Armin Van Buuren - Intense (Album Review)

Posted on May 3, 2013 in Album, Brand New, Progressive, Trance

 

Allegedly, Armin Van Buuren has been secretly producing tracks and keeping them hidden and unreleased for two years. He finally is releasing his music in the form of an artist album. DJ Magazine’s number one man, who is floating atop his A State of Trance 600 Tour success and popularity, delivers yet another astonishing compilation of his work. The guy just does not stop- I do not understand how a man this busy can raise children… Unbelievable. (If you want to get a glimpse into his crazy life, check out this documentary and click on closed captioning in English, unless you speak Dutch)

 

In his new album, Intense, Van Buuren collaborates with an extraordinary collection of euphonious vocalists who pour heaps of feeling into his already emotive trance productions. Notably, Richard Bedford, vocalist on about half of Above and Beyond’s Group Therapy album (including “Sun & Moon”), provides his pipes for a totally heart crippling track entitled “Love Never Came.” Yes, I cried like a wee baby when I heard it for the first time, because like Natasha Bedingfield, I bruise easily.

 

In his latest ASOT podcast, Armin devoted his show to debuting/explaining some of the tracks off his newest album. He draws influences from 90’s trance in “Last Stop Before Heaven,” one of the few instrumental tracks on the album. In the track “Alone,” Laura Jansen wrote lyrics influenced by an incidence where she saw a man fall in a crowd, and no one helped him up- and again, I shed a little tear. Overall, Van Buuren says this is an album that is a reflection of life, with some upbeat tracks and some heartbreaking ones.

 

What to expect:

+ Incredibly catchy melodies in productions that work in consonance with each vocalist.

+ Pure vocals with minimal effects added to them- perhaps an echo here and there. (and even some of the instrumentals are purely man made- for example his title track “Intense” features the unadulterated violin of musician Miri Ben-Ari.)

+ A jump up and down, hands up, head to the sky, spinning around, smiley dance party. This is trance, after all.

I could literally go on forever about this new album. I urge you to give each track a listen and if you totally love it, see him when he’s on his album tour. I’m checking him out at Festival Pier in Philly next week (will I see you there?!)!

 

Here’s a preview of the album, it just doesn’t do it justice though…

 

 

And here are a few tracks from Soundcloud…

 

 

 

If you haven’t already, definitely check out the whole album on Spotify, or even better, purchase the extended versions on Beatport

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