Who doesn’t know these old sets from ’94. Back than, it was all about the music, and nothing more, no real commerce around it, just pure mind-blowing music. And which set shows it better then one of Oakenfold’s most known sets? Read on for my entire review of it.

When Oakenfold did this mix, he didn’t expect that it would become one of the most wanted sets ever, he just did ‘his thing’ and made one of the most renewing sets in the 90’s. He mixed Goa, with classical music, ranging from LSD to Vangelis, and he did it in a way that no one else could do it. It even won awards like “Best Essential Mix”.

And even now, it is still liked very much by everyone, even Radio1 broadcasted it again in order to commemorate that set.

Tracklist of this set, with time marks:

Silver Mix:
1. (0.00) Mr V - Give Me Life
2. (1.34) Grace - Skin on Skin
3. (6.06) Li Kwan - Point Zero
4. (13.31) Disco Evangelists - De Niro
5. (15.25) Virtual Symmetry - Vaporize
6. (20.26) Vangelis - Tears In The Rain
7. (22.24) Salt Tank - Eugina
8. (23.52) Hallucinogen - LSD
9. (29.46) St Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart
10. (30.04) Wojciech Kilar - Vampire Hunters
11. (31.03) Electrotete - Alcatraz
12. (38.30) Vangelis - Main Titles
13. (39.12) Man With No Name - Floor Essence
14. (45.04) Scorpio Rising - Dubcatcher
15. (48.36) Man With No Name – Evolution


Gold Mix:
1. (0.00) Goldie - Inner City Life
2. (01.33) Wojciech Kilar - Love Remembered
3. (03.09) Voodoo People - Co-Incidence
4. (06.23) The Infinity Project - Stimuli
5. (11.00) Trance Team - Wake Uo
6. (16.13) Marmion - Schoneburg
7. (23.16) Karl Biscuit - Herophone
8. (25.37) Vangelis - Rachel's Song
9. (27.12) Virus - Sun
10. (35.33) Man With No Name - Deliverence
11. (42.40) Perfecto Allstars - Reach Up
12. (48.18) Para-Dizer - Songs Of Liberation
13. (53.38) Dead Can Dance - Sanvean
14. (57.03) 4 Voice - Eternal Spirit
15. (61.09) Man With No Name - Sugar Rush

Instead of reviewing the tracks one by one, like we do with vinyl reviews, I chose to review the set in its whole, with referring to them, and pointing out how he mixes, how he inserts classical music, and track choice. This for your and my convenience.

The Silver Mix:
When this set starts, the fist thing you hear is some opera, and you think that you are playing the wrong set, maybe a CD of your parents, but IT IS Oakenfold, and he uses classical music & opera throughout the whole set. He uses it in a way that all elements come together, mixing in perfectly the goa with the classical stuff. The opener of this set is Mr V with “Give Me Life” and after about 90 seconds, he changes the classical music to the all important goa in this set. Grace takes the second song for their account, and it’s pure goa, not very fast goa, like you hear a lot nowadays, but the more calm type, really nice to listen to.

After Grace, it’s time for Matt Darey under the Li Kwan disguise. One of his first releases (in 1994) ever, and you know that this is a very talented producer, who later on, produced under different aliases, like Lost Tribe. This was originally released on the Seka label, and had a mix on it that lasted about 12 minutes, but was later picked up by Deconstruction (the label Sasha is signed to). This song is really great, with some great vocals, not real singing, but more chanting, and there are also some lyrics in it, a woman saying something like ‘You wouldn’t believe, they’re really spaced out’, and the words spaced out really have a meaning here. It’s spacey music. If you have a copy of this song on the Seka label, cherish it, it’s rare, and highly sought after.

Then you hear some flutes, with a nice beat, not a steady beat, but one that changes, and matches the flutes. When the flutes fade out, it’s time for bells, and this is all done by the Disco Evangelists with their song “De Niro”. And at the 15.30 mark, there’s a drastic change, you hear this fantastic piano bit, and a little later on, you hear the piano together with a melody. After this song, it’s time again for some more classical music, and this done by Vangelis, who have produced for years and years, and have done a lot of soundtracks. But the soundtrack used in this set is the Bladerunner soundtrack. This song is really chilled, and has nice vocals. After Vangelis, it’s time for some guitar with the middle part of “Eugina” brought to you by Salt Tank, and you think this is another classical music, but Salt Tank are real trance producers, and this middle part is just awesome. After only a minute of the middle part, you hear one of the most influential songs ever, namely LSD – Hallucinogen, and you just wish that you could be there to experience this set. This is one of the most famous goa/psy songs ever, and when you listen to it now (8 years later) you don’t have a clue that the song is that old. The song itself has some vocals, GREAT effects, lots of bass, short: a track to die for.

After some LSD, it’s time for some St Etienne, and it starts of with some nice vocals, saying ‘The Dj, eases a spliff from his lyrical lips, and smilingly orders, cease”, (smokes weed, and tells people to stop) followed by some nice violin strings, done by Wojciech Kilar for the Dracula Soundtrack. There you have had two songs that weren’t goa, but they were a great asset to this set. And then you’re in for an acceleration, with Electrotete’s “Alcatraz”, a superb song, using all different layers in a combination that gives the song something special.

