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| quote: | | I never gave epic trance a chance EVER.. i just heard it and was so addicted.. I didnt need to sit there for days trying to get into it - I knew it was incredible as soon as I first heard it!! |
That's because, like someone said before, epic has a more blatent sound - it's more obvious - so it's necessarily easier to get into. I guess the difference between epic and progressive is like the difference between orange juice and beer. Now I like orange juice, and I've liked it for a long time. It tastes sweet and is easy to get into. Beer on the other hand can taste a bit odd - a bit dry - when you first try it. But, as you become more accustomed to its taste, you enjoy it even more. It may not taste as sweet as orange juice, but you learn to enjoy it more than orange juice because you begin to appreciate the complexities in the drink, and once you've moved onto beer, there's no more drinking orange juice at parties. You've gone past it, you've evolved. And, for me anyway, it's the same thing with epic and progressive.
| quote: | | I for one HAVE experienced the uniqueness, beauty, emotionality and magnificent power of epic/uplifting. Maybe I've heard some anthems that you haven't. That's why I'm extremely upset. |
This is a common misconception: that just because someone moves onto progressive that they must have missed all the inherent beauty in epic trance the first time round. It doesn't work like that. I think this quote accurately sums up where I used to stand:
| quote: | | i remember listening to trance back in the 98/99 era and those tracks just felt like there was this complexity that i just can't describe. it made me feel all sorts of emotions that i wouldn't think i would get at the moment. it just didn't make sense for me to put a fat smile on. it didn't make sense when i felt the chills in my body during the buildup. it just didn't make sense when my eyes got watery. there was no compromise, it just hits you hard and fast. so fast you didn't even know wtf just happened to you. |
Like I said before, I was heavily into trance for a period of about three years. It moved me in the same ways it moved all you guys. It was just such a powerful form of music, not just in terms of the sound of the synths but emotionally, the way it could move you. And I agree it was an incredibly effective genre until it died, probably about 12 months ago, of gross overkill. Now you Amercians have been sheltered from it a bit, but even here in Australia, where the club scene continues to try and break through into mainstream culture, trance was just everywhere. Clothing stores, the radio, TV. You couldn't escape it.
As a direct result of all this, the sound lost its original impact. All the tracks started to sound the same, lacking the abstract inspiration of the stuff from 98/99. It sounded cliched. All the meaning was lost, each track just sounded like a re-hash of all the others. Everyone continued to go for the big-synth sound of 98, but the moment had passed. The music was good for a while, but when you have all these artists going for exactly the same sound it gets very old very quickly.
Now some of you are criticising progressive music for not having the emotion of epic trance? Funny you should say that...... firstly, just take a look at the tracks that Turbo GS-R cited as modern day gems. Yep, I agree, they're brilliant tracks, but the second two are progressive tracks from progressive artists . Progressive, whether you want to agree with me or not, is capable of producing an incredibly wide range of emotions, where as epic trance can produce just one: that uplifting/euphoric sensation.
Just take a look at these progressive tracks, download them to understand what I'm talking about if you haven't heard them already. Contrast the uplifitng beauty of Accadia's Into The Dawn with the dark chaotic madness of Mark Shimmon's Dark Feelin (Mara Remix). The cold, chilling feel of Cass & Slide's Opera with the unquestionable beauty of Sasha's Xpander or the gritty, down to earth feel of Mutiny's The Virus. Contrast the infectious, high-energy beat of James Holden, with the churning, dark bass of Chab or the minimal, old-school beat of Timo Maas. The tech-house stylings of Pete Heller compared to the uplifting tech-trance of Max Graham. The variety is huge, the possibilities endless. For those who insist that progressive is uncapable of instilling the same emotion of epic, quite simply, you haven't learnt to appreciate it.
Anyway, I don't want to turn this into a massive progressive vs epic dog-fight, I just want people to understand I - and a vast number of other people - are coming from. Don't tell me that I am wrong to move away from epic music, or that I'm only doing it because it's in vogue, because you would be wrong. I used to love it, and I moved away because, in my eyes (or should that be ears?) the music lost all its original impact and died a good many months ago. If you still wish to listen to it because it still holds that same impact for you then fine, it's up to you. Just don't tell me that you're the only once with the sensitivity to appreciate it properly and that the only reason I listen to progressive is because I think it's cool. Because that really is quite insulting. 
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