Trance Nation, Vol. 4

AMG Review of Trance Nation, Vol. 4

Dean Carlson
All Music Guide

Widely regarded as the scene's most influential compilation series, Trance Nation quickly found itself in trouble of collapsing under its own weight. By its fourth installment, rance was colossally huge, ruling club culture with an iron fist and supplanting house as the most produced and imitated form of dance music in the world. It spelled trouble for Ferry Corsten, who struggled to hide rance's inevitable downfall for as long as he could. Trance Nation, Vol. 4, for all its faults, reads like a re-released greatest-hits package, with Kernkraft 400's "Zombie Nation" and Storm's "Time to Burn" being the obvious openers and Darude, Delerium, William Orbit, Marc et Claude, Sister Bliss, and Corsten's System F not far in tow. If the rot had clearly set in (Lost Witness' cringing "7 Colours"), many ultimately didn't notice and this would be one of the last times rance had the popularity and the music to deserve the attention of an entire subculture.