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This progressive era

Just a few years ago some of the more popular songs of trance used a faster beats per minute than what were hearing today. The question came up though as to who popularized this progressive style and brought it to the forefront: -specific questions-(
1.Who actually began this style though and,
2.Who brought it out and made it popular?)

suggestions:
Armin Van buuren state of trance 2005
Markus Schulz with his Miami 05

Like with most things in music it is something that evolved rather started at one specific point. However i would say Markus Schulz, with the GDJB from 2003 and on, is largely responsible for the popularization of the style.

Re: This progressive era

quote:

Originally posted by Angel Just a few years ago some of the more popular songs of trance used a faster beats per minute than what were hearing today. The question came up though as to who popularized this progressive style and brought it to the forefront: -specific questions-( 1.Who actually began this style though and, 2.Who brought it out and made it popular?) suggestions: Armin Van buuren state of trance 2005 Markus Schulz with his Miami 05

uh Markus Schulz...as far as the slower style that is often called on this forum "McProg", but really it's a slowed down epic trance...a mixture of epic and progressive trance. Some call it "twinkle prog", but there are better "twinkle prog" producers out there than what Markus Schulz tends to play and produce, like Jay Lumen, Snake Sedrick, Benz & MD (he does play some of their tracks) and others, although I do like some of the producers and productions Markus plays.

for controversy's sake it would be far more veracious if you replaced 'progressive' with 'slow'

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Originally posted by isoterra for controversy's sake it would be far more veracious if you replaced 'progressive' with 'slow'

The problem is that when the same type of music is called "progressive" for too long the word loses it's significance in the context.

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Originally posted by SMC The problem is that when the same type of music is called "progressive" for too long the word loses it's significance in the context.

exactly, of all the subgenre names out there it's by far the silliest & least relevant by today's standards

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Originally posted by isoterra exactly, of all the subgenre names out there it's by far the silliest & least relevant by today's standards

I would have to agree here. Progressive gets tagged along side A LOT of tracks these days that are posted on here.

Tiesto in 2002 started to play some tunes that could sort of be classified as progressive but certainely not the stuff that the true Prog jocks were playing.

Lemon 8 - New York, New York
King Unique - Sugar High
Sapphire Cut - Free Your Mind
Arcane - Somewhere (Dave Swayze Remix)
Chris Lake - Santiago de Cuba
James Holden - Nothing (93 Returning Mix)
Barraka - Song To The Siren (Jean Philippe Dirty South Mix)

If your talking about the twinkle prog, Spirit is right, Mr. Schulz was the first then Armin jumped on board quick after.

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Originally posted by SMC The problem is that when the same type of music is called "progressive" for too long the word loses it's significance in the context.

Depends how you define it. Progressive can mean something new and innovative, or it can just refer to a certain approach to structure and composition that differs from the pop music model. Sort of like how we still use the term 'progressive rock' even though it's four decades old.

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Originally posted by Project-K Depends how you define it. Progressive can mean something new and innovative, or it can just refer to a certain approach to structure and composition that differs from the pop music model. Sort of like how we still use the term 'progressive rock' even though it's four decades old.

I know. "Progressive" has mainly come to mean the latter, that's why the word is still used so much. However, there is still new music being put out that in part is new and innovative and keeps the progress alive within the progressive genre. Even within progressive rock there is a lot of different sounding music and even the "main" sound within the genre has changed over the years. During the 70s for example there was a certain set of sounds with a lot of different sounding bands all making their unique contribution to genre. Today there are new bands that probably sound different from each other but they don't sound like the bands of the 70s.

quote:

Originally posted by SMC Like with most things in music it is something that evolved rather started at one specific point. However i would say Markus Schulz, with the GDJB from 2003 and on, is largely responsible for the popularization of the style.

I agree. He seems to have more or less been pioneering the "modern" style of trance that we're hearing today.

Yeah it might be misleading to call the style "progressive" but it's definitely not the same as epic trance, other than breakdowns and melodies (both are in a lot of music, just some longer, more over-done or drawn-out than others). He does play techier or more electro-infused music as well. If you listen to his new Ibiza 2006 CD, you can hear his sound being more "progressive" and deeper or tougher. There's still the few tracks with "twinkly" melodies, but he is definitely more of a progressive trance DJ than Armin is. I definitely wouldn't consider Markus an epic trance DJ. But he's not quite as "progressive" as DJs like Snake Sedrick, who to me produces and plays better music IMO. Of anything, these DJs (like Snake Sedrick) would play and produce "melodic progressive house" music, if you had to catagorize it, although he also play some electro-house and breaks as well (you can hear his DJ sets on Proton Radio). Markus definitely leans more on the trance side of things, but with a more "progressive" sound (and I put it in quotes for a reason).

i think AvB and Markuz was the beginners .
And the main point at the both producers is that they try to play both styles , i mean uplifting trance and prog. .

i think maybe it went further than 2003 and as far as 2000.

