Armin van Buuren - Mirage (2 LP)
- LP
- 2 piece(s)
- 2010
- 16 tracks
- 1 uur, 19 min
- trance
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3.6
Average of 10 reviews
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Armin van Buuren, arguably the most prominent figure in trance music recently, has unfortunately struck again with another subpar artist album. There's nothing innovative or thrilling about this release. It lacks a cohesive theme and doesn't come across as a complete album. Instead, it feels like a poorly assembled collection of average tracks. It's as though he created several standalone club tracks, then simply cut them short or made them fade out, rather than attempting to blend them into a unified whole, as a proper artist album should. Of course, the album will likely sell well because Armin is such a massive star in the trance scene.
Armin dips back into his trance origins with this album, pulling progressive trance back into the spotlight. Sadly, the "mainstream" crowd isn't always up for the patience progressive trance demands, so the tracks ended up being a mix between progression and pop, which didn't quite hit the mark. There are some standouts, I'm particularly fond of 2 (Mirage), 3 (The Light Between Us), 6 (Full Focus), 7 (Take a Moment), and 13 (Those Silent Hearts). The other tracks are slowly growing on me, but that's the thing with progressive trance... it takes time to grow on you. It's a shame that the trancescape some songs build gets messed up by the pop elements. 4/5
Armin truly dropped the ball here. This album is seriously lacking... No standout tracks, no beats that make you wanna move. Just another trance/pop record. 2/5
Armin concluded with Imagine, and this marks his second passing. What a waste of cash.
When will people finally realize that Armin isn't producing his tracks solo? I'll proceed as if this album is good, which it certainly isn't, just humor me: 1. (Imagine) had around 7 tracks co-produced with Benno from (Rank 1), making the world's number one producer seem lazy, but that wasn't sufficient. On (Mirage), Benno co-produced the entire album with Armin... what a terrible producer! 2. On (Imagine), Armin worked with Roger Shah and Sean Tyas. On (Mirage), he collaborated with Ferry Corsten and Josh Gabriel. Notice how the collaborating producers are becoming more renowned. 3. His brother is always in the background, yet he's responsible for a significant portion of the music and melodies in Armin's recent albums (it seems Armin is blackmailing him :D). 4. The number of vocalists on this album is higher than any I've ever seen (about 9), not including the bonus tracks which are all vocal! It's like a pop compilation. I think you'll agree that at this point, it shouldn't be considered an artist album anymore, just an album. Now, the actual review: 1. (Mirage) is all about his brother's band, just an intro and an identical outro by Armin. It's a good track, though. 2. (This Light Between Us) and (Not Giving Up On Love) are good due to the vocalists and their lyrics. The music is also good. 3. (Feels So Good), (Youtopia), (Drowning), and (Down To Love) are like a list of commercial vocal tracks that represent the stupid and pop direction trance is heading towards (thanks to Armin). The album would be much better without these four tracks. 4. (Virtual Friend) is a good vocal track with a nice guitar. 5. I like (Coming Home) and (Orbion), although they resemble his recent Gaia tracks with those female vocals. They are good and solid tracks, though. 6. But the most ridiculous thing about the album is how Armin couldn't create two different basslines for (I Don’t Own You) and (Take A Moment), which are only separated by one track. So, he used the same bassline with just a slight difference, and it's very obvious and annoying when you listen to the album. Plus, it's an inconvenient bassline for (I Don’t Own You), which has the best melody of the album and indeed of 2010. Armin ruined the melody completely, and the track desperately needs a proper remix. But Josh Gabriel's track is good. 7. (These Silent Hearts) and (Minack) are my biggest disappointments on this album. BT's vocal is nice, but the music isn't good, and Ferry Corsten's track is just nonsense. 8. (Full Focus) is just an average track. I couldn't figure out how it was a single (nothing to be excited about). If you're looking for an artist album in 2010, I recommend (Gareth Emery - Northern Lights), which is my album of the year. Not all of it is trancey the way we knew it before, but compared to Mirage, it's hardcore :D, and it's all done by Gareth Emery himself with only 2 collaborations. Instrumentals are more than vocals. He also used 3 unknown vocalists to the trance scene, which is something exciting. But as for Armin's album: the result is that I can't wait for his upcoming album :D (which I reckon will be worse than what is already not good).
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