So far, 2010 has been a great year for music and a wonderful year for trance album releases. When Armin, Tiesto, Markus and Gareth all line up to present their hard work, it can only be a spectacular moment! And so it was!

Although Tiesto ‘s Kaleidoscope came out in October 2009, the album didn’t really blossom until 2010, when one of the world’s most beloved DJ toured the world to promote it.
Here’s what Tiesto think is the basis of his success: ‘Because people care and they see that I care. I’m very honest in what I do. It’s not an act or a gimmick. It’s pure, it’s emotion.’ (Source) And yes, we felt it at The Mission Dance Weekend 2010, when he rocked our worlds with the tracks on his latest album: “Escape Me”, “Feel It in My Bones”, “Century” etc etc etc.
Here’s what Tiesto says about how Kaleidoscope came to life:
‘The starting point was to work with different artists that I liked,’ Tiësto explains, ‘it was as simple as that. ‘Sigur Rós make beautiful music. Bloc Party are fantastic and exciting and innovative. But the hardest thing initially was to get those kind of people to collaborate. They don’t work with dance artists as a rule, and especially not a dance DJ, but when we started producing these tracks, I was surprised at how well the styles work together.’ (Source)
Kaleidoscope is the perfect name for the album: this mix of colors, shapes, sounds and voices never ceases to amaze us and bring even more new things out of this DJ’s inexhaustible talent.

Although it’s deadly hard to chose, here’s my favorite track of the album:

Markus Schulz is next in line with the album that forever marked his spot on the trance VIP list: Do you dream?. Released on June 15th, 2010, after an 18 month-long production, this is the album that I craved for months on end. And listening to it was one of the best musical experiences I’ve ever had! Do you dream? is an infusion of 16 tracks of “aerated power trance”, as described in the album’s presentation, that will make you feel more alive than ever before.
And after the release came Markus’s concert in Romania, which blew my mind and electrified my senses. I still feel that night on my skin and its memory will never go away! But you have to hear it in order to believe it.

Hard as it may be, if I had a gun to my head and had to pick my favorite song of this album, it would be this one:

And can he pull off a suit or what? 😀

Next stop, the lovely Armin van Buuren! Another DJ underneath whose fingers music just flows naturally and lifts us into the sky. Just as his creative nature, Armin decided to name his album Mirage, which is just that: a trip beyond the boundaries of our imagination. Here’s what the world’s best DJ has to say about his months’ work: “Mirage has been the biggest project I’ve ever worked on. There’s so many hours in this. Work started two years ago when I actually built a completely new studio for this project. Many new techniques were used and most of all I had so much fun creating this with the many people that are involved. It was a journey, an epic one!” (source)
With voices like Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s, BT’s, Nadia Ali’s, Guy Chambers’s, Christian Burns’s and Adam Young’s of Owl City, nothing short of spectacular could come out of it! September 9th, 2010 was a day that fans around the world put their headphones on or just maxed out the volume and hit play. The rest is trance history!

Again I find myself in a hard spot having to chose from so many wonderful tracks, but These silent hearts is definitely one of my favorites! It’s just pure energy in a trance song. And the next step is Armin’s tour stop in Bucharest, when I will fall in love with his music over and over again!

Last, but not least, Gareth Emery‘s debut album Northern Lights hit the trance universe on the 23rd of September 2010. As a trance music lover, I was simply ecstatic! Rarely does such a cohesive, complete and fulfilling album come out. When listening to Northern Lights you feel like there’s nothing you would take out and certainly there’s nothing more to be added. It’s just a perfect work of art, that you have to listen to from one end to the other, starting with Stars and finishing with All is now.
Here’s what Gareth confessed about his work on the album: “Another key consideration was flow – I didn’t just want a disparate collection of tracks; I wanted to produce an album in the traditional sense that flowed from start to finish as a continuous piece of music, something you could listen to again and again.” (source)
Well, congratulations! You’ve certainly done it, Gareth!
From the sky to the earth, Gareth has managed to conquer the fans’ hearts with his first album as a DJ. And he certainly won a spot on the most prestigious DJs podium. Gareth may have been owing us this album for a long while, but his well developed musical personality paid off splendidly! Getting to witness such an amazing DJ being recognized for his true value is an honor. I can’t wait to see the lovely Gareth on stage, performing for his Romanian crowd!

As for Gareth’s album, I know exactly which track I love the most. The one that has been warming up my days for a while now is Sanctuary, a song that Lucy Saunders brings to life in a wonderful way. Enjoy!

So here is what I think are the best trance albums of 2010. I can only hope that 2011 will bring inspiration to our most loved DJs and great album all year round!