Hello everyone.
I know we are growing tired of the "Trance is dead" and the ever present "Genres" talk pretty much everywhere and with the new amount of people coming into the Trance scene, I hoped I would help try and shed some light on the common question these days of "What really is Trance?"

So here we go. Let me help and try and walk you guys through a bit of history and guide you all through the music that we love so much.

We are going to start in the 90's as this is where the trance as we know it got started. I could go back further into work done by the likes of Jean Michel Jarre or Brian Eno or get lost in the history of wonderful instruments such as the TB-303, Mini Moog or TR-909 but we won't. I want to give a brief, simple and quick insight into Trance, where it has started and where it is going.

So... lets start off shall we?

Part 1: The 90's.

This is really where the trance scene begins. Trance starts forming in the years around 93-94. Before this time there are hints at the Trance style, but its more Acid and Techno that is in the earlier days that leads to the original Trance sound.

So lets start with the name, Trance and why that name? Well, simply put, the music was very repetitive, with almost techno-ish drum and bass lines but with more melody and intricate synth layers. It was not as dirty or mechanical as Techno and not as in your face as Acid. Trance took some of those elements and created a formula for you to get lost in and fall into a trance over. Makes sense right?

The music ranged from the high 120s to 140s in the BPM range and a lot of the tracks were well into the 8-10 minute range. They did not follow the now well known formula of intro - build - break - peak - outro, but instead each track would basically fit one of those sections and it was the DJs job to take you on a proper journey and build and release the crowd by song selection. It was more melodic then as well and much more simple. The instrument parts were not many, normally just a drum section, bass, pad and synth. This simplicity, however, is what made the music so trancy and you could easily get lost in each sound and track.

Trance was a mostly underground event most of the 90s but towards the end of the decade, clubs like Ministry of Sound, Pacha, Twilo, Gatecrasher One and Space all made the Trance scene become more known and we were treated with amazing sets from the likes of Sasha and John Digweed, Paul Oakenfold, Nick Warren, Judge Jules, Paul van Dyk, Kimball Collins and later on in the decade we were intruded to the names DJ Tiësto and Armin.

Some of the most well known and influential Trance tracks of all time come from this era as well and if you have never heard them, then please do so.

Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar: Which by many is considered possibly the best Trance tune of all time. Arriving on the scene in 1993 and still played today, with many a remix, this is easily one of the biggest Trance classics out there.

The Future Sound Of London - Papua New Guinea: While listed as a Techno track, as Trance was not even a genre yet, this is one of the pioneers of the sound.

BT - Godspeed: A track that really developed what later became the 2000s style of Trance and far ahead of its time thats for sure.

Paul van Dyk - Words: Another great song. Easy and moving with nice elements in it. Great sound of the mid to late 90s.

Humate - Love Stimulation: This is one of those tracks that is just massive. Not by today's standards, but a proper Trancer if you were out in the 90s.

Cygnus X - The Orange Theme: One of the higher end BPM Trance tracks but if this one does not get you into that Trancy state of mind I don't know what will. Moonman's remix was a good one.

Art Of Trance ‎– Madagasga (later renamed to Madagascar) is a true classic. Get it.

I could really go on. Listing hundreds of tracks and tunes but I thought I would do one better.

Luckily I started DJing in the 90s and have amassed a nice collection of Trance / House and Breaks. I have a good amount of stuff on Vinyl which was never released as an MP3 or was never released after the few promos went out. Because of this I have decided to help take everyone on a Trance journey over the next few months and try an replicate what was experienced during that time.

So with out further delay I present to you, for your listening and educational pleasure:
the series of Trance Generations.

This is how it will work. I will go through some periods of Trance working our way up to the current and revolving around several sub genres of Trance like Progressive Trance, Hard Trance, Uplifting, Melodic and so on.

Each set will have two discs: The Front room with its more progressive and brooding sounds and The Main Room which should get you in the air for most of it.

The Front Room for the first series of 1990-1999 is done and is here to get this started.

After the first part is done, I will continue with the history of the time frame we are on, try and give a bit about that style, where it went and how it changed and then give you almost three hours of listening pleasure.

I really hope this helps newcomers to the scene learn and enjoy the origins and journey of the genre we love so much. For those who have been around for all of this? Well then, just sit back and take a journey back in time with me

Please keep in mind that these sets are recorded with a lot of vinyl and good old platters and needles. There is some sound discrepancies but I really got a lot of it out in the mastering session after each recording to try and bring the best sound out of it.

So enough jabbering.. here we go.




Trance Generations - 1990-1999
By R-33

Disc 1: The Front Room

Download or listen here

Mixcloud

Track list:

01) Chicane - Offshore
02) Jam & Spoon - Stella
03) Garbage - Milk (Got It Mix)
04) Sasha - Xpander
05) Armin - Virgo
06) L.S.G. - Blueprint (Vers. 1)
07) Libra presents Taylor - Anomaly - Calling Your Name (Original B.T. & Taylor Mix)
08) Nalin & Kane - Beachball (Original Club Mix)
09) Union Jack - Morning glory
10) Space Manoeuvres - Stage One (Space Manoeuvre's Separation Mix)
11) Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar (Three'N One Remix)
12) Chakra - I Am (Digweed & Muir's Bedrock Mix)
13) Mike koglin - The Silence (Original 12'' Mix)

Disc 2: The Main Room

Download or listen here

Mixcloud

Track list:

01) The Dream Traveler - Time
02) Der Dritte Raum - Hale Bopp
03) Freefall - Skydive (Original Mix)
04) Kee Mo - Madness (Timo Maas Rmx)
05) JX - There's Nothing I Won't Do (Way Out West Remix)
06) Lost Tribe - Gamemaster (Original Mix)
07) Vincent de Moor - Shamu
08) Gouryella - Walhalla
09) Ron Hagen & Pascal M - Take You There
10) Yves Deruyter - The Rebel
11) The Martian - Stardancer
12) Deepsky - Stargazer
13) Jam & Spoon - Follow Me

Very well-written post! & great idea with the mixes! That's awesome! I'll definitely be listening to the old school mix.

trance is like dead... Armin is god...

