Armada Music 20 Years Classics pays homage to dance music's rich history and aims to educate a new generation of fans about the artists who shaped the genre. There's classics galore on this one as you'd expect, with several bangers by label chief Armin Van Burren, in addition to seminal anthems such as Joe Smooth's "Promised Land", Inner City's "Good Life" (remastered), Chez Damier's "Can You Feel It" (New York extended dub) and Olav Basoski's "Waterman" (extended mix), as well as appearances by newer artists like ANOTR, Patrick Topping and Jan Blomquist.
It may not always be flavour of the month, but one thing is certain: trance will never disappear. In fact, as this compilation demonstrates, the sound remains in good health. Jaydee, who is best known for the iconic Plastic Dreams, delivers the robust tribal drums and swooshing filters of "Black Book". Representing the new school is Hansgod's shimmering "Altension" and Glenn Morrison's more ominous, bass-heavy "Twenty Something". Both tracks draw on influences from across the decades, including the Eye Q sound and the rumble of New Beat to create vivid new variants. In a fitting closing of the loop, Fort Romeau weighs in to rework Pete Lazonby's classic "Sacred Cycles" - the result is a mysterious dubbed out track that defies categorisation.