2k5 and 2k6 top 20 were great, 2007 included dozens of non sense vocal tracks (one of the worst shows ever), no idea who voted for them, maybe bspears fans or pop culuture or whatever? No trance anymore. 2k8 was bit better (although #1 su**ed + still many vocal tracks) but what's goin on with those cuts, I want to listed to the WHOLE track not like 30 seconds and then next one... Whats the point of that anyway?

Like one of the year mixes which had really like 10-15 secs of track only and then goes next... The point of show is listen to the music and enjoy it not to "play all known names".

pro tip: stop browsing this forum

OK......That is totally your opinion but Im doubhting that your trying to speak for all of us. 2008 has been a Epic year but I couldnt say it has been the best considering Ive only started thouroughly listening to it since 338.

But what under any circumstance that you can use cultral terminology such pop culture in association with A State of Trance. Songs that are played can be voted online such the Future Favourtie and they by those of the Causal listeners or simply just people who dont have the time and effort to listen to every week.

If you have a complaint you want to put forward, just message armin at armin@astateoftrance.com, Im sure he'll take the time to read your comment...

i contradict the topic title if you're mentioning about the asot radioshow

but if it's the top 20 you're talking about, then you're speaking my language

we need a new top 20 system

it's just utterly disgusting to have vocal tracks defining trance. i might as well stick with listening to the FM.

but I DO LOVE THE ASOTs

The Top20 is NOT a reflection of ASOT.

"Asot is going worse every year" to this I say everyone has an opinion, but do not judge according to the top20.

"The average Asot fan is going worse every year" to this I say yes, the average Asot fan's taste is more and more becoming what you never wanted to become.

Been waiting and waiting and hoping and hoping....and waiting and hoping...

Oh dear, the negativity towards the Top 20 continues, the negativity about Vocal Track's continues. As far as I am concerned there have been some gorgeous non vocal tracks released over the year, but the majority of my personal favourite's are vocal (usually female although there are some exceptions) this years Top 20 like last year's is proof that Vocal Trance is growing in popularity again and so It should, there have been some amazing productions with vocals this year, both Trance and Progressive and I am not talking about Prog house tunes neither although they too are ok in small doses. And who said anything about Vocal Track's defining Trance, and to say it's disgusting is degrading the Genre in my opinion, some tracks are great without vocals, other's just all start to sound the same, vocal's give certain tracks colour that instrumentals sometimes lack, but to say its disgusting is rather insulting for the people who voted for those tracks and genuinely like them. Consider what are now regarded as classics, would you have described them as disgusting being so high up the ASOT Top 20's back in the day


Andain - Beautiful Things
Luminary - Amsterdam
Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes
AVB - Burned With Desire
Above and Beyond - No One On Earth
Oceanlab - Sattelite
Delerium - Silence

I Could Go On and On

All classic tracks and thoroughly deserving of Classic status, and so should some of this years tune in time especially Lost (A Really Worthy Winner), Back To You, Breaking Ties. Again it's all a matter of personal taste, and I for one would welcome more Vocal tracks in ASOT, this Top 20 would suggest that the majority of Armin's listeners to the show prefer Vocal Tracks.

Vocal trance...when done well...is fantastic. But 70% of the rest is...eh...I just don't know.

I also agree wit this statement, lots of other good tracks this year and they do not reach the Top20, mostly popularity tracks I think.

Note: we all like trance and we don't always have to agree

80% of the best trance is orientated on vocals? Would you pay to see a 4 hour set, knowing that over 3 hours of it is vocal trance? Or rather, if you paid to see a four hour set, would you be disappointed if there were less than 3 hours of vocal trance?

I wouldn't say vocal trance is growing in popularity, not amongst trance fans anyway. Vocal trance is just the easiest gateway from eurodance, which the mainstream are definitely familiar with. People already with some sort of interest in EDM don't progress towards vocal trance, it just doesn't work that way. It's just that certain producers appear to try and appeal to a less experienced EDM crowd (of which there are far more than those with some interest).

Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise, maybe we will see a genuine split, between producers targeting the newer audience and producers who move in the opposite direction, those trying to target people interested in other sub-genres of EDM. Of course you always have the middle which is quite nice, but maybe a bigger gap.

Speaking in very loose terms, of course ASOT is not the only or the most important reflection on "what trance is" but for argument's sake I can use it as an example And it's important because you could say its target audience (or perhaps its audience full stop) borders on the edges of EDM and "mainstream".

everything is going wrong

First of all,Producers of trance music,had more idea on new samples.Trance is similar to electro,progresive house. It's more good music less . All producers of music want as maximally produce

We need more Daniel Kandi apparently then to save it all!

lol ?

Yes Daniel Kandi the GOD OF REAL TRANCE!!!

i love vocal trance the same as non vocal because i get lost in the song and as long as there is trance in ASOT i wont complain

...even if its going wrong, even if its going wrong...

*sigh*

If everyone could only think like that....aka mission impossible

He has good & decent remixes but i doubt he is "GOD OF TRANCE" as you so eloquiently put it

vocal trance has always had a prominent position in the genre, and armin's show, for better or for worse.

the top 20 has never done it for me.

also, i've said this before in similar threads: armin's show really is only as "bad" as the quality of productions in any given year. it's not armin's fault is the best stuff he can find in a week isn't terribly exciting. i trek over to audiojelly and beatport every other week to see what's new, and pretty much everything is like what armin plays (take that how you will). personally, i haven't listened to the episodes for a few weeks now because the content wasn't doing it for me -- but then i didn't listen to asot for half a year during a certain section of the 200s. dance music always has its phases, and so does our appreciation of the stylistic evolutions. i'm waiting for the deadmau5 infection to fade away. then things might be more palatable to my taste.

still, there've been a pretty good amount of exciting tracks for 2008.

lol.

I dont agree with you, ASOT is Good in matter of fact its perfect for me! What i Dind not Like or Enjoyed was the Top 20 and The yearmix Episodes! i 'am very agree at Armin for even thinking about putting 85 songs in a 2 hour set! i heard it its sucks! hope you read this Armin no offense iam a big fan or yours and this year you let me and some of us down! 5 to 10 seconds Of each song! Are you crazy, Hope you change That in 2009 i dont care if you make a 5 hour set just pu all the 85 songs for next year in a complete 5 hour set! Not 2 hours! So we can enjoy and Experience the beautiful Tunes of the year! Not the 5 secs of each tune. So i hope you change this Way to Organize the yearmix. Thank you for your time.

Its true, ASOT is getting worse and worse, but this isn't Armin's fault. The music is getting weaker. IMO 2006 was the most exciting year for music, and the Top 20 and Yearmix of 2006 were absolutely amazing. 2007 is a very good Top 20, and the Yearmix was mixed very well. 2008 was a terrible Top 20 because most of the votes came from the US and Im from New York and I can honestly say nobody knows trance here. Top 20 had too much Oceanlab and vocal tracks as if this is becoming A State of Pop. Yearmix was mixed very well as usual but the content was weak and monotonous.

You've got to be kidding me ROFL. I cannot tell one Daniel Kandi song from another. Hes awful. Its the same uplifting garbage as always.

i thought it was dire. listened once, and never again.

looking at the tracklist for 2008's top 20, i can't see any noticeable qualitative difference.

Just saw year mix, wow, again, 100 songs in 10 minutes. Sucks. Who's fault is that? Right... Not Armins I guess...
I believe that he mixes as many songs as possible to sell as much records as possible

what?



uh.

. . . what?

so you're saying -- armin puts a lot of songs into the year mix, not because it's an overview of his personal highlights over a given year (ergo, of course there will be a lot of songs), but because he wants to sell as many records (. . . what records?) as possible.

i don't even understand the connection you've made.

