track which steps up the pace a bit with some psychadelic infused trance which was picked up by a host of other DJs not too long ago and is symbolic of much of the trance around these days.. Not before long we have a track from yesteryear from Rapid Eye and their offering also on Trance Communications (as with Open Your Eyes), with a track which we are all almost too familiar with from last year with plays by almost all the top trance jocks.

Ferry Corsten and his Gouryella guise follows next with the hit from Autumn / Winter 2002, Ligaya. No introduction is needed for this and this more or less defines the euphoric and uplifting sound of Gouryella which we are so familiar with.. some may even consider as being too familiar.. Nonetheless, we keep on it, but to my disappointment we have Solar Stone's "Seven Cities (Armin van Buuren Mix)", and Driftwood's "Freeloader (Green Martian Mix)".. not that the tracks are particularly bad nor is the mixing poor, but it just seems that we are having too many compilations these days which have these tracks within..

Airwave & Rising Star's "Sunspot" has been a personal favourite of mine and I feel that the choice of the DCML Mix is on well thought of, with other DJs often picking the Original mix over the DCML, the euphoric vibe and uplifting crescendo brings this mix to a climax and you can almost feel a symphonic vibe emanating..

And yet again, George Acosta puts in a nice choice with Mix of the Cosmic Gate & Jan Johnston collaboration in my opinion is the one which stands out above the other remixes and continues with the euphoria which this disc intended for.

George Acosta's own productions are rarely seen on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean but this track symbolises just how much we are missing out, with this coupling with Marc la Cruz in a put your hands up style melodic trancer which brings all the elements together and stems into a spine tingler which to me, definitely defines epic..

Closing off his epic mix with Marc Dawn's "Expander" which probably doesn't really fit the so called epic style, but then again genres are all subjective at heart. But what this track does is finish the first disc and give a taster of what we should expect up next...

The Darc Side

Why the second disc is titled the Darc Side is beyond my comprehension and perhaps a better choice would have been something on the lines of "Energy Side" as the first track already from DJ Subsonic already shows the increase in BPM and a more bouncy and moody style in play. Remixers Wavetraxx have been at the front of some of the more energetic trance emanating from Germany and this is some what different from their usual stuff, but the energy is definitely still there.

DJ Shog came forth with his first single "This is My Sound" back in early 2002 and was one of my picks for the top European trance productions of 2002 and its uplifting, yet clubby style still adherent in "2nd Dimension" puts in what some would titled as "Euro-Trance" but the trance from Germany has not been better than in 2002, complete with breakbeat samples and a massive riff which will go down at somewhere like Golden in the UK or the Future Trance arena at Zouk in Singapore.

Yet another European trance production from Germany, this time from the likes of Green Court. George Acosta has definitely set the vibe and pace of the 2nd disc with a mix which so far defines the mainland European trance we heard in 2002 even complete with vocals and a spine tingling riff. Some mixed reactions to this track when it came out but this is definitely a nice complement to the mix.

You all remember Run DMC featuring Jason Nevins a few years ago? Well if you do remember "It's Like That", you'll be surprised to see Run attached to the credits of this production from DJ Sakin & Friends, but you won't miss the vocals the Run made his name with. This track may appeal to a small proportion of listeners, but for me, this should have been left completely out of this mix and any other mix of the trance and techno sound, unless there was a Dub Version..... as otherwise, the production is solid with a diverse range from driving trance to throbbing techno beats in this.

Pro-Active, the producer who stormed onto the scene with "Visions (Trance - Techno Mix)" is back with "The Beat Goes On" featuring a mix from Overdose Recordings resident DJ Wag. The mix flows perfectly into the track and here you begin to grasp the "darkness" which George Acosta was aiming to reflect towards the listeners.

Then we have some more pounding trance from Jay Walker which starts off as being bit of a subliminal trance-techno border production but contains a nice little riff in the middle of the track which would cause some to believe they were listening to a Ferry Corsten mix instead.

More energetic stuff coming forth from Cosmic Gate with their recent single "The Wave" which just fits in nicely with all the tracks so far and although some would find the mix so far a bit too euro-esque for their liking, my impression is that both sides of the trance spectrum have been covered over 2 CDs so far; something for everyone and Dave Joy's "Second Chase" puts the mood back on with a driving trance number which saw German duo Alphazone on the remix tables as well on the single release and this is definitely one of the stronger tracks of this part of the mix.

We go harder still with Yakooza's interpretation of DJ Wag's "2nd Step" which just beams of dance floor madness and is yet again an offering from German hard trance label Overdose.. and just when you thought that we'd seen enough of DJ Wag, his remix of Avatar's "Red Planet" puts a bit more emotion into the mix and moves us away from the hard tipped trance we've heard for the past few tracks.

Do we like Energy 52? Yes we do, but I did not think that "Cafe del Mar" suited this 2nd disc very well, even with its Marco V interpretation, and perhaps would have gone better on the first half of the compilation...?

And we finally reach the finale with an outro from the man himself George Acosta, which his "George Acosta presents Shadow Warriors" in a funked up but haunting and chilling track which would have done better with the vocals but nonetheless, a great finish and in my opinion, the only track which defines the "Darkness" which the 2nd half aimed to portray.

Overall, a well rounded double compilation but we had a few moments when I thought that the track selection could have improved slightly. The mixing was definitely spot on and not any less than you'd expect from George.

Track selection: 6/10
Mixing: 9/10
Overall 7.5/10

Whether you like uplifting trance, european trance, club trance or a bit of techno, there's something in this for you regardless of your tastes as George Acosta has put in his interpretation of trance and techno as it is today.

George Acosta's Website

Ultra Records

Released on Ultra Records now and available from most good music stores.

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