Nice this is great. Downloading the mix now but not looked at the tracklist so I can experience it fully.

it was a great set

Awesome post!

Originally posted by Itscaitlin

Very well-written post! & great idea with the mixes! That's awesome! I'll definitely be listening to the old school mix.

Thanks much. I am hoping to really help others broaden the spectrum of the Trance scene they know and how it has evolved and changed. Hope you enjoy the sets!

Originally posted by Daniel

Nice this is great. Downloading the mix now but not looked at the tracklist so I can experience it fully.

Its why I put the tracklist after the links as I figured some would not want to see it Enjoy!

Originally posted by calgarc

it was a great set

Thanks very much!

Originally posted by Moey Van Buuren

Awesome post!

Thank you!

Amazing idea and great read! Definately going to listen to all fo them, starting right now with this one. I have a few things to say/ask though.

I already knew trance evolved from techno, but never knew Acid House also did it's part. Even though it's obvious and I should've known, I only know the Acid House from around 1989 a friend of mine had a lot of records from, which was probably just commercial rubbish, cz I never liked that hahaha.

You say trance started in 93/94, in my memory it was more like 92/93, but ok, it's basically the same. But what about The Age Of Love? My colleague back then, also a amateur/small party DJ gave me a mix in 1992 that he made, with The Age Of Love as the opener. From that moment I fell in love with the genre, that at that moment didn't know it was called trance, but I pretty soon knew that that was what it was called. The track was first released in 1990 though. Wasn't that sort of like the real start of trance or was The Age Of Love also labelled as techno, cz I don't think it has that specific techno sounds.

Then about the BPM range between high 120's to 140. That must probably cover 99.99% of all trance tracks, but since Jam & Spoon is also in your mix, what about Follow Me? A track from 1993 of which I haven't been able to find what BPM it is, but Jam & Spoon made more tracks in that period from 150-160 BPM and I've tried to count the BPMs of Follow Me, but that one must be in that range as well. Is this trance or not? I sure love it!

Then you mention Armin and Tiësto who came later in the decade. Now I know you can't name every artist that has been important for trance, but Ferry Corsten actually paved the path for both Armin and Tiësto to their international career. Just wanted him to be mentionned as well

Then 1 last thing, the mix on Mixcloud is called 1990-1991 instead of 1990-1999

PS. I'm at the 4th track right now and I already had many shivers. This is a classic set like only you can make them

Wow… thanks for the massive feedback Remco.

To try and answer some of your questions..

The Age of Love actually came out as a Techno branded track. later in the 90s, when it was re-released with some remixes, it was branded as Trance as that genre was now pretty much official.

About Jam & Spoon, are you referring to Find Me? I am not aware of a track they did called Follow me, but hey, I do not know everything and am still find new (old) tracks. =D If it is find Me, however, that track is actually more on the likes of Euro House as was several other of the other Jam & Spoon releases in the higher BPMs. Great stuff nonetheless and I love them as well.

You are also absolutely right about Ferry and I blame aliases for that slight mess up. I always think of Ferry as System F and Ferry Corsten, names which were not used until the 00s. However, his aliases like Moonman, Pulp Victim, Luna Life, Albion and Sidewinder were definitely Trance and were used since around 95-99. Good catch!

I will go fix the Mixcloud right now haha.

Glad you are enjoying the set mate!!

Ah thanks for the explenation.

True you mentionned Moonman, but ok, System F also had 1 track during the 90s: Out Of The Blue, in 1998

The track from Jam & Spoon I mean really is called Follow Me. It's an instrumental track from 12:29 minutes and not the commercial Euro House like Find Me. I can't find Follow Me in the Discogs list either, but I think it was Jorn van Deynhoven who mentionned this track about 2 years ago on Twitter as one of his favorite trance tracks ever. I searched for it and found it and went nuts on it so many times while listening to it (right now as well actually hehe). You should really look for it too (youtube vid at the bottom of this page). About the first 7/8 minutes it's about 140 BPM, but after a break it goes a lot faster suddenly and the track goes insane

Yes, so found it! It was a promo only 2x12 of 7 versions of a euro house track and the very last track is Follow Me.

It is currently on its way to my place as we speak haha. Really fantastic track. Cannot believe I have never heard it.

Yea and I forgot Out Of the Blue was 98… I always think 2000 for some odd reason.

Space Manoeuvres - Stage One (Space Manoeuvre's Separation Mix)

That track is beautiful! I loved it

Nice mix R33 I am looking forward to the rest.

Thank you so much everyone. I can't believe the great response this mix has received. I did it just for the joy of the music and as of today I sit three spots behind ASOT on the Progressive Trance charts at Mixcloud. Unreal!

I look forward to bringing you all the next set soon!

we want more lol... spoil us...

Maybe this topic behind the link below is a nice addition:
http://www.trancepodium.com/forums/general-trance-discussions/topics/dj-mags-100-most-important-trance-tracks

I would say that is a very nice addition. It highlights some great tracks.

The second mix is coming. Very soon!