Goa Vibes vol. 2

This is the second and probably the best out of three Goa Vibes compilations. This is the fourth album released under Trust In Trance, and it has some very classic tracks. It gives us the best example of how true goa sounded back at 1995, when it was still very underground and not matured yet.

The album opens with Shape the Future by the Israeli dou - MFG. A more known version of this track can be found inside The Prophecy, in which it is named as "future mix". This original version is much more aggressive and powerful in contrary to the dreamy version found in their debut album. It is very chaotic and unexpected with totally funky sounds. Next comes Man With No Name with a remix to Octopus, another classic. MWNN is the best remixer in my opinion, and you can definitely feel his work on this track. Aggressive bassline and a deep kick drum together with a full on arrangement turn this track from a gimmicky track to a good dancable one. The following track is 100th Monkey - Spiritus (T3). Very old school in style, but with great ideas. Some of the transitions from one part to another are not so smooth, but the evolving melodies make up for that. After Spiritus comes Rhythmystec with Stellium (T4). This track has the most unusual melodies here- some are a twisted game with bleeping while others are smashing guitar-like riffs. You can even say it gets amusing at some points, which is always a good thing to have in a track. Blue Planet Corporation deliver us the fifth track, Xoco. It starts with a very dominant part, which gets repeated in the track with slight variations. This track has an interesting drumming part. It doesn't change too much (actually it doesn't change at all) but it flows with the dreamy melodies in such a nice way. This track has very good pads and filter sweeps and everything just blends together into a lush array of sound. X-Dream - Do You Believe is next. It is more for floating and dreaming, and not for dancing. It resembles Etnica in its style a bit. The track is pretty repetitive and gets boring quickly. Transwave gives us the Black Thunder Remix to Rezwalker (T7). This track is very powerful, with aggressive sounds. It is constantly evolving with more and more hard melodies, but in its own mellow way. Etnica is next with Tribute - a very hypnotic track. There are a lot of good breaks in here, which slowly evolve with kick drums and layered sounds. The closing track is the real gem on this compilation. Astral Projection cooperates with MFG to create Radial Blur (T9). It is a slow track, with an amazing groove. But groove is not everything on this track, it also has some of the most powerful Goa melodies ever created. Great breaks and entrances with powerful parts that make you think: "Why they don't make them like this anymore?".

Recomendation:  This album is a milestone in goa trance, an important step towards making this type of music better. All tracks in this album are good, but Radial Blur alone gives a reason to buy it. It is a bit hard to find it in shops today, and if it's there, it doesn't cost much. A must buy if you find it. My favorites: 1(!!),2(!),3,5,8,9(!!!!).