I've always been a fan of Solarstone productions. In the past he (or they in the distant past) managed to produce some of the most beautiful melodies ever. After the album Touchstone in 2010 Rich slipped of my radar for a while, but he's definitely back on it since late 2011. He started 2012 with a new vocal track - The Spell, featuring a for me unknown vocalist Clare Stagg. The Spell became an instant big hit and is, in my opinion, one of the better vocal tracks of 2012 so far. Rich also announced that this would be the first single from his upcoming album.
After The Spell was released there was no real news about the album till late April. That's when Pure was officialy revealed and it was supposed to showcase what Rich consideres "Pure Trance". After seeing the tracklist for the first time I was very skeptical, because there were too many vocal tracks for my taste. In the end I decided to give it a shot anyway, so here's my review:
Pure
Great opener, which basically shows how most of the album will be - dreamy & melodic. The track starts off with a lovely piano intro and continues with a dreamy melody. The breakdown is stunning aswell. One of my favourite tracks from the album.
Score: 8.5/10
Jewel (with Clare Stagg)
Clare sounds really nice here. The production itself is nothing outstanding, but it manages to complement her vocals nicely. Overall it's a decent more chillout oriented vocal track.
Score: 6/10
Shake The Demons (with Bill McGruddy)
Very interesting track here. Progressive with a dark, misterious vibe and good haunting vocal by Bill. The vocal is kept to a minimum, which is great. This way it fits in amazingly and adds a lot to the atmosphere, without being overdone or taking over the track.
Score: 8/10
Voyager
After a few slower tracks, we continue with a faster one. The overall structure of Voyager actually feels like a journey through space. The track uses the typical Solarstone bassline, which we've been used to lately and adds a cool spacey melody on top. The spoken male vocal samples are a nice addition, but the screamy female vocal samples in the end seem pretty useless.
Score: 8.5/10
Where Do We Go From Here (with Betsie Larkin)
It takes a lot for a vocal track to really impress me, but this one succeeded. Yes it's pretty cheesy, but it's a great chillout track. I'm not a fan of Betsie at all, but both she and Rich sound great.
Score: 8/10
Fire Island (with Aly & Fila)
Big surprise here. I'm not a fan of Aly & Fila and their generic uplifting sound, so I wasn't expecting too much after seeing them in this collaboration. However, they managed to blow me away. This might be due to the fact that I really can't hear what Aly & Fila added here. Sounds like pure Solarstone to me. Amazing dreamy melody, lovely guitar parts and overall a very summery vibe.
Score: 9/10
Requiem (with Clare Stagg)
Catchy melody and again good vocals by Clare. Nice one.
Score: 7/10
Falcons (with Giuseppe Ottaviani)
Similar story to Fire Island with this one, because I haven't been a fan of Giuseppe's productions in the past few years. This track is nice, but I got kinda tired of the melody pretty quickly. Unlike the collaboration with Aly & Fila, this time I can clearly hear Giuseppe's contribution mostly in the form of his typical plucks.
Score: 7/10
Please
Starts off slowly with some cool spoken vocal samples when suddenly that beautiful melody kicks in. Wow! Definitely one of the most beautiful melodies I've heard in a long time. So sad, yet so uplifting. That combined with a very oldschool-ish beat = Win. Best track on the album for me!
Score: 9.5/10
The Spell (with Clare Stagg)
Overplayed as hell already before the album was released. However I don't mind, because it's really good. Driving, melodic with nice vocals on top. This is a nice example of good vocal trance.
Score: 8/10
Lovers
This is the only weak track on the album. It's way too cheesy and doesn't do anything for me.
Score: 4/10
Presence Of The Past
With this one, we enter the chillout zone. The track consists of a mixture of sounds (the guitar is outstanding), which create a nice chill journey.
Score: 7/10
Swansong (with Hannah Magenta)
Good tune to end the album with. Nice chillout vibes, which are nicely complemented by great vocals from Hannah.
Score: 7.5/10
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Closing Thoughts
I normally wouldn't be able to enjoy an album with half vocal tracks, but this one was definitely an exception. I'm glad that most of them were more chillout oriented and not the regular pop-trance crap. The other half of the album consists of some great instrumental tracks, which are definitely the highlight. The overall vibe is very dreamy/trancey and it's a very diverse album which will probably suit a lot of different tastes.
Overall Score: 8/10
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