4 Strings rides that rare line between eurotrance cheese and quality. For this accomplishment alone Resoort is brilliant. He has created many memorable and outstanding tracks, while simultanously crossing over to the commercial eurotrance audience with the mere addition of cheesy vocals.

This thread really is an interesting litmus test. No, 4 Strings isn't cheese. It's cheese at will. And that takes talent.

I still get asked if I have Diving with me sometimes. I always respond, "No", but I used to love that track. Still love Take Me Away, but it was played out. Got some tracks after Diving that were good, but they weren't vocal tracks and I can't really remember the names of the track. One has something to do with the Sun, Summer Sun or something like that. Their mix of Desire is very good too. Has that Ferris Bueller feel.

They have some stuff that is cheese or borderline cheese, but they have some pretty good work too.

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Old Norsk Sessions every 4th Monday from 4-6pm EST on Digitally Imported Radio (Progressive Station), and 7pm CET on Trance.fm every 1st Saturday

It's kinda cheesy, I agree, but it's a cheese I like. Can't name a favorite though.

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No, I'm not aplz.

quote:

Originally posted by Cobalt 4 Strings rides that rare line between eurotrance cheese and quality. For this accomplishment alone Resoort is brilliant. He has created many memorable and outstanding tracks, while simultanously crossing over to the commercial eurotrance audience with the mere addition of cheesy vocals. This thread really is an interesting litmus test. No, 4 Strings isn't cheese. It's cheese at will. And that takes talent.

That is no litmus test. That's relative comparison. A really bad one. If you can prove that 4 strings isn't cheese because it's not eurodance then I can prove that it is cheese because it's not techno.

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Robots, machines, mechanical beings
Automatic and synthetic, we have the means
To take control of this planet and the human race
With our electronic rhythms and the Armageddon Bass

Cheddar + sideburns = 4 Strings

quote:

Originally posted by Radagast That is no litmus test. That's relative comparison. A really bad one. If you can prove that 4 strings isn't cheese because it's not eurodance then I can prove that it is cheese because it's not techno.

You misunderstand. I was merely making a string of unsupported observations, not an argument. I wasn't attempting to "prove" or suggest that 4 Strings isn't cheese because Resoort's originals aren't eurotrance.

If you want me to legitimately defend my positive review of his originals, that's a separate discussion.

The "litmus test" I referred to was the reaction toward the question "is 4 Strings cheese?" Anyone can hop on the boat and say yes simply because of the vocal versions. However, I don't think cheese applies to many of his originals, and it's neat to see people misassociate the two in attempt to evalute his work.

Whats so different about the song when theres some vocals on it? I think a lot (not all) of people are just saying its cheese to be cool. Personally I think the vocal versions are alright and I dont think they sound THAT bad compared to the originals...

*insert mandatory cheese picture off google image here*

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quote:

Originally posted by AndskiSpeed *insert mandatory cheese picture off google image here*

That's my trademark

As others have said: formulaic, gappy, gash vocals, just doesn't sound like any effort has been put into it...

quote:

Originally posted by fbgdavidson As others have said: formulaic, gappy, gash vocals, just doesn't sound like any effort has been put into it...

that sounds like most trance these days

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4 Strings may be cheezy, and we don't like cheezy stuff do we? Hey, I don't like Snickers because they are on TV-commercials.

quote:

Originally posted by Cobalt You misunderstand. I was merely making a string of unsupported observations, not an argument. I wasn't attempting to "prove" or suggest that 4 Strings isn't cheese because Resoort's originals aren't eurotrance. If you want me to legitimately defend my positive review of his originals, that's a separate discussion. The "litmus test" I referred to was the reaction toward the question "is 4 Strings cheese?" Anyone can hop on the boat and say yes simply because of the vocal versions. However, I don't think cheese applies to many of his originals, and it's neat to see people misassociate the two in attempt to evalute his work.

Yeah I see. I guess I just misunderstood. You meant that he's made many tracks that are cheese and quality. Not the seperation of the two as applied to many of his tracks. Or something.

___________________
Robots, machines, mechanical beings
Automatic and synthetic, we have the means
To take control of this planet and the human race
With our electronic rhythms and the Armageddon Bass

quote:

Originally posted by Radagast Yeah I see. I guess I just misunderstood. You meant that he's made many tracks that are cheese and quality. Not the seperation of the two as applied to many of his tracks. Or something.

No. We have some definitions muddied, which is why you don't see what I'm saying, and in fact probably think it's self-contradictory and stupid:

Cheese (Copied from the Darude poll)
Material produced explicitly for radio play, explicitly for money, and explicitly without seriousness on the part of the producer.

Quality
Fresh, significant, innovative, superior, or otherwise deserving of merit.

For reference, I provide a definition of eurotrance here

Okay, so let me explain what I mean. The original mixes of 4 Strings tracks are not cheese, whereas the vocal mixes are. How often do you hear a vocal 4 Strings track in a set? Almost never. How often do the vocal mixes get played on the radio? Very frequently. The opposite case for the originals is true. The originals versus the vocal mixes are produced with different intentions, for entirely different audiences, each looking for different things out of what they're listening to. It's pretty clear that Resoort produces the vocal alter ego of 4 Strings only to sell albums and get lucrative radio play. You can't say the same of the originals. Like I said, cheese at will. It's truly remarkable that he is able to do this, as I can think of no other production outfit with the same crossover value.

The second point is that the original 4 Strings productions are quality anthem/epic trance. Resoort's work has been one of the few fresh sounds in the genre over the past five years. Virtually every original 4 Strings track release has been memorable and distinctive. That's a remarkable accomplishment given the genre. If you want to take the argument outside of anthem/epic trance, the argument becomes very different because you're judging on a wider standard. Keep in mind what the general intent of anthem trance is: fun, hands-in-the-air stadium music. And Carlos Resoort is one of the masters of the genre, his vocal radio shite notwithstanding.

Yes, some of you probably think I'm insane for writing this all out.
But it's an important distinction to me.