Vangelis is back, after the “Alcatraz” song, with the “Bladerunner Main Titles”, you can hear Harrison Ford speaking in this song, he’s saying some scientific stuff, used in the movie. And then it’s time for the first feature of Man With No Name, “Floor Essence”, a song made big by this set, and also cause the song just rocks! It uses a lot of melody, a lot of different layers, and the melody is made of high changing tones, a little bit simple, but o so effective.
After the first MWNN song, it’s Scorpio Rising time, who also made a tune called Nagasaki, which was a great hit. This song fits the set perfectly.
Then it’s time for MWNN again, with his song “Evolution”, and then you realise, that this is one of the best goa producers ever, but good thing is that he uses MWNN songs again, in the second part of his set. The “Evolution” song uses one GREAT layer, a repeating whomp sound, and that drives you insane! Then the set ends.


The Gold Mix:
This set starts of with some nice vocals, done by Goldie, and they immediately set the mood for the rest off the set. After that, Wojciech Kilar takes his turn, with his ‘Love Remembered’, pure classical music, which goes perfectly with the first track. You might have heard this song before, it was made for the Dracula Soundtrack. And again, this song fits the set like a pair of handmade shoes. At the 3rd minute, it’s time to dance, that’s what Oakenfold must have thought when he put Voodoo People on. That song starts off chilled, with some nice effects and some high tones, but after about a minute it changes completely, and it gets goa to the max. If this song doesn’t make you dance, then it’s time you stopped listening to dance music, hehe.

Then there is a flawless mix, and you can hear The Infinity Project coming up, and you go like, omg, this song is great, Astral Projection style. Nice fading effects, a lot of different layers, this can’t get any better! There are even some vocals about electron doing to the neutron, which is a great feature in this track. After those vocals, you hear the second part of the song, a nice melody, nice effects, and nice everything!

11 minutes into the mix, you hear a voice saying: ‘Wake Up’, followed by some bells, and a bit of melody. And you think that this is a little bit weird, until the actual melody and bass kick in, then you’re in for a blast. At the 16th minute, there’s a short breakdown, right after mixing two tracks together, and it immediately starts into the beat and melody.

Then you’re in for another surprise: the 23rd minute gives you more classical music with Karl Biscuit, it’s a really good transition between the goa and the classical music, and this song is one of those classical songs that even the tranceaddicts will love. And you wonder what the next track will be, maybe something goa, maybe something uplifting, but no. Guess again. It’s a heavenly voice, that starts of “Rachel’s Song”, done by Vangelis. Again, from the Bladerunner Soundtrack, and it’s the third song already on these sets that Oakenfold played. And if you love music like I do, and recognise the good songs, even if they aren’t trance, then you will love Vangelis, and go out and get the full soundtrack, because there are more great tracks on there. After about 2 minutes of “Rachel’s Song”, Oakey decides it’s time for goa again, and he chose wisely: Virus – Sun has the capability of setting the tone for the rest of the evening, and is a great follow-up for the classical music you have heard so far.

Believe it or not, but I think that Oakenfold was in love with Man With No Name. I said that cause he chose to put another one of his productions in this set, this time “Deliverence”, and it’s the typical MWNN style that you would expect. A great bass, a great melody, short: a great tune. After this MWNN track, it’s time to feature something from his own label: the Perfecto All Stars with “Reach Up”, and it must be one of the best releases on the Perfecto label up to date in my opinion. It has some ‘warm’ elements in it, especially with the trumpet, which has been made so that he sets the melody for the track. Great touch!
This song has a kicking breakdown, no beats, just a melody and re occurring effects, that put you directly into heaven, even when you were a naughty boy/girl.

After the Perfecto feature, it’s time for… Para-Dizer. Although the mixing part wasn’t that good. But you will soon forget that, cause you hear this song, and a driving beat, filled with power. 30 seconds into this song, there’s a breakdown, with a really high voice and it is just BLISS. After this song, you hear nice strings, some violins and you think that this will make a kickass goa song, but you are wrong, it’s Dead Can Dance with “Sanvean”. This song features out of this world vocals, a bit in the style of Chicane’s “Saltwater”. It must be some weird language, but I like it. This is the last classical song he uses in this set, and for the rest of it, it’s just goa again. When “Sanvean” is ending, you can hear a new song being mixed in, with high alternating sounds, and you just dance to it. It captures you to do things with you, that you wouldn’t think, cause this is one of those songs that has that special feeling around them, that makes you want to dance, and that makes you want to get lost in this type of music.

And then it’s time for the last course, and off you go to the death chair, cause if this set didn’t kill you, what will? This is yet again, another MWNN song, this time it’s “Sugar Rush”, but the song itself isn’t rushed. It’s a little bit on the calmer side, but fast enough to get you dancing, and this song is the perfect ender for one of the best sets I ever heard in my life.


My overall impression with this very old set is: WOOOOOOW, this set doesn’t sound outdated one little bit, and I could listen to it over and over again. Mixing is great, track choice even better, and using classical music in a set like Oakenfold did, is not done by anyone else. This is Oakenfold at his very best!



Well, so far for my review, please post your comments about the set, it’s always nice to hear other people’s opinions.

Conclusion: