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Originally posted by keithos27 YaleTrance, I was at that show too... I was pretty disappointed. I just stood on the 2nd floor leaning over the banister all night... didn't really catch a dance vibe. My friend and I left around 3, and apparently like 2 songs after we left they dropped a crapload of classics! I was so pissed when I found that out! I bet Howells was amazing... too bad we didn't make it over there (that was his last marathon set, right?). -Keith PS. Why McProg? I get the Prog part... what is the Mc part for?

1. They did play more anthems after 3am, i left a bit after 4am. Didn't get really excited about anything though, but it was fun.

2. Howells was great, it was his last marathon at Arc indeed.

3. I called it McProg because I think this style is starting to sound like the fast food of progressive, trying badly to have a wider appeal without much depth put into it. Pre-packaged elevator music with beats. It's prog, but there's nothing progressive about it (this goes for the general vibe, I do enjoy some tracks). Too many simple one-note piano melodies with a few pretentious layers that end up sounding superficial because it tries to hard to compromise between melody and progressive.

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Originally posted by Jeskot7 It's not all about dancing like a maniac. If it's too epic everyone complains that it overused and not really "trance", if it's not enough according to the masses then it is not danceable. In my opinion, the sound that Gabriel and Dresden/Markus Schulz are famous for are the most intelligent of the whole trance/progressive scene. The tunes are so moving it's not necessarily for rocking out but more for moving your shoulders and appreciating the subtleties. A year ago I would have never found myself loving the slower slide of EDM but this stuff is quite sensual and enchanting.(Elevation - Clear Blue OMIGOD!!!!)

My problem with it is not that it's not danceable or that it's "chill". I love ambient, downtempo, slow deep house, idm, chillout a la Ulrich Schnauss and other non-dancefloor stuff. Most of the stuff I listen to is classical music, so for me it's not an issue of fuck dance let's art vs. fuck art let's dance. My criticism is that this style is generally lacking in depth and musical quality because it tries too hard to compromise between melody and prog, and frankly it fails to impress me. Just sounds pretentious and superficial.

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the sound that Gabriel and Dresden/Markus Schulz are famous for are the most intelligent of the whole trance/progressive scene.

I know that opinions are subjective, but that's a gross overstatement. Trance and progressive are in a sad state when people think that a track like Satellite is part of the most intelligent style there is. This style is not subtle or complicated at all. Maybe it's making you think it is, but it's really just fooling you, and that's the reason that it doesn't impress me. This is music that caters to MP3 bedroom trancers, with a few soothing easy listening sounds that entrances and tricks the listener into overestimating it.

I like Clear Blue. I loved hearing PvD, Tiesto and Sasha spin it live. It had a great effect on their respective sets, because they know how to use that kinda contrasting sound and create the right vibe with it. But the vocals in this compilation totally ruin the track, and it makes no sense to place it at the end like that. This compilation is 50 points below the musical IQ scale of classics such as Balance 005, GU013 or ISOS 2. Sorry, but this is just my opinion.