89/100
• Excellent combination of their respective sounds
• Creativity everywhere
• Insane level of energy
I think that even his haters would recognize that this was the year of Armin Van Buuren. He has been up there since years ago, but the mega-hit “Blah Blah Blah” brought him back again to the top. W&W were also at a good level, starting the year well with their “God Is A Girl” and ending it with the club smasher “Rave Culture.” Anyway, neither Armin nor W&W wanted to end the year just like that. They knew that they could make their last banger of 2018. And yes, they did it again.
We already know that these guys like to explore different genres and BPMs without any fear, so that’s precisely what they did with “Ready To Rave.” Instead of the more obvious Trance-Big Room collab that you could expect from them, they went so savage that they created a kind of hardstyle tune. To be honest, it is difficult for me to catalog this track in a specific genre because it has different elements here and there that make it unique. Let’s start with the review then.
The energy level is immensely high since the beginning. Just after the intro, some supersaws lead you into the first