The market has been flooded with compilation after compilation and most of them fail for a few reasons but this is not the case with A Trip In Trance 3. Why?

A Trip In Trance 3 – Mixed by Plastic Angel (Blue Dot Recordings)

Most labels that are releasing CDs, have two things that they do wrong 1) Too much Hype and 2) Tracks with monster buildups and breakdowns, which are just out to sell compilations but really pay no attention to the quality, well finally a label has really decided to think about quality. Quality is defined as “Excellence, a degree of excellence” (Oxford Color Dictionary, page 521). Blue Dot Recordings has finally got this quality thing under control; Mark Versluis, the label manager, carefully and painstakingly picked the tracks. We have no real big names on this compilation, we have a lot of upcoming artists and some will be names to watch for in the future. A trip in trance 3 contains no big Choons or massively known tracks, just solid quality tracks. The European release of this CD was mixed by Afterglow records’s own Plastic Angel and the North American release is two CD’s, one was mixed by Lange and one was mixed by Plastic Angel.

Tracklist
1.Sectoid Blue – Blind
2.Lagoona – Into My Dream (Kaven Azizi Remix)
3.Szartd & Trancejax - Panema
4.Usual Aspect – Mr.Blue (Progressive Mix)
5.Faraway Project – Without Fear (Goldenscan’s Close to Home Mix)
6.Aura – Intercity (Original Mix)
7.Lennox – Flying Among the Stars
8.Terradia – Coming Back
9.Vincent and Quentin – Freeway (Ralphie B’s Dub Version)
10.Solarforce – Kaleidoscope (Extended Mix)
11.Kyamoto – Frosted
12.Arizona and Greg Murray – Daylight (Mystery Islands Remix)
13.Echano – Nothing to Live For (Icone Remix)
14.Son of a pitch – Lunica

The CD starts off with a real bang, no quiet fading in intro, just right into the mix, with the thumping bassline of Sectoid Blue’s Blind. This tune relies a lot on the melody here but it just oozes quality. We have no big monster breakdowns that have hurt a lot of compilations here, just a solid effective start. We then get moving into Lagoona – Into My Dream (Kaven Azizi Remix), which is driven by a female vocal that is more in the middle but near the back. This is really a clever song here and it builds up the tempo quite nicely.

Szartd & Trancejax - Panema comes up next and this is another effective song that simply lets the trance take over, no huge breakdown, just plain quality. It just uses a simple breakdown, nothing completely huge here, just one that works. I think that you need to use simplicity here because too many compilations are just driven into the ground by tracks that do not work.

Usual Aspect – Mr.Blue (Progressive Mix) leads off next, it is driven by a beautiful riff but relies more on the melody than anything else, just like most of this compilation’s tracks. Just melodic trance that works well anywhere, I’m not sure why people did not get the hint earlier. I love this track here and think it would work well in building a set. All these tracks are new to me, so I’m enjoying all of them. It is a true trip in trance, just like the title of the CD, I’m sure that is the aim of the CD as well.

Faraway Project – Without Fear (Goldenscan’s Close to Home Mix)

This song has truly a chugging along feel, the only thing that is reminds of, is a train that just chugs along. I think Goldenscan’s track was the only mistake of the entire compilation; I’m not a big fan of this track. I think it is a little dull and does not add to the compilation’s progression. I think big ASOT fans will love this track and maybe they might think it fits, I don’t.

Aura – Intercity (Original Mix)

This song is such a gem in so many ways; first of all, it reminds you of something that John 00 Fleming might play in his set. It has that Fleming type track feel and that’s not even why I like it. “Intercity” employs such a strong melody; I think that is why the track is so enjoyable. This is more melodic trance here and you get a hint of PvD circa 1998 at times as well. I can’t help thinking why can’t more songs be like this. The other strength of this song is that it just fits so well into the compilation, it started out banging and has gone more to melodic trance for the last little while.

Lennox – Flying Among the Stars

This really puts you into a trip, once this gets going; it is just one smooth ride till the finale. This is more a slowdown track that uses such strong riffs and melodies to drive it. It is more epic trance at times but it fits so well as did Aura – Intercity into the mix.

Terradia – Coming Back

The pace goes back up with this track. This uses such an excellent melody with strong riffs, nothing weak here and the track has no monster breakdowns and you start to see why each track was chosen. You start to also see how carefully each track was chosen and why it flows so well. You always wonder, where is he finding these tracks that are not familiar to the majority of people and they all ooze quality.

Vincent and Quentin – Freeway (Ralphie B’s Dub Version)

This is the best track on the mix and it is funny that you realize that Vincent and Quentin is a group of guys and one includes Plastic Angel, who is mixing this very CD. This track was out on Afterglow but I don’t know why, more deejays were not picking this up because this is a vastly underrated track in every sense of the word. It starts slowly and the track does contain some vocals but a lot less than the original mix did. The tune gets going into melodic trance heaven here and the track carries some true addictive quality. The riffs slapped me senseless when I heard this, it is very rare that a track can make me just stop and almost start to drift off into trance land. The melody has such a hook that I had the song playing in my head for the last day and a half.

Solarforce – Kaleidoscope (Extended Mix)

This continues the ride in trance here, with another quality track. A freaky keyboard riff drives kaleidoscope but it seems to hide the power of the track but a minute into it, you realize the true power. The song is too short, that’s the only problem but it is another well picked out song.

Kyamoto – Frosted
This song is solid and if you want this song, it is coming out on TRR shortly, ask Andy Bagguley about the details. This moves into a bit harder edge melodic trance and the pace is really picking up to take you to the very end. I love it because it is another simple; well thought out track that serves the purpose to built the mix till the finale.

Arizona and Greg Murray – Daylight (Mystery Islands Remix)

This increases the tempo and is a little harder than Frosted but it is well placed. Arizona is vastly underrated as well, so is Greg Murray. The track is well placed near the end and the melody here is just glorious.

Echano – Nothing to Live For (Icone Remix)

Echano is a guy named Martyn Bone from the UK, who I feel you will be seeing more of, in the next few years. You could also say the same for Icone, they are both bright young stars. This is just an amazing track that makes great use of a breakdown, some mean riffs, some rain noises and a keyboard riff. I love it because it takes you further in that trip in trance and it is nearly done.

Son of a pitch – Lunica

We finish the way that the CD started, with a tremendous BANG! This is an excellent way to finish a way. It is driving melodic trance and it works so well and then the journey in trance fades.

Conclusion:
Mark Versluis deserves massive congrats for this CD, he obviously thought every track through and thought about what it would do for the mix. He found quality tracks that did not have monster breakdowns and did not pick songs that came with hype. He picked solid trance tunes and got Plastic Angel to mix it together and it worked. This is probably one of the more solid albums this year because it is solid from start to finish, with the only glaring weak spot in track number five but this was very well done and this should be an essential purchase to any trance lover’s collection.