Loud, Electronic and Ferocious music is what we're being treated with on Ferry's second artist album. Filled with loads of different tastes & styles plus some very interesting collaborations, this is an album not to be missed... Head in for a full review.

Back in 2003, Ferry surprised the scene with his very first artist album under his own name, called 'Right Of Way'. Unlike his mostly trancy productions up until '03, the album included a blend of trance, electro and quality pop music, perfectly showing what direction Ferry was heading into as a producer. A selection of the album tracks were released as singles, showcasing the new 'electro-trance' sound Ferry had been working on.

Meanwhile, he hasn't been sitting still of course. The essence of his 2003 sound is still there, but, naturally, the necessary evolution has taken place as well. Loud, Electronic and Ferocious are the three key words that define the soundscapes on this album, brought forward in a multitude of interesting tracks ranging from subtle vocal breakbeats to powerful, elevating trance...

Tracklisting:

01) Intro
02) Are You Ready
03) Fire
04) L.E.F.
05) Into The Dark
06) Galaxia
07) Beautiful
08) Possession
09) On My Mind
10) Down On Love
11) Forever
12) Watch Out
13) Junk
14) Cubikated
15) Freefalling
Bonus track: I Love You

After a short intro filled with mysterious bits & bleeps, L.E.F. starts off with more than a blast by bringing in 'Are You Ready', a massive electro-styled, typical Ferry production filled with amazingly powerful, distorted riffs, weird yet very cool SFX and a bunch of chords that'll make you want to start jumping around immediately. Picking adjectives is usually rather hard, but the three key words that define this album apply to this track perfectly. A blocky, deep bassline grinds its way through the track without remorse, only adding up to the already superbly thick vibe. What a start!

Of course 'Fire', one of Ferry's latest hits in the charts, couldn't be excluded from this album. Working together with Simon LeBon from Duran Duran, a slightly commercial sounding track has been created, again in that distinct Corsten style we're all used to by now. The vocals give the tune a sing-along, happy feel, accentuated even more by using powerful percussion, catchy main riffs and a thick b-line.
'L.E.F.' is up next, and being the title track of the album it should fit in seamlessly with the sound Ferry's heading for at the moment. And boy, it works out like a charm! While this is a short three and a half minute edit, it does show everything it has to show; it's superbly rapid, has the most amazing structure filled with wicked sound effects, blazing synths, electro'ish riffs and a set of vocoderized vox to top things off. This is one of them tracks that instantly blows up a dancefloor, no doubt. This is Loud, Electronic and Ferocious indeed!

'Into The Dark' has been written by Ferry and Howard Jones, with the latter also taking care of the vocals. Overall, it's a more downtempo track, filled with crispy bits of percussion, clearly produced soundscapes and a very subtle use of chords. Howard's vocals are quite beautiful, driven on by very well written lyrics (which are also printed in the booklet; same goes for all the vocal tracks on the album). The chorus is of the slighly emotional, infectious caliber, with the thin yet magnificently blending production by Ferry striking behind it. This is a quality down-tempo intermezzo which shows Ferry is a man of many talents.
Everyone who remembers Moonman 'Galaxia' will instantly fall in love with the special rework that is available on this album. Ferry has made a full-fledged update of the classic released in the middle of the nineties, which goes backwards in time a bit by introducing that typical full-on uplifting trance vibe. Ferry's contemporary productional quality is quite noticeable though! The magnificent melodies from the original track return in a most glorious form, injecting a pure, hands-in-the-air trance experience into this rework's body. This one's been rocking Ferry's sets for months now, and I guess you know why by now.

Up next is another vocal track called 'Beautiful', yet this time it's in a more up-tempo, danceable fashion. The lyrics are written by Ben Cullum (yes, Jamie's brother!) and sung by Debra Andrew. The typical electro-filled trance sound returns here, fueled onwards by Debra's distorted vocal lines, a meaty bassline and bits of tiny backing melody. The full vocals during the breakdown are of the spoken form, rapidly interchanging lines to create a tense, fast feel. At all of a sudden, a splendid full-on trancy riff comes out of nowhere, playing a very uplifting melody reminding of the old days a bit. Highly danceable material and a sureplayer in Ferry's recent sets.
Both 'Possession' and 'On My Mind' are co-written by Raz Nitzan (known from Solid Globe and lóts of co-productions with several artists) and Adrian Broekhuyze (who has written for Armin's Perpetuous Dreamer project and loads more). Denise Stahlie provides us her quite beautiful voice for the vocals in both the tunes. 'Possession' is a wicked feel-good track, serving perfectly as something to just relax to during any moment of the day. Smoothly flowing 4/4 percussion patterns and a bit of crunchy square basses guide the vox onwards, with the tune slowly building towards a warm and cozy melody to finish things off.
'On My Mind' does things differently. It relies on utterly crunchy, thin percussion just slightly reminding me of some Gabriel & Dresden productions. Denise's voice comes forward much better here, because less emphasis has been put on the other elements. Well crafted accompanying chords mingle in in an impeccable way, magnifying the chilly, relaxed atmosphere being brought forward here. A very pretty sounding track.

