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Originally posted by Subtle i read ur review, or parts of it, i can understand why he canceled the inteview, u bash names, use "big words" and generally have a bad attitude.. u think mr van Dyk wants to be interviewed from a 17 old kid who thinks he knows everything about trance, and with an attitude.. no offence dude, just seeing things from the other perspective

as long as the reviewer writes his humble opinion about the album and tracks no one should give a fuck.
this kind of attitude makes me wanna vomit. Who the hell wants to read the same kind of interviews over and over again written by an asslicker in the style of "So mr PVD are now when you released such an AMAZING comp. will you tour the world?".

And the fact that PVD always tries to show himself as a guy which sticks out with his political attitude and liberal lifestyle makes me wonder why he refused to give an interview with some edge. No I don't see questions such as "Why were there so many tunes promised for TPOD2 which never made it into the CD?" as bad attitude-question.
Neither do I see questions such as "How come you say that DJ Sammy gives trance a bad name when so many of your tunes on your latest album are cheesy pop?"
This is the kind of questions I want to be asked. He is not some kind of god and i know that alot of people consider him as one but its time to realize that he have his flaws.

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My new oldskool TRANCE mix!

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Originally posted by paranoik0 that review is writen by another guy. obviously within a reviewing site all writers don't share exactly the same taste in music. maybe that guy would have given a 10/10 for this cd..

okay, we don't know what he would have given for this cd. fact is, the two CDs are rated nearly the same, and this is very dubious. I understand that they all have there opinion, but I really can't think that the majority would rate a trip in trance 4 above TPOD2.. Sure, ASOT 2005 or ISOS4 could be on the same level, but not ATIT4.. can't really think of one thing, which is better than in POD2..

trance.nu rated both cds the other way round (POD2>ATIT4), what is more acceptable in my opinion.

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Originally posted by Reactic okay, we don't know what he would have given for this cd. fact is, the two CDs are rated nearly the same, and this is very dubious. I understand that they all have there opinion, but I really can't think that the majority would rate a trip in trance 4 above TPOD2.. Sure, ASOT 2005 or ISOS4 could be on the same level, but not ATIT4.. can't really think of one thing, which is better than in POD2.. trance.nu rated both cds the other way round (POD2>ATIT4), what is more acceptable in my opinion.

That is your opinion. That might even be the general opinion. However, you can't take those grades and from them reach the conclusion that they aren't being honest with those reviews.

My guess is that the guy who reviewed the Rank 1 cd either has a "poor" taste in music (if such exists, subjectivity..) or just tends to rate cd's too high overall (i know as i "suffered" from this a bit when i reviewed stuff for other site). But since I haven't heard neither of the cd's i'll shut up.

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Originally posted by weymouth Dont blame them. I just read your review and would have done the same thing. When writing a review about a trance album perhaps keep your own prejudices of the trance scene out of it and just focus on the CD. There is no need to write: "epic trance had undeniably had its day, and the creativity and enthusiasm of the past four years drained out of the scene" "Andy Moor or Santiago Nino will never be as proficient as Way Out West or Signum. It’s a sad day for trance when the fastest rising stars on the biggest compilation of the year are members of the Swedish House Mafia. This isn’t really PVD’s fault- you can only work with what you’ve got, and DJs will always be slaves to what producers are making for them to play, particularly on commercial mixes where you can’t raid previous years for gold. However, it’s not a fault that will go away." "Apparently a few chord changes in a saw synth will pass off as a melody these days." "As usual, when he’s not part of Tilt, Moor is rubbish, and Whiteroom sounds like a sound byte of a supermarket check-out looped over some soft synths." - Whiteroom isnt on the CD "Thank God for the skip button, eh?" - refering to The Other Side. "All in all? The Politics of Dancing 2 is really just another metaphorical nail in the proverbial coffin of trance in 2005." I agree the compilation isnt as good as it could have been but you need to edit your reviews or make sure your editor reads it first. Your agenda shows clearly through the review that epic trance is dead. In the end I think you wrote a review like you post on TA, demeaning and elitest.

Yeah, I just finished reading it and I have to agree with pretty much everything above. To be honest, I didn't think the CD was as bad as you, but everyone's entitled to their opinions. That said, why are you reviewing something that you obviously aren't going to enjoy. Right off the bat, you stated your prejudice in your review by listing the things that feel without even having heard the disc.

