A lot of people are telling me that he won the top100 of djmag

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Originally posted by Push2005 Neither were Tiesto & Ferry. In fact; they've both been MUCH more diverse than Armin. Armin has been a cheap clone of them since the very beginning he started spinning trance (after his housey period). The transparance cd's are really great; but I don't get why exactly you bring them up as so 'innovative' when other Dj's dominating the scene; even paul van dyk; were more diverse than Armin. Armin has always been about "play it safe" and never pushed boundaries; in contrast to Pvd, Tiesto & Ferry; both production and dj-wise.

I don't really agree. Both Tiesto and Ferry played much more melodic sets back in 99/00. Tiesto went more progressive in 2001 (around the time of his Revolution CD) but until then it was pure epic only. Same goes for Ferry.
I didn't compare Armin with PvD but if I would do that then I agree that PvD was also alot diverse back then. His sets at Rosenmontagsrave 2000 is a good example of how he blended styles. But IMO he went very shitty and commercial a few years later. I'm sure it got alot to do with that he also started producing more commercial stuff.
And besides. Ferry not playing safe? Just check any recent Ferry set. 50% of his sets are his own tunes. Newer and older. How inspiring...

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Originally posted by RebeL9 I don't really agree. Both Tiesto and Ferry played much more melodic sets back in 99/00. Tiesto went more progressive in 2001 (around the time of his Revolution CD) but until then it was pure epic only. Same goes for Ferry. I didn't compare Armin with PvD but if I would do that then I agree that PvD was also alot diverse back then. His sets at Rosenmontagsrave 2000 is a good example of how he blended styles. But IMO he went very shitty and commercial a few years later. I'm sure it got alot to do with that he also started producing more commercial stuff. And besides. Ferry not playing safe? Just check any recent Ferry set. 50% of his sets are his own tunes. Newer and older. How inspiring...

Paul van Dyk's decline coincided with the release of Reflections. Now I don't want to play the cynic, but in retrospect the change seems deliberate. Back then, everyone though it was a momentary career misstep, or an unhinged flight of fancy. His fan base gave him the benefit of the doubt, until they couldn't take it anymore. Looking back, his commercial shift feels calculated. Aside from the reliable explanation of money, I can't understand what would motivate him to sell out so shamelessly. With Armin, I can at least construct a somewhat believable chain of events and market influences that carried him away into boggy nonsense. I can't build any such excuse for Paul.

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Originally posted by Push2005 Armin has always been about "play it safe" and never pushed boundaries; in contrast to Pvd, Tiesto & Ferry; both production and dj-wise.

that's what i thought.

pvd may play alot of cheesy vocal bollocks these days but his sets still remain interesting & unpredictable; he's seldom tied down by any one style & usually takes the flow in all kinds of different directions (admittedly sometimes for the worse, but he never gets stuck in a bad rut)

while ferry DOES play it safe (even more so than armin) he's technically the most solid & consistent out of the lot; his sets always flow effortlessly & every tune always blends perfectly with the one before it. even if alot of them are average, they get moulded together in a way that makes them danceable

as for tiesto.. while both him and armin are victims of their own success and are too focused on mass appeal, tijs i can still enjoy regardless. his track selection & mixing is altogther much less conformist and he has a much stronger grasp of tension/release/build.. vital when it comes to structuring long sets


take all of those good points and imagine the opposite, add them altogether and well that's pretty much how i feel about armin's sets. if you take away the inane crowdpleasing tactics he's more like a 9-5 worker behind the decks than an actual artist.. no creativity

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Originally posted by DJ Patski I must admit he does do the best jesus pose..

blasphemy.

I like the music Tiesto is playing nowadays. They do play some of the same stuff (Jonas Steur..Fall To Pieces), but if I had a choice nowaday of who to see...I would see Tiesto over Armin. I bought ISOS 6, good CD and not as poorly mixed compared to the last two. I didn't even both with ASOT 2007...I bought 2006 and for that matter 2005 but they were nothing special IMO. Armin hasn't been good since 2004 IMO. Tiesto has gotten better I think.

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Originally posted by RebeL9 I don't really agree. Both Tiesto and Ferry played much more melodic sets back in 99/00. Tiesto went more progressive in 2001 (around the time of his Revolution CD) but until then it was pure epic only. Same goes for Ferry. I didn't compare Armin with PvD but if I would do that then I agree that PvD was also alot diverse back then. His sets at Rosenmontagsrave 2000 is a good example of how he blended styles. But IMO he went very shitty and commercial a few years later. I'm sure it got alot to do with that he also started producing more commercial stuff. And besides. Ferry not playing safe? Just check any recent Ferry set. 50% of his sets are his own tunes. Newer and older. How inspiring...