He earns money, on the commercial train..... WE took him there......... As HE said we supported his sets, his gigs, his releases, ASOT...... Do you blame him.... Honestly..... At least he remains loyal to us... His fans.... Always shaking hands, pops into forum, thanks millions every week, he cant be as good as he is for nothing. This is the road we have chose for him. US.... THE PEOPLE!!!!!!
Accept it he is comm, big, etc etc, its the way evry good DJ gets T|AKEN he has no option.
If someone said to you......
Do this for 3 hours here, there etc ill pay you £25,000 per set.... Would you say no?????Release this for X amount etc, Music means alot to us all pal, including Armin, which is why he does it and keeps in touch, responds, reply`s when he can!!!!
Just take it as it comes....
I love everything he puts my way honestly...... EVERYTHING. Ok some stuff gets boring mainstream etc, but just go with the flow dude....
Its easier!
Love him tune in,,,,,, dislike him tune out....... In his own words!

Could not have said it better myself, perhaps if people actually learned to read between the lines they would not embarrass themselves.

Isn't he selling year mix on cds as well?

no, that's a different set.

Thats very objective...a LOT of ppl would disagree with you

Lay off the crack pipe please

+1

I like ASOT, i love the styles and genres he plays, if i dont like a tune i dont go and scream the sky is falling down, some of you guys are very melodramatic when it comes to armin, you know he cant please you with everything you want, hes only human (though im sure we would all beg to differ) you guys need to relax on armin more, jesus this is totally out of hand. give the guy a break he pretty much goes non stop 24/7 365, for us. Its just sad to see so many people cant just enjoy that we have an artist like him who mostly kill its but sometimes does some weird stuff!. Armin has brought something to all our lives, wether its music, his attitude, or personality or etc etc we should just let him be, to make his music and share his passion!

I don't agree on that. We never took him on the commercial train, we just supported him. He took the commercial train all by himself.


Everybody has an option. Being big doesn't mean having to go commercial, going commercial is a choice. The fact that others did the same thing before him doesn't excuse it for one second.


Again I have to disagree. He is "loyal" to whoever turns up at his gigs screaming "you're the greatest" and then plays Going wrong for them. If he was loyal to his original fans he would stop making and playing pop trance.


That's exactly where that so called loyalty has left the building.

Btw I don't really agree with the title of this topic, as I think ASOT is still one of the better radio shows out there. I don't think it has really changed that much over the years, if anything it's the music that has changed.

But what has changed tremendously are Armin's productions, his live sets and his involvement with his fans. And unfortunately none of them for the better. I am one of those people who criticize him for that. Not to bash or disrespect him but simply to let him know that not everybody likes where he is going. Futile? Probably. But nevertheless every opinion is relevant, be it positive, negative or neutral, as long as it has a foundation.


I don't see for a second what is wrong with venting opinions here. This is a forum not a sanctuary for his holiness the number 1 DJ.