'Down On Love' is filled with broken beats, thoughtful, infectious vocals by Oz and summery guitar interludes serving as a helping hand to the vox. The overall sound is very warm and smooth, yet gaining a great drive from the good vocals and neat breakbeat structures. Eventually, the guitars are being replaced by distorted melodies which fit in with the album's main concept immediately. This is a tune to listen to during them summery days, sipping a cold drink. Classy!
Ben Cullum and Debra Andrew return on the collaborating side of things in the very poppy sounding 'Forever'. I don't mean poppy as in cheesy, but more like something that could easily be played on the more mainstream radio stations. It has everything a pop-track should have: cool, slightly laidback percussion, hum-along vocals, sunny, immediately recognizable melodies and a buzzy, smiling bassline. If you feel down, play this, it'll cheer you up in no-time!

After about five full vocal tunes, it's time for some powerful stuff! 'Watch Out', Ferry's brand new single is a very, very energetic tune which kind of goes on in the Rock Your Body Rock tradition. A very mean, raw, amazingly fast electro bassline stomps its way throughout the track, with Ferry's own vocoded vocal lines on top of everything. Just as RYBR, 'Watch Out' includes an unbelievably catchy melody once again. It's quite simple, yet has the ability to stick in your head for hours. Combined with the distinct L.E.F. percussion this is a track that will be climbing the charts like a maniac!
Up next is what might be the most controversial track on the album. In essence, it's 'Punk'. And in another way, it's not. 'Junk' takes just over two and a half minutes, but during this time you're treated with some really phat raps by Guru, Prodigy styled broken beats, the original Punk melody and some great, darkish intermezzo's. Some might say that remaking Punk is cheesy... They'll most likely shut up when they hear this. Devastating stuff!

Following up is 'Cubikated', which is a remix of 808 State's 'Cubik', released back in the nineties. Without talking around it: this is a total dancefloor bomb. Ferry has been playing this baby since 2004, and to a great extent indeed. The whole track is built around a MASSIVE industrial sounding beast of a riff, stabbing out a truly dark rhythm while stomping through the track. Implementing fast percs, wicked effects and a downright mean atmosphere, this is a cracking tune in the most literal sense of the word.
After all this dancefloor mania we're torpeded back into reality with the magnificent 'Freefalling', which is also the last track of the album when not counting the bonus track. It's a superbly laidback, Cafe Del Mar-like tune with its tiny bubbling basslines, nicely progressing bits of percussion, classy, summerish chords, weird yet cool sound FX and some very soothing, uncomplicated vocals by Denise Stahlie. Delicacy to the maximum.

The version of L.E.F. reviewed here is the Benelux one, which includes 'I Love You' as a bonus track. I had the pleasure to hear this one live a few times, and I can say this one was always one of the highlights of Ferry's set to me. In a sense, it's a typical uplifting trancer, but with Ferry's magic shining over it it becomes a totally different experience. A tearjerkingly beautiful melody moves through the tune in an amazing way, making this another amazing corker of a trance tune.
The Japanese release of the album includes Ferry's Flashover remix of System F's 'Insolation', the US release has Ferry's remix of the Prison Break theme song on it and other regions are treated with the track 'Daylight'.

Conclusion:
L.E.F. has become an album of utmost quality. It showcases Ferry Corsten's ever developing style, which encompasses a wide variety of styles. With tracks ranging from elevating trance ('Galaxia', 'I Love You') to quality vocal intermezzo's ('Into The Dark', 'Possession') to pop ('Forever') to loud, electronic and ferocious pumpers like 'Are You Ready', 'L.E.F.' and 'Cubikated', Ferry has once again proved that he remains one of trance music's pioneers for the years to come. Go get this now, it'd be a shame if you didn't.