My advice if you're going to keep reviewing: Stick to genres that you enjoy. You're not going to make many friends by pissing all over other people's work. Also, why would you listen to music that you already don't like just to write a review to bitch about it more?

Also, you commented about the guy who rated the Rank 1 CD as not being you. The problem is, you both write for the same site. He didn't cut your interview, he cut www.trancecritic.com's interview. As a site, you should strive to have some semblance of balance between your ratings standards, otherwise, you guys all might as well have your own site because the # of stars doesn't mean shit if it doesn't mean the same thing to the guy whose reviews are above and below yours.

Lastly, your comments about not wanting to type people's names (Giuseppe Ottaviani) because they're so awful makes you come off as either lazy or prejudiced. It doesn't seem like that strange of a name for an Italian, does it?

Don't blame SYSTEM-J. POD2 truly wasn't that good. I heard all those tunes over and over and over again. If that CD had been released faster, maybe it would have been a good listen. As of now, those CD's and the CD case are sitting at the bottom of my drawer because it wasn't worth listening to.

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I have o say that review is an immature pile of tripe. no wonder they wanted nothing to do with the interview after that.
"(Christ, the artist names just get worse)" - did you really think that sort of comment makes the review sound better?
quite simply you got the sort of treatment you deserved for this effort.

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Originally posted by Groundhog Boy Lastly, your comments about not wanting to type people's names (Giuseppe Ottaviani) because they're so awful makes you come off as either lazy or prejudiced. It doesn't seem like that strange of a name for an Italian, does it?

I wasn't being serious. To be fair, it isn't the most friendly name in the world, no matter where you're from. If I had a tongue-twisting English name, I'd come up with an alias. But they were just light-hearted elements of the review.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I wasn't being serious. To be fair, it isn't the most friendly name in the world, no matter where you're from. If I had a tongue-twisting English name, I'd come up with an alias. But they were just light-hearted elements of the review.

When you're critical of someone's work as it is, they may not find your humour as funny as you intend.

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Originally posted by Reactic just have seen another review on TC: A Trip In Trance 4 - Mixed by Rank 1 rating: 7/10 (PvD 6/10) this is a joke.. only because your expectations weren't fulfilled, you give such a rating.. be a bit more realistic, ATIT4 in comparison to POD2 is shit..

Eh, as the guy who wrote the ATIT4 (snickers at acronym) review, I guess I should point out the reason for a generous score was the fact for half the disc, there was a good deal of variety and flow to it, which is something I always look for in a comp/DJ mix (and I don't discount something if it's more commercial than something else, although how is Nettwerk/Positiva any less commercial than Hi-Bias?). Whether TPOD2 has this or not, I haven't a clue as I haven't listened to it but judging from J's review, it doesn't appear so. For something that has TWO DISCS to work with rather than just the one ATIT4 has, that is kind of inexcusible.

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hmmm...well i didn't take the time to read the review, but from what people are saying i might have to agree that it doesn't sound very professional..

quote:

Originally posted by Groundhog Boy When you're critical of someone's work as it is, they may not find your humour as funny as you intend.

I'm not going to deny it's a critical review. But at the end of the day, you guys are complaining that I'm asserting an agenda into the review, and not being respectful... ultimately I don't slate good music. A good record? A good review. If the music is poor, then I'm not going to pussy-foot around the issue. I never once blame Paul Van Dyk for the quality of the tracks: it's a high profile release so it is going to use big-name records. And if these records don't deserve the hype, I will rip into them.

There seems to be a state of over-hyping by default in trance. No matter how bad something may be, you can't talk bad about a record because you have to respect other people's opinions. We can all praise Trance Track X, but we get demonised if we are critical of it. If this had been an unpopular record I was reviewing, nobody would care what I said. But it's Paul Van Dyk, and it's a rundown of 2005's big hitters, so I have to be respectful. I'm sorry, but my job isn't to bend around big names because they're big. It's to treat everyone the same, and that is what I do. Most of you wouldn't hesitate to call a hip-hop or country track "shit" and roll out the prejudices about those styles. That's called bias, and I don't do it.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

time for you to grow up and enter the real world kid. if you want to slate an album there's much more professional ways to do it. that review was not up to scratch in any way, a large organisation recognised that and decided not to deal with you. Finish whinging and learn from this.