In buying his work and requesting him to play we lead him on the path towards commercialism surely.... The more we buy and support him the more others will cotton on do the same and thus resulting in a higher demand/price in everything... Lifestyle/music style/ etc etc...
I agree this pop trance shit needs to be kicked into touch but he has gone where every other dj has Eric mate.. He may have a desire and passion for music along with sheer commitment, dedication and enthusiasm throughout, but he never thought oh ill leave my law degree behind, go dj and not get rich quick now did he???? He knew fine well the day he started his empire where he was going. Setting up Armada with DL, etc all a commercial train to start off with mate, allbeit at first with one carriage now a million!!!!
Its sad in some ways i guess as at first Armin was a total non commercial product, and it was good back then ten years or more ago but i still feel, although completely different, he has the same wit, charm and respect when it comes to music and promoting other peoples work. Along with releasing some quality work himself.
Alot of my mates are agreeing with the fact they are deviating a little from Armin at present and i aint talking guys of recent times im talking of guys whom first saw him play at his first ever gig in the uk followed asot since 025, etc but are seeing too much of a change and this ppop shit is killing them.....
I just accept the change accept what his original intentions were like it or not, and understand the fact that every dj who you and me cotton on to if pushed far enough will be forced onto the commercial train by one thing........ MONEY! You like it, i do, and im dam sure Armin and Erikka are dam loving it, probably laid on the shore of some classy beach out there in Asia!
As for his loyalty, providing ASOT EVERY week, promoting his mates work, giving fans all they want, responding replying, shout outs, competitions, give aways, touring, gigs, come on man, thats loyalty. Id personally get bored playing the same or similar tunes all the time at every gig cos what you hear at one set in uk the same might be played in Austrailia!
He cant be loyal on a personal level which im sure is the main reason you and many others are so pissed off, despite you getting exclusive tickets to Armins dvd release!!!!!! shouts on asot etc etc, when will you guys be happy? I say this as i sense you dont like where he has gone/going, not only with his style and choice of music but his attitudes also..... One thing if your life changes so dramatically then other things have to change also, ie some music he is quoted as saying he prefers not to play but has to as its a you scratch my back ill scratch yours world!
I`m still a true committed fan who will accept change as long as i like it. The minute i stop liking it ill move on and its all water under the bridge. AKA Tiesto Done, dusted in my book so i left his style show sets n gigs.... for now at least... Recent club life was awesome!

May i also add that if people are intent on dissing the music Armin spins, then try not standing too clost to him at events, not only does it impair the sound but the visual effects and lighting too... Its not about how good Armin looks or if he looks at you is it????Its about the music... Start enjoying it instead of him!!!

Well I have to agree with this person who posted the topic very brave of you to put up this sort of topic . But Its based on my opinion, Armin is trying to broadened the market for the show, but anyways I don't care about ASOT nor do I care about Armin anymore. But I have to agree that ASOT is becoming too commercial and well IMO its becoming worse and worse every year but if Armin wants to become DJ Sammy v2.0 and or Tiesto v2.0 then its his choice. Oh btw my last statement is not an insult with all due respect towards Armin for what he did For Trance in the past but if this is the direction he wants to take then its his decision but for me its not a good direction to go.

Well clear off and go and listen to someone else then!.

And in 2009, Topic http://forum.arminvanbuuren.com/index.php?...t=0&start=0 got a baby brother...

Hopeless...

I don’t want to be offensive, however it’s really sad what I read here. You blame Armin for things you’ve done to him. Listen to what he says: ‘My priority is my good music’ , ‘The thing that inspires me is the crowd’, ‘We are here because of you’. Have you ever thought about it? You choose Top 20. He chooses the music he plays during his radio shows only for you. And he does repeat it again and again: ‘if you have comments or suggestions, please e-mail me...’. Why don’t you tell him? I personally believe that ASOT is not getting worse, at the same time, I am not saying that I adore every single tune I hear there. Sometimes I simply label the tune ‘brain killer’ (either bad or boring – you call it mainstream or whatever), still I know there is a person (somewhere in the world) who appreciates the tune, and this was the reason why Armin had chosen it. On the other hand, try as he might, he could not satisfy everyone every time. We’ve (I mean the fans) voted for No. 1 and now we are throwing stones at him? He wants to make us happy by sharing his passion to music (I am entirely certain about it) so why shouldn’t we be a little bit more understanding?



Best Regards to all of You

i listen to it the show could been way better the top 20 i dont agree with the odd tune in my eyes that deserved to be there yeh but the were alot missing that should been in that top 20 etc...

i use to love asots but dont bother listening in much anymore i listen to jon o bir's ways & means & above & beyonds ' trance around the world & ferry corsten's countdown now ' i still now & then listen to asot ' im big armin fan but i havent been inpressed 2008


anyway the was alot shite in there to but to be expected in away asot mainstream fans voting shite. asots in my eyes use to be the best trance show around not now a havent heard a decent show for a while

as for the lost that shouldnt been number 1 ' dont get me wrong good tune but a heard better tunes this year that should been up there or in his top 20 like for example ' Inertia - the system ' Activa - End Of Summer ' Thrillseekers - Last Time ' Super 8 - Electra Rapha - Pandora (Daniel kandi Emotional remix) etc.. i could mention more

