10 Years in the Life

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

VERY dated and uninspiring mix, 2007-06-05
As a big BT fan, I picked this up looking forward mostly to the second disc. BT's "Rare Remixed" mix CD is easily the best mix CD I've ever heard, and really brings forth his abilities as an artist and remixer. This, however, just falls flat on its face. br / br /Disc One: br /This is where you begin to understand that BT started in the very early 90s, and this sort of sound coming from this guy sounds very weird. The first three tracks, "The Moment of Truth", "Relativity", and "Embracing the Sunshine" all sound straight out of the early 90s, which handicaps them to begin with. They are very clunky and formulaic. If you're a huge BT fan, there may be some points of interest in these 3, but other than that, you sort of cringe when hearing them. br / br /"Loving You More", "Blue Skies", "Believer", and "Remember" show off his work that really got him noticed, but even they sound a bit dated too. A good intro to people unaware of BT's work, but otherwise, BT fans will have heard these anyway. br / br /"Love, Peace, and Grease" is a good little groove, but some things need tightening, and it just doesn't FEEL right. Also, the abrupt cut at the end really could've been easily fixed... br / br /The edit of "Flaming June" is good to have in, probably his most famous trance piece. However, since this style of dance music has been COMPLETELY overplayed, "Flaming June" doesn't seem all that special, other than a nice melody overtop of a standard beat. Not BT's fault, but the wind is out of the sails on this one by now. br / br /"The Road to Lostwithiel" is a juvenile attempt at drum 'n bass, and is overly boring and repetitive. An interesting direction, but it grows old VERY fast. Repeat same criticism of "Lullaby for Gaia"... br / br /"Dreaming (Libra Mix)" is ok, but you really can't outdo the album version. It's a good mix, but then it DRAGS ON for FAR too long without changing anything. Album version is far stronger... br / br /"Giving Up the Ghost" is a good tune actually, and really gets the feet moving, although it too is pretty long. It has a better groove though, so it doesn't pale so quickly. br / br /"Never Gonna Come Back Down" is a pretty decent and catchy tune, a good one for anyone yet-to-be-introduced to BT's work. For big BT fans, you'll pretty much skip this one, it sounds basically the exact same on the album version. br / br /"The Revolution" provides a decent end, with good slick production, nice beats, and a decent pace too. All in all, the only things worth your money on disc one are "The Revolution", "Giving Up the Ghost", and "Love, Peace, and Grease". The others you've either already own or are unbelievably bad. For unintroduced BT fans, tracks like "Flaming June", "Blue Skies" and "Dreaming" will serve as good jumping points to find his artist albums, but that's about it. br / br /Disc Two: br / br /A continuous mix of rarities and remixes done by BT... br / br /"Tripping The Light Fantastic" is a great trance tune, works really well as a starter, and keeps the energy going. "Dreams (BT's Circadian Dream)" is ok, but feels a bit dated, same with Billie Ray Martin's "Running Around Town (BT's Shelter Mix)". They keep the groove going, but feel kind of, well...old! br / br /Then it all falls apart. Grace's famous "Not Over Yet" is remixed here, and it is GODAWFUL. I highly recommend the version on "Rare Remixed", called "Not Over Yet (BT's Spirit of Grace Mix), but this version is just bland and boring. A way-too-simple groove underlies Grace's lyrics and sucks all of the momentum and life out of the song. I could hardly believe that BT did this mix, and that in the liner notes, he called this mix his favourite! br / br /"Nanita (A Spanish Lullaby)" and "Stranded" fail to provide any kind of catchiness or to at least keep the energy level up, I was really surprised at how weak these tunes were. br / br /"The Promethean Groove" is easily one of the most annoying tunes I've heard in a LONG time. The high pitched squelches just turned me right off, and they sounded very unoriginal to boot. Even if you're a fan of that sort of thing (i.e. Aphex Twin), it really isn't done well either, and it totally sticks out like a sore thumb in this mix. We're literally going from nice pop vocals and boring grooves to ear-piercing and EXTREMELY repetitive tones. br / br /A decent tune follows up at least, with "Anomaly: Calling Your Name", although songs like this have since been totally ripped off, so it sounds a bit stale at this point. br / br /"Quark" starts off quite well, but gets into a VERY annoying old school sounding melody halfway through that pretty much ruins everything. br / br /Then we get on to the biggie. The one that could save the whole disc. Madonna's "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" remix by BT and Sasha. Surely these two guys would turn this into something wonderful. Well, they don't, and its a HUGE disappointment. It's just a really uninteresting little bassline and beat with the occasional Madonna vocal overtop. It is ridiculously boring, UNBELIEVABLY repetitive, and it sucks any last bits of energy out of the mix. I can't believe they made this mix, especially after knowing what BT is capable of (see: Mike Oldfield's "Let There Be Light", Sarah McLachlan's "Hold On", The Doors' "Break On Through", for instance). HUGE let down. br / br /"Bad Girl" is half decent, although you're still getting over what the hell just happened to that Madonna tune. br / br /BT doesn't fall flat on his face quite as badly with his remix of The Crystal Method's "Keep Hope Alive", easily one of the biggest electronica songs of the 1990s, and considered a classic by many. He makes a fairly decent groove that changes JUST enough over the VERY LONG length of the song to keep it from getting boring. Good elevation and surges make it a decent mix. br / br /Then it falls apart AGAIN, with "Shineaway". The vocals are HORRIBLE, the guy sounds like he ran into the studio, didn't warm up, took one take, and got the hell out because he had bigger fish to fry. What a tremendously BAD ending that leaves an awful taste in your mouth. Should have finished with "Keep Hope Alive"... br / br /Overall, a VERY disappointing album, despite having 28 songs on it! Only about 5 or 6 are decent, and NONE of them are truly great. I HIGHLY suggest buying "Rare Remixed" instead.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Great Album, 2006-02-26
I just bought this album and i think BT is a real good producer and Dj. i'm a big follower of his music and i really think you should own this album because it can be used really well for mixing at partys or lounge clubs.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