Yeah sure, in 99/00 they were spinning epic trance. But they weren't spinning solely that stuff in 1995-98 were they. Diversity over their whole career, is far more varied than Armin's, especially after his decision to jump on the big room sound to get more popularity post-2003.

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Originally posted by Spirit5 I like the music Tiesto is playing nowadays. They do play some of the same stuff (Jonas Steur..Fall To Pieces), but if I had a choice nowaday of who to see...I would see Tiesto over Armin. I bought ISOS 6, good CD and not as poorly mixed compared to the last two. I didn't even both with ASOT 2007...I bought 2006 and for that matter 2005 but they were nothing special IMO. Armin hasn't been good since 2004 IMO. Tiesto has gotten better I think.

Tiesto's track selection is all over the place.

By biggest issue is taht on nights these days where his track selection actually his pretty good, the mixing is just WTF? I am not talking about his ability to beat-match. If he wants to, he's fine with it. He just struggles so bad with the phrase-matching just making the transitions sound wonkey and making me cringe.

I think with Armin there are multiple sides of him when it comes to what he plays.

I think there's the side of him where he plays what I think he wants the crowd to play.

Then there's the side of him where he plays what he's really feeling and plays what he wants to play.

Unfortunately, these days I think he usually plays a lot more of what he thinks the crowd wants him to play. And when it comes to those in attendance who don't really know and understand the music (iow, the mass-market attendees) they really eat it up. You know, sets a lot like his radio show.

Armin will sometimes and come out and play a harder, edgier set than you hear on his radio show. And these shows tend to be amazing. Know of instances of seeing him in two cities within a few days and how he plays in one city is just different enough from what you hear on ASOT and in the majority of his live mixes it makes for a different, MUCH better experience.

One time I realized a common thread between these much better nights. And that is the opening act. In each case the opener played really well and it wasn't anything like Armin plays. And nothing like a Markus set (which a lot of openers try to play like before Armin comes on it seems) or similar style to that. Openers were a bit edgier, a bit banging, but not not really much trance. A mix of some house, some techno, and some electro. Some trance elements, but not much. BPMs maybe got into the low 130s, if that. Really saw Armin immediately digging what they were playing and really fed off of it.

I might be crazy, but just what I have noticed. Openers are so crucial (sometimes defining how the night is going to be overall), IMO, and really enjoy it when I see a headliner come in and make an effort to feed off of it (supposing the opener actually does a good job...which, IMO, they don't do often enough!). When the headliner does, it really makes for a better night.

Last edited by DaveT on Oct-21-2007 at 12:24

i have to say armin is pretty boring these days. but i wouldnt ever dis him too much. hes a valid character in the trance community. and their has to be a dj in that sort of role of epic mainstream trance, always will be. Im down to listening to his ASOT once ever 10 episodes now.

if it wasnt for him. i probally still be a poor lost soul listening to aussie pop and rock music on local radio. so for that i bless him.

the best thing about him imo thou, would probally be his aura. he has awesome smile, and character, and gives off good energy and vibes to the crowd. and for that i give him 10/10.

if the crowd (mainly nubbies) around u are feeling this and getting off it. then u get high off it too. good atmosphere and crowd are important part of a dj concert.

i only seen him live once, and i was pretty crushed and disapointed for like the first 3 hrs. really enjoyed the last hour or 2. i think i sorta forced myself to enjoy it thou, since i paid 90$. stuck myself right up the front in the good crowd so that helped

Im really feeling SvD's style these days

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Originally posted by MichaelBoogerd! Yeah sure, in 99/00 they were spinning epic trance. But they weren't spinning solely that stuff in 1995-98 were they. Diversity over their whole career, is far more varied than Armin's, especially after his decision to jump on the big room sound to get more popularity post-2003.

I am in no way trying to defend Armin but Armin was also a house dj before he went trance.

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My new oldskool TRANCE mix!

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Originally posted by DaveT Tiesto's track selection is all over the place. By biggest issue is taht on nights these days where his track selection actually his pretty good, the mixing is just WTF? I am not talking about his ability to beat-match. If he wants to, he's fine with it. He just struggles so bad with the phrase-matching just making the transitions sound wonkey and making me cringe.

That'd be a good point except the for the fact Tiesto isn't a phrase matching DJ. He can't be "failing" to match phrases, if he wasn't even attempting to mix them in the first place.

The point is valid though, that due to his desire to spin various types of trance and prog/nu-trance style stuff, his mixing is often a bit strange... thats the power of the CDJ. The tracks no longer need to phyiscally sit well together in order to beatmatch them and get some sort of mix between them.

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