This is Armin van Buuren's most recent album. The double disc contains 21 unmixed tracks. While some DJs weave a set strictly out of other people’s records, other DJs go that extra mile and add their own productions to the mix. As a result, you desperately want to hear their own classic tracks and exclusive remixes as much as the freshest cuts at the front of their boxes every time they play out. Armin Van Buuren falls into the latter category, and it’s testament to his ability to produce timeless, genre defining tracks that even 6 years after their release, clubbers regularly fight their way to the front to beg for one more spin of the likes of Communication and The Sound of Goodbye to make their evening’s aural pleasure complete. It’s now 10 years since Armin’s debut single Blue Fear was picked up by Sasha and Digweed for the Northern Exposure compilation, but this is the first time his back catalogue of trance classics has been available in their full original versions on one CD.

“It’s not really a ‘best of’ album,” says Armin,“it’s more like tying up the loose ends. I’ve produced a lot of tracks under different names - Gaia, Perpetuous Dreamer, Darkstar– and loads of people ask me how to get hold of them, why certain tracks were only ever released on vinyl. A lot of mixes I did exclusively for my sets, but there’s so much demand for them, this seems like a good time to celebrate their success and just put them out there.”

Tracklist

Disc 1

*1. Hymne

**"Written as an opening track for Armin Only 2005 in Ahoy' Rotterdam with Jan Vayne. Originally released as a hidden track on the Shivers album."

*2. Sail

**"Theme track for Armin Only 2005, based on the historic connection Holland has with water and sailing. This track was used for the campaign to promote a huge Dutch boat event called 'Sail', held in Amsterdam every 5 years."

*3. Love You More (feat. Racoon)

**"New version of this beautiful song and nr. 1 hit by Racoon. Originally made for a one time live performance version during Armin Only 2005."

*4. Communication Part 3

**"Original version released as Armin – Communication. This is an updated version of the track that has meant a lot for my career. Originally this version of the track was meant for my DJ sets only."

*5. Yet Another Day (feat. Ray Wilson)

**"I met Ray after a gig I did in Bathgate, Scotland. He's one of the best live performing artists and a truly gifted musician."

*6. Burned With Desire (feat. Justine Suissa)

**"Originally written as a slow chill out track but I did this remix because people asked me if I could play it in my sets. My first attempt at writing vocals with the help of the lovely Justine."

*7. 4 Elements

**"I did this track as the theme song for the '4 Elements' festival in Holland in 2001. The track contains references to all 4 elements."

*8. Sound Of Goodbye (Dark Matter Remix)

**"Original mix previously released as 'Perpetuous Dreamer – The Sound of Goodbye'. This is a previously unreleased mix of the sound of goodbye. A dancefloor favourite, people have been asking me a lot to release this mix."

*9. Clear Blue Moon

**"Originally released as 'Rising Star – Clear Blue Moon'. I wrote this track in the middle of the winter during my internship at the lawfirm I was working for. One of my personal favorites!"

*10. Blue Fear

**"Originally released as 'Armin – Blue Fear'. This is where it all started for me 10 years ago. Made with only one sampler with 2 megabytes of internal memory. This track has meant the most for my career. It's the oldest track on the album and opened a lot of doors when it entered the UK charts."

*11. Exhale (feat. System F)

**"Written with the talented Ferry Corsten. Check out the video for this, recorded in central London and Coalville where we played a gig in the legendary 'Passion nightclub'."

Disc 2

*1. Who Is Watching (Tonedepth Remix)

**"Vocals written and recorded in New York with the beautiful Nadia. The guitar part was recorded in Sweden and the original mixes were done in Holland."

*2. Saturday Night (vs. Herman Brood)

**"New Version of the classic rock tracks by Herman and his wild romance, one the biggest rock artists in Holland and a big hit in the US in the 70s. I found a bassline while working on another track and the riff just worked perfectly with it. This track is the theme to a movie about his life."

*3. Zocalo (feat. Gabriel & Dresden)

**"Written and recorded with two of the world's best producers in their studio in San Francisco in March 2005. We named it after the local coffeehouse where we got our coffee's each morning while working on the track. This track always reminds me of Mexico."

*4. This World Is Watching Me (vs. Rank 1 feat. Kush)

**"A brand new track made especially for this album with Rank 1 featuring the vocals of Kush. We always said we were going to do a track together one day."

*5. Sunspot (feat. Airwave)

**"Written and produced with Laurant originally for his album back in 2003. Working with him taught me a lot about producing in general."

*6. Touch Me

**"Originally released as 'Dark Star – Feel me', later changed to 'Rising Star – Touch Me'. Track I originally made as a B-side to a track called 'See me'. I opened with this track when I first played in Norway. It was the first time I ever played in another country."

*7. Simple Things (feat. Justine Suissa)

**"Previously unreleased track with Justine. We wrote it in the same week as 'Wall of Sound', but I didn't have time to finish it for the 'Shivers' album. I love the harmonies on this one."

*8. Shivers (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Red Light Dub)

**"The original of this track was 'birth of an angel' and was never supposed to be a vocal track until Raz & Adrian wrote this great hook with Susana. Great remix by Alex M.O.R.P.H."

*9. Wall Of Sound (Airbase pres. Parc Mix)

**"I told Justine I wanted to write about a different subject instead of romance or love for this track. This remix absolutely rocks every floor I've played it on."

*10. Intruder (feat. M.I.K.E.)

**"Written in Belgium with M.I.K.E. We both wanted to make something different and came up with this."

All explanations of each track are taken from Armin himself. These quotes appear in the album pamphlet.


There is also a limited supply of this compilation that comes with a ticket to the Armin Only event in Ahoy in Rotterdam. This event occured on November 11th, 2006

External Links

Armin's reasons for this album