Nick Warren - Global Underground 018: Amsterdam album flac

This is Nick's last GU comp (or any mix comp for that matter) that was mixed on actual turn tables and for that I gave him 5 stars. Its a great prog mix with a lot of great tracks and this was getting towards the end of the prog house craze. Nick has always been one of my favorite Dj's along with Dave Seaman, I guess you'd say they're my Sasha and Digweed seeing as both of them are the gold standard for a lot of people. This is for sure a must have for any true prog house fan of that era.

Absolutely stunning classic with one of the best track selections ever made on a mix compilaton, especially CD2, which remains as a good childhood memory as I read the other reviews. But man..... Those mix transitions are soooo dumb at some places, sometimes he starts a new track from nothing, and cuts down the other one played before without fading it out properly; exactly sound like it's mixed by an automatized computer program, which randomly decides when and how to mix into another one... The only thing that saves this one is the excellent track selection as mentioned above.

Well, both discs have top notch openers. "The Word" by Weekend World and "Groove Attack" by H-Bomb are brilliants at his own rights. The tracklist himself isn't the strongest in the global underground catalogue but still pretty solid tough. Specially the 2nd disc.

The second disc is definitely better than the first. The first is just unmemorable, there aren't any standout tracks, there isn't any progression, and it can sort of bore the heck out of you. On the second disc, there are just some really driving, deep trance tracks that build up the energy and I applaud Nick Warren on the superb track selection.

The thing that really struck me about this mix is how different it is from Nick's other GU mixes. This mix starts out with "The World" perhaps the greatest opening track that I have ever heard on a mix CD and contiues on in strong fashion with "Eternity". The mix has some other key moments but it seems like the majority of these 2 CD's are bogged down by boring house tracks like the Peace Division mix of "Intensify"(I don't understand what all the hububb is about Peace Division personally) and "Mechanism 4-H". The second disk is able to make up for some of the weaker spots on the first disc, but it seems like it only hits full stride as its ending. Not a bad mix, just not a great one. 3 out of 5.

Nick Warren shoots off on a futuristic tangent from 90's trance with this latest compilation in the Global Underground series. Each track has its own journey, the first CD has an ambient trance feel whilst the second exhibits some very fresh baselines. Funky elements synergise well with the dark and sleazy house heard throughout. Starting off slow with crisp ambient sounds, CD1 has a melodic feel to it. Nicks own work under the name of Way Out West on Intensify has a great baseline with several of the earlier tracks meandering between funk, dark progressive house and light trance including the appropriately titled Hedfuk. Bullet by Fluke is a great example of Nick's ability to use a twisted vocal sample as a reprise prior to hitting a peak. The sonic sound scapes of Gyromancer by PMT and Arabic chants of Soul Driver's States of Mind end CD1 on an appropriately disturbing note. Fast funk starts off CD2 with Groove Attack by H-Bomb, gradually building with harder sounds into the squelchy hardfunk of Sparc by popular remixers Futureshock. Listening to Play by Neil Himmons, I could easily imagine myself running through a grotty dark stormwater drain. Swarm by Zenith has a similar baseline to Out of Control by the Chemical Brothers but a much more sinister feel. Twisted vocals feature again in Nick Hook's Enhanced as well as Ultra Vixens by Thomas Heckman & Mark Romboy which is complimented by subsonic and resonant baselines. Future by Halo Varga exhibits several direction changes whilst the Stripped Mix of Eternity at the end gradually sucks all the new sounds away, safely keeping them for your next listen. If you buy dance music only to shake your butt, nod your head or tap your feet, do not buy this. The Deep new sounds that Nick Warren compiles on this CD deserve a thorough listen and a willingness to have the mind swept away from reality, whether it is on the dance floor or in the lounge room. Another fine example of dance music re-inventing itself by the Cluboxed label.