Track Listing
Disc 1
Isn’t It Lovely – Matt Lange
Is It Love? (Matt Lange Remix) – Above & Beyond
In My Last Life (Dave DK Remix) – Andrew Bayer ft. Alison May
Follow Me – Nox Vahn & Marsh
For the Night – PROFF & EKSF
Foggy August – Spencer Brown & Qrion
Always (Tinlicker Remix) – Above & Beyond ft. Zoë Johnston
Need to Feel Loved (Tinlicker Remix) – Reflekt ft. Delline Bass
Before the Dawn – ALPHA 9
Stay – GRUM
You Are All – Kyau & Albert
Misdirection – Judah
Cold Feet (Above & Beyond Club Mix) – Above & Beyond ft. Justine Suissa
Moonlight – Sunny Lax
Boom Box – Genix
Magitek – Andrew Bayer
Disconnect – Maor Levi
Disc 2
Liquid Love (Above & Beyond’s Hong Kong Intro Mix) – Above & Beyond ft. Richard Bedford
Long Way from Home – Above & Beyond & Spencer Brown ft. RBBTS
Hideaway – Above & Beyond
All In – Fatum, Genix, Jaytech & Judah
There’s Only You (Above & Beyond Club Mix) – Above & Beyond ft. Zoë Johnston
Curiosity – Oliver Smith
Volume One (Sunny Lax Remix) – Anjunabeats
IOU (Jason Ross Club Mix) – Jason Ross ft. Emilie Brandt
Eight to Sixteen – Andrew Bayer
We Are The Universe – ilan Bluestone ft. EL Waves
Alone Tonight (Above & Beyond’s Gorge Update) – Above & Beyond ft. Richard Bedford
Anjunafamily – Above & Beyond
Alchemy (i_o Remix) – Above & Beyond ft. Zoë Johnston
Prelude 2019 – Above & Beyond
Show Me Love – Above & Beyond vs. Armin van Buuren
Open Your Eyes – Genix
Distorted Truth (Volume 14 Outro mix) – Above & Beyond
I’m a huge fan of Above & Beyond. Having recently booked my tickets for ABGT 350 in Prague, the Anjunabeats label has always felt like a great blend of melodic trance and a showcase for some of the deeper, more progressive material in the world of dance music. I’ve listened to a lot of Anjunabeat volumes, including the spin-off Worldwide Series, and 14 is a mixed bag of beautiful melodic trance and familiar big-name tunes.
Split across 2 mixes (with a companion sampler on a separate disc) Anjunabeats Vol. 14 starts off with a nigh-on perfect first disc. Beginning with chilled, deep house and progressing through to melodic trance, Above & Beyond craft a beautiful musical journey, with plenty of stand-out tracks, smooth track transitions and a subtle increase in tempo and energy as the disc progresses. Tinlicker’s new remix of Always, Grum’s masterful deep-house track Stay, Sunny Lax’s Moonlight and the new club mix of Cold Feet all stand-out here on an album chock full of excellent pitch shifts and a great warm-up for the second disc.
For anyone familiar with Above & Beyond’s work, the second disc feels very reminisce of their Hong Kong show back in October. In true Anjunabeat fashion, the second disc is really used as a showcase for Above & Beyond’s production work but given the sheer number of excellent tracks they’ve released as of late, the mix fails to give any breathing room to the big songs. Ordinarily this would be fine but given the tight work done with the mixing on the first disc, it is a little disappointing this hasn’t been crafted a little better.
It’s worth pointing out too that the mixing feels a little careless at times, lacking the same subtlety and finesse the first disc had so prominently all the way through its mix. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still some great tunes in there and hearing the Gorge reworks for old classics like Alone Tonight certainly bring back waves of nostalgic euphoria that really help drive the mix forward.
As a personal preference, I would have liked a few more new tracks in the mix, something to really sink my teeth into and chew over before the trio’s next big event in October but alas, Anjunabeats instead revels in its, admittedly excellent, recent productions instead. Personally, I wasn’t a fan of their collaboration with Armin Van Buuren but it’s a nice surprise to find Show Me Love nestled in the second mix too.
Given the excellent first disc and the showcase of the Anjuna label itself, Volume 14 of Anjunabeats is a good effort, a decent companion piece to the recent label releases and the perfect warm-up for their October showcase. While the second disc does falter, with lacklustre mixing and too many big songs back-to-back, the first disc is near perfection and for that alone, Anjunabeats 14 is an excellent CD, one well worth checking out if you’re a fan of dance music.
Click Here To Go Back To Our Music Reviews
-
Verdict - 8/10
8/10