1999 was the big trance year but at the back end of 1999 and start of 2000, everything went slower and more prog and deeper.
i remember that the main tent at the crasher summer sound system was mostly proggy with tong, sasha, fontaine etc apart from pvd bashing it out as usual but even he had that proggy mix of synaethesia on the go.
bedrock and hooj choons were more or less at the front of all this comercially though but personally i think dancemusic went through a black hole as far as trance is concerned between 2001 and 2003 where after, the likes of schulz and armin started pushing that proggy/melodic trance sound again

For me I always felt the tide started to turn when Sasha released Expander EP even though the faster melodic trance sound was the biggest for some more years to come.

It grew ever so slowly in the beginning of 2000 (that's when I was the most into it) but I'm not sure when it became the dominant sound. It always seemed like it was Marcus Schulz melodic prog that took it to the trance masses. Whatever year that might have been. I think a lot of house people started to migrate at some point as well but not sure...

yeah i think your right there johan. not sure if my memory serves me right but didnt sasha come out of retirement around that time or something like that. im not really all clued up as far as sasha goes and all that but with xpander it gatecrashed the whole 1999 euro sound and brought that proggy trance sound into the mainstream. in 2000 it was all going slower and darker and towards the end of that year i think it split into half tribal and half trancy if you know what i mean. hopefully that makes sense

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Originally posted by charlie lloyd yeah i think your right there johan. not sure if my memory serves me right but didnt sasha come out of retirement around that time or something like that. im not really all clued up as far as sasha goes and all that but with xpander it gatecrashed the whole 1999 euro sound and brought that proggy trance sound into the mainstream. in 2000 it was all going slower and darker and towards the end of that year i think it split into half tribal and half trancy if you know what i mean. hopefully that makes sense

Yeap , that was exactly what happened. Everything started getting proggier and darker in 2000. There was a major backlash for epic trance between 2001-2003, i don't know how some people say that those were "gold-years". These were definitelly not gold years for epic trance. I even remember the reviews in dj mag's trance page in 2001 and 2002. They were full of cheesy vocal tunes and there was a relative huge absence of quality instrumental epic trance. Damn, the page was full of stuff like remixes of Ian van dahl's "Castles in the sky" and remakes of classic tunes.Everyone was crying about how the years of good instrumental epic trance were gone forever. Very few good instrumental gems and quality trance was all about the proggier, darker, less melodic stuff.

It was only 2003 and the return of melody in both proggier and epic forms with markus schulz stuff and the slight comeback of instrumental epic trance. It was slightly rejuvenating, with stuff like Solid Globe's "north pole" and "sahara" and robert nickson's "spiral". But that was it. Nothing new or whatsoever. It came but unfortunatley stayed there...

I love learning about the Progressive Era! People like Teddy Roosevelt, Booker T. Washington, John Muir... LONG LIVE THE PROGRESSIVE ERA!

Slacker & Breeder ftw.

imo if it ain't dark and driving it ain't prog. none of this hands in the air shit.

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Originally posted by IpLaYWiTLiGhTs imo if it ain't dark and driving it ain't prog. none of this hands in the air shit.

Oh ok ,so all the 90s stuff by Spooky and Charlie May, Orbital, Underworld, FSOL, Leftfield, The Drum Club, Salt Tank, Barbarella/Sven Vath, The Grid, Banco De Gaia, D.O.P ,Fluke, Humate, William Orbit, Air Liquide, 808 State,Sasha etc. etc. etc. which are not necessary dark are not prog right? If you think that progressive is only the post-00s dark-tribal stuff then you missed the 90s "true" progressive mate...

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Originally posted by PETRAN Yeap , that was exactly what happened. Everything started getting proggier and darker in 2000. There was a major backlash for epic trance between 2001-2003, i don't know how some people say that those were "gold-years". These were definitelly not gold years for epic trance. I even remember the reviews in dj mag's trance page in 2001 and 2002. They were full of cheesy vocal tunes and there was a relative huge absence of quality instrumental epic trance. Damn, the page was full of stuff like remixes of Ian van dahl's "Castles in the sky" and remakes of classic tunes.Everyone was crying about how the years of good instrumental epic trance were gone forever.

Your basing the quality of releases by what you read in DJ MAG? Give your head a shake.....DJ Mag hahhah

2001-2003 Instrumental Epic Trance:
Midway - Monkey Forest
Midway - Inca
Three Drives - Carrera 2
Insigma - Open Your Eyes
Ralphie B - Massive
Airwave - Save Me
King of Clubs - Revelation (Airwave Remix)
Jan Johnston - Flesh (DJ Ti�sto Remix)
Lolo - Melody & Extended Horizon
Fire & Ice - Souvenier De Chine
Push - Trazny State Of Mind
Plastic Boy - Silverbath
Pulser - My Religion
Jose Amnesia - The Eternal (Pulser remix)
Firewall - Reflections
Solar Factor - Urban Shakedown
Green Martian - Wizardry
Rusch & Murray - Epic
Tranqulity Base - Razorfish
Stamina - Skywalker
Exposure - Magic Impulse
Mr Sam vs Fred Baker present As One - Forever Waiting

quote:

Originally posted by IpLaYWiTLiGhTs Slacker & Breeder ftw. imo if it ain't dark and driving it ain't prog. none of this hands in the air shit.