It's so close to being a truly great set..., 2005-08-27
Everything I needed to know about music I learned from BT. br / br /This CD could be given THAT title instead. CD1 perfectly captures his greatest hits (indeed), from "Flaming June" to "Lullaby for Gaia" to "Blue Skies". But the real stickler for buying this CD is "Giving Up the Ghost", which is his greatest song ever and deserves repeated listening. br / br /What's so problematic is disc 2. Most of the tracks are monotonous, repetitive, and boring. There's a big bright spot in the middle, from "Nanita (A Spanish Lullaby) (Voltaire Organica Rmx)" to the anthemic and moving "Quark (Coolaid Rmx)"--which was good enough as is, yet they somehow made it better--there is something to enjoy on disc 2. It's just you have to wade through nearly 35 minutes of shlock to get to it. (Not "Tripping", though. "Tripping" was the best song on IMA.) br / br /The CD is an enjoyable experience, but the entire thing feels kind of like a letdown, especially since out of 2 and a half hours of music, only about half of it is really worth listening to. The second CD is just not worth adding an extra $10 to the price (hah, at least I didn't pay for it). BT fans will be interested in the history (hint: it also could've been called "10 Years in the Hair"), and the first CD is a superb listen, but the peaks are a little outweighed by the valleys. br /

2 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

Yick!, 2004-05-26
I'm sorry but after having heard so much about him, I had a go and checked this CD out. Terrible. The songs are lame, and there is nothing here that jumps out and grabs me. I was expecting a lot more. He must have friends in high places because talent alone didn't get him where he is today.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

BT at his BEST, 2004-02-15
This 2 disc set is a must have for any BT fan! From club house to trance beats, this set covers it all! Madonna 'Drowned World/Substitute for Love' remix is the best!