Reflections - Paul Van Dyk

moving away form origins more like ATB

This album is the first in a new progression for DJ/producers of the trance genre. This album is much like ATBs albums and now the newly released Armin Van Buuren album. Vocally, poppy and radio ready. A disappointment from Paul Van Dyke's origins as a trance dance DJ.

into the blue should have had a soundtrack

i bought this album because of the song time of our lives which was
featured in the jessica alba/paul walker movie into the blue which
should have had a soundtrack so what if it bombed i hence the iluvjes and
my niece liked it

Reflections

PvD demonstrates his ability to build, and deconstruct yet keep consistency throughout the album. This album is a conversation, not a compilation of tracks. Pure PvD genius!

A decent trance CD

I never really got into the electronic scene until a few months ago, but I started with some hard stuff, then decided to get some trance. This was one of my first Trance albums, and it's a decent CD.

One thing I can say for certain is that most of the good music can be found in the first half of the album. All the music (minus Like a Friend) on the first half is very well produced and the vocals and the music were mixed brilliantly. That being said, after track 8, Never Forget, the mix between vocals and music doesn't seem natural and didn't feel as lovely as the beginning of the cd did.

One of my favorite tracks is Time of Our Lives, which is a slightly harder trance song, but the construction of the song and the feeling brought through the beat really makes me happy. One of my least favorite tracks is the next song Like a Friend. In this song, it doesn't feel that the music flowed with the vocals at all, which didn't feel like it belonged on the record alongside the other songs.

Shows you what we knew.....

OK, I admit it, I'm a huge PVD fan since 2001 and I own most of his CDs. When this one came out I had such a totally different expectation that I was offended with its departure from Paul's usual style. POD-1 and "Out there and Back" were soooo different than this. When I heard snippets of "Reflections" on the Amazon site, I regretfully decided it wasn't for me and moved on.

Fast forward to today....I just decided to give "Reflections" a second chance after seeing the special 2-CD edition in a store on sale. Well, unbelievably, I was not disappointed at all. I have decided that this CD was ahead of its time because it does not sound at all outrageous or lame to me now, especially after hearing Paul's "Politics of Dancing 2" and some other artists' newer stuff. It is not uncommon for popular musical artists to want to branch out, and even when I felt disappointed in this music I didn't anticipate that PVD was going to hell in a handbasket, just that he was going to attempt some different sounds. Oakenfold did it successfully, so why shouldn't PVD? PVD is still making music in his signature style, so what's the big deal if he ventures into other sounds once in a while? Also, I have to hand it to him that he can grow and evolve and still produce what I consider great music.

I think it is the mark of a true fan to appreciate all the styles of a truly great artist, and to be able to evolve with them into a more mature and modern sound. To be hung up on only one type of sound that existed circa 1999 and trash everything else an artist comes out with even if it is good (like this CD is, or obviously it wouldn't have garnered a Grammy nomination) is to be a person who is stuck in a musical rut and refuses to come out! Expand your horizons, you may be surprised at how your feelings may change after giving this CD another chance and listening it for more than a few times.