Lets not make this one of those "what is progressive' threads....

And if you two would take the time to read the thread starters orignal post (notice the title "This Progressive Era"), he is asking who started playing the progressive that Markus Schulz and Armin play which is known as "McProg " to some. So basically your wasting your time posting in this thread.

quote:

Originally posted by PETRAN It was slightly rejuvenating, with stuff like Solid Globe's "north pole" and "sahara" and robert nickson's "spiral". But that was it. Nothing new or whatsoever. It came but unfortunatley stayed there...

Heh, it's funny that you mentioned those 2 exact tunes because they were probably my 2 top favorites from that year... shortly thereafter, i went on to different genres

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Originally posted by Joca Your basing the quality of releases by what you read in DJ MAG? Give your head a shake.....DJ Mag hahhah

I didn't say that there weren't any instrumental trance releases at all. I saied that there were much fewer in relation to previous years and that most of them were vocal tunes (e.g. Lange feat. Skye "drifting away")especially in 2001. In fact i have 14 of the releases you mentioned on vinyl and firewall's reflections/touched are some of my favorite epic trance tunes of all times (as well as revelations and save me which are somehow identical?).I remeber though that when it came out it was like an oasis in a desert of low quality trance.And i'm not basing my view in dj mag. I just used dj mag as an example. As i say in my post, 2003 was the year that trance had a come-back anyway and hence there were more quality tunes coming out that year (although the firewall and airwave tunes came out in 2002 and 2001 as far as i remember. But they didn't represent the average trance tune that was coming out IMO).

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Originally posted by PETRAN Oh ok ,so all the 90s stuff by Spooky and Charlie May, Orbital, Underworld, FSOL, Leftfield, The Drum Club, Salt Tank, Barbarella/Sven Vath, The Grid, Banco De Gaia, D.O.P ,Fluke, Humate, William Orbit, Air Liquide, 808 State,Sasha etc. etc. etc. which are not necessary dark are not prog right? If you think that progressive is only the post-00s dark-tribal stuff then you missed the 90s "true" progressive mate...

You're correct. I did miss the 90s "true" progressive because I wasn't around back then. Of course I know some of the classic producers/tracks, but the whole style and feeling of the scene back then is something I can't relate to. We all have wishes though .

I consider the artists you listed prog, but of a different style. The reason I brought up those two artists and the description is because of what the original poster wrote:

quote:

Just a few years ago some of the more popular songs of trance used a faster beats per minute than what were hearing today.

I thought he was refering to those types of artists. Most of the faster tracks back then were the dark and driving tunes. I'm sure you can agree that most of the artists you mentioned were slower and had a different vibe.

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Originally posted by Joca Your basing the quality of releases by what you read in DJ MAG? Give your head a shake.....DJ Mag hahhah 2001-2003 Instrumental Epic Trance: Midway - Monkey Forest Midway - Inca Three Drives - Carrera 2 Insigma - Open Your Eyes Ralphie B - Massive Airwave - Save Me King of Clubs - Revelation (Airwave Remix) Jan Johnston - Flesh (DJ Ti�sto Remix) Lolo - Melody & Extended Horizon Fire & Ice - Souvenier De Chine Push - Trazny State Of Mind Plastic Boy - Silverbath Pulser - My Religion Jose Amnesia - The Eternal (Pulser remix) Firewall - Reflections Solar Factor - Urban Shakedown Green Martian - Wizardry Rusch & Murray - Epic Tranqulity Base - Razorfish Stamina - Skywalker Exposure - Magic Impulse Mr Sam vs Fred Baker present As One - Forever Waiting Lets not make this one of those "what is progressive' threads.... And if you two would take the time to read the thread starters orignal post (notice the title "This Progressive Era"), he is asking who started playing the progressive that Markus Schulz and Armin play which is known as "McProg " to some. So basically your wasting your time posting in this thread.

Do me a favor and tell me how your reply relates to the original posters question?

i think what petran was trying to point out was that in the public eye, there was a backlash against music like the 1999 euro euphoric sort of stuff and it became more "cool" in the mainstream of clubland to go to smaller, darker clubs with darker/proggy music.
it was kinda frowned apon to even like trance as it was back then which the money men came and raped by producing the likes of ian van dahl and trying to use the falling popularity of trance in 1999 to sell those tracks.

i admit, even i started buying into that proggy sort of scene like hope recordings, hooj choons etc and the timo maas/sander klinenberg sort of sound.
hope were pretty much at the front of putting out that proggy/melodic tracks with stuff like staircase's "airtight" and max grahams "yaletown" which were making alot of sales and getting playtime in alot of sets.

quote:

Originally posted by Johan (DJ Irish) For me I always felt the tide started to turn when Sasha released Expander EP

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