Hope 2009 with be better year

we need more "la guitarras"^^

2 the topic:
i totally agree, that trance changed in the last years. this is realy sad for the "old" fans of the genre.
imo it's normal that every music is developping over the years. from time to time every kind music gets more and more mainstream. the artist wants to reach more ppl, wants to earn more money. Sadly nowadays most of the trance listeners (especially the new ones) want to listen to modern vocal trance.
Unfortunately it's impossible to stop this developement.

I personally prefer the "old" armin. The old tiesto is also fantastic. ;]

Hope you could understand my text.
Excuse me for my baddish englisch.

greetings,
swissrave

I have been listening to ASOT since the beginning. I have to say that I wait until I see the set lists before I listen to it. Yes I believe that some times you do hear the same tracks. Some weeks it does get a little bit repetitive. As of saying that it is getting worse I would not agree. Their sound (all djs) are always changing and developing. We don't need to be critical, we need to embrace it. We are so lucky to have the same passion for trance/ progressive and if Armin, Above & Beyond, Jon O'Bir, PVD, Ferry who ever didn't share the same passion then we wouldn't be where we are today musically speaking.

+1
the features is... they can also TODAY produce such tunes but... it's not rational the glamour boys and girls will not listen to such tunes and say...
"WTF ?!" xD

that why i prefer now less pop artists cause they sound is not so mainstream orientaited. well until ~begin 2007 everything was less serious than now =)
("Pop Trance" problem)
the only serious not ordinary tune in top 20 of 2008 was Walk the Edge, Ocean Drive Boulevard, La Guitarra and Cygnes (imo ofc)

well and i like them all... ofc where are some really nice and awesome vocal tunes. but than i see a list and see this tunes (look above) i immediatly say... "wow this one is nice" иге well ofc everyone has own taste.

Let's face this fact: Top 20 consists of people's personal votes combined. People with different tastes. So if you ever want to hear a great Top 20 you'll have to love about every track of that ASOT year or you'll just have to be a lucky ass to see a lot of your fave tunes come by. Personally, I couldn't care any less about the Top 20. Gimmick, imo.

The Yearmix on the other hand can be enjoyable. 2008 could have been the best yearmix so far. It wasn't but I still enjoyed it, particulary the 1st hour was spectacular! 2006 is also quite enjoyable, imo and 2005 was just ace.

But after having heard the Yearmix 2004 today I'd wish Armin would drop the "Yearmix on cd"-idea and just make a Yearmix with the greatest tunes of that year. That way, there wouldn't be bullshit about licenses and god knows what... But just a brilliant mix. Yearmix 2004 was MASSIVE...

man. everything by envio kicks the literal and figurative shit out of "la guitarra." "la guitarra" is boring faux-trance that is overplayed because it has a guitar, and people seem to auto-ejaculate when guitars -- electric or acoustic -- make their way into trance. the reason for this is one of those mysteries of the universe.

anyway, since episode 385, i've decided to give a state of trance a break for a while. the deadmau5-aping has to end, sooner or later, but it doesn't show signs of letting up in the near future.

ASOT became much Vocal nad melodic,progressiva and energy on the 2 place.
But on parties and musical events DJS are plaing more progressive and energy, less vocal.
Armin is plaing in ASOT those,that croud wants.POP and Vocal are popular all over the world.
You can dance all night to the progressive,but when people are hearing sounds of vocal,they become crazy.

ASOT became much Vocal and melodic,progressive and energy on the 2 place.
But on the parties and musical events DJS are plaing more progressive and energy, less vocal.
Armin is plaing in ASOT those,that croud wants.POP and Vocal are popular all over the world.
You can dance all night to the progressive,but when people are hearing sounds of vocal,they become crazy.