Reactivate 10: Snappy Cracklepop Techno

The re-release of Reactivate 10 is both good and bad. Good because now everyone can get their hands on it without spending somewhere in the region of £20-£40 on ebay; bad if you already paid this much for it! I paid £25 for my copy last year... d'oh!

This was the first Reactivate to come in both mixed and unmixed versions (I prefer unmixed), and it was also the one that sold the most copies ever. The third disc of the "Best of Reactivate" compilation is dominated by tracks from Reactivate 10. It's easy to see why. Each track is worthy of a mention, so I'll go through them in turn.

Point Zero - Spooky tech trance! It sounds a bit like another trance track, but I can never remember the other track's name. When the build-up hits the inevitable breakdown, the female vocal melody (but with no actual words, just aaaahs) is awesome. One of those tunes that sticks in your head for days. Weeks, months even. The pace is quite a lot slower than the rest of the album though, which lulls you into a false sense of security...!

The First Rebirth - A real "driving" melody, it keeps threatening to do more and more and more. The build-up is great. Then it stops. And starts up again. The mesh of sounds, occasional vocals and build-up/breakdown makes me think it would have been really easy to screw this up completely, but the whole lot fits together very well indeed. Top tune.

Access - Quite a lot of this is percussion-based; there's not a great deal of melody. Whack it up really loud. Banging!!! The vocals in the middle are strange: "oh, oh oh oh... hey, hey hey hey... wooo! (yells)" Something like that anyway! Crazy, but brilliant.

Tribute - This actually starts off with the traditional breakdown... which throws you a bit. It doesn't get going until about three minutes in. Then the breakdown returns at the end. Generally a good track, but it feels a bit too drawn out in places.

Iceman on the Beach - An odd track with a one-note melody that quickly gets annoying. I usually skip this one.

Superstitious - Starts off well, but really comes into its own after about 2 minutes. The melody is simple but absolutely brilliant, and the dark tone really adds to the overall mood. The percussion is used to great effect, with the drums giving a sort of "judgement day" feel. Powerful stuff and a perfect example to show that the epitome of trance is not Toca's Miracle!! (far from it!)

Cybertrance - The seventh dimension words at the beginning... the endless piano melody... the beautiful chords... it's all absolutely stunning. One of my favourite trance tracks EVER.

Sizzling Love - Hmm... the first three minutes are pretty poor, apart from the vocals. Then a melody comes in that sounds promising, but it ends up sounding cheesey. Shouldn't be on here!

Osaka Acid - Not much going on until 1:50 on the timer, then some pretty chords come in. Which is nice, but it sounds a bit too "happy" for my liking. Then we're back to the samey stuff again, and the chords return in the form of a slightly better melody... still too "happy" though. Average at best.

Ready To Flow - This didn't really do anything for me. Every time I hear it, I keep waiting for something better to happen... which never happens. Not very good at all.

Lost in Love - Great melody, particularly in the break. The break itself is utterly superb. I love the "remember we played together" vocals, they add a lot of emotion to the track. An absolute classic, but you do have to be in the mood for it, and you may find that it does your head in particularly if you have a hangover. Be warned!

Can't Stop - Ironically you can stop, as this is the last track. The piano is nice, but the rest isn't so good. Still a bit too "happy" for me, and is also a bit too "last tune of the night" sounding... which makes me view it as a bit of a gimmick. Not so hot.

Overall, there are some absolute gems on here, so it's a "must buy" for sure. Just skip the not so good tracks and you'll enjoy it all the way!