Once Upon A Night Vol. 2

By Erik Gfesser\n\nAlmost exactly a year ago, I wrote a review for Volume 1 of this series using the same header. As phenomenal as I find this second volume, unlike the first volume it took some repeated listenings for me to get into the tracks offered here. But since growing on me over the last couple months, the tracks on this album have enjoyed heavy daily rotation on my playlist. As I mentioned in my first review, I have been very picky when it comes to purchasing actual physical albums the last few years, and there is again definitely no buyer's remorse with this trance effort. This second volume also offers extremely danceable tracks mixed by Corsten that provide a great headphone backdrop at work while needing deep concentration, or a way to energetically drown out the environment while working down long stretches of a work commute when alternative web radio is not an option. While this effort is much better mixed than the first volume, it was interesting to find that the number of tracks with lyrics has multiplied. At first I was not sure whether I could tolerate this aspect of the album, but except for the single track #8 "Sunshine" on disk one, the lyrics flow seamlessly and provide little distraction from the music. The short samples provided here make it difficult to judge whether a purchase will be worthy, but trance lovers will probably not regret. Personal favorites come in sets of three consecutive tracks, just like they did for me on the first album: the first set on disk one consists of #5 "Festival", one of the most cheerful trance tracks I have ever heard, #6 "Lose it All" (Ibiza Sunrise Mix), and #7 "Always" (Chicane Mix), and the second set on disk two consists of #2 "Eden's Light", #3 "Halicarnassus" (Progressive Mix), and #4 "Luna".