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Review of Central Energy 21 from World DJ by Taubs 

I have enjoyed the previous CDs in the Central Energy series and it was with high expectations that I started listening to the first CD of Central Energy 21. The first CD as always, is by Sydney hard dance and hardstyle DJ Amber Savage. Amber's mixes generally follow the same progression, start with some tech-trance and low BPM hardstyle, then move to some good pumping hard trance, followed by some belting hardstyle and usually a good melodic track to finish, and as a rule her mixes are thoroughly enjoyable.
She followed the same progression, the opener is a decent track, but Ferry Corsten - 'Watch Out', that follows, is a horrendous track with such a cheesy vocal. The next half a dozen tracks are nothing special, it is only when it reaches Bas and Ram vs. Ralph Novell - Powerstroke, that things improve, this is a great track, this is followed by B.V.R - 'Together', another pumping hard trancer. This is however ruined by the following uninspired hardstyle for the remainder of the CD, the mix is slightly improved by the final track, which is the brilliant bootleg by Scot Project of Marcel Woods - 'Advanced'. Overall a rather disappointing CD, let down by some bad track selection from the usually reliable Amber Savage.
The second CD is by Sydney hard trance DJ Archie. This is the fourth CD I've listened to that has been mixed by Archie, and the CD has exactly the same problem as the others. The mix opens with BK - 'Systematic', a nice tech-trance track, this is followed by some good hard trance tracks by Welsh newcomer Vandall and Travis Baxter. However by about the fifth track I had already lost interest. The tracks are all good - they are all decent melodic hard trance songs. However there is very little difference between tracks, there is no progression in the mix, no increase in energy or BPM. Listening to just one or two tracks is fine, but listen to any more and the interest is soon lost.
The final CD is mixed by Queenslander Baby Gee, in his previous CDs Baby Gee has played everything from trance, tech-trance, psy-trance to hard dance, hard trance and hardstyle and everything in between. However for this compilation he decided to do something different and dedicate the CD to one sound, tech-trance. This is a genre I rarely enjoy and hence wasn't particularly looking forward to hearing this CD. However much to my surprise, I enjoyed this mix and of the three it remained the longest in my car. The mix is a little bit too electro-e to begin with, but soon moves to some nice chunky and techy beats, interspersed with beautiful melodies and vocals, and easily became my favourite CD of the three.
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