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ClubMixed is a compilation series that has been coming out for the past few years, spotlighting the up-front and cutting-edge of house and trance music as heard on dance floors worldwide. The ClubMixed series is supposed to reflect the club life of such cosmopolitan cities as New York, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, London, Paris, Rome, and similar cities around the world. The TranceMixed - Anthem 2-disc collection picks up where "TranceMixed - Classics" left off with 24 big trance anthems that celebrates the up-front and uplifting anthems that you may well hear on dance floors around the world.


Some of the standout tracks on the first disc is a version of The Eurythmics classic "Sweet Dreams" by Riffs & Rays featuring Soraya, "Twister" by Sam Sharp, and Airwave, evoking memories of Orbital, on "I Want to Believe." Another great track is Titan 3's "Let Your Heart Go Free" which is one of the most uplifting songs I have heard in a while, and "Wings Across the Universe" by Essence doesn't do a bad job of living up the anthem billing. I wasn't that impressed, however, with "Doot Doot" by Handle With Care, which seemed too much like a throwback to the 80s in a cheesy cartoon way, lacked any energy whatsoever. Paul Van Dyk's "Connected" and the Thrillseekers' "New Life" were a little disappointing also because they seemed out of place in this mix; definitely not their best tracks.

The second disc is a bit harder, like a maddening pseudo-New Order trance session and is mostly vocal-free. "Automanual" by Marco V again evoked Orbital and was one my favorites on this disc, along with Blank and Jones' bumping track "Stars Shine Bright." Another track that aimed to please was "Revolution" by Alphazone which put some much-needed adrenaline into the mix.

I have to admit, though, that it was a bit disappointing that most of the tracks on this side are vocal-free, which takes away some of the anthem feel. Most of them still managed to energize the listener and keep the tempo fired up.

While there are some fairly good tracks on the compilation mix, I was somewhat disappointed with the overall effort. It just seemed incoherent at times and didn't seem to have a consistent sound and lacked the smooth transitions that a great mix needs. Yes, you can have some amazing tracks but it does no good if the songs don't work together and flow as one and this compilation disc failed at doing that. Hopefully, this was just a misstep this time and things will be back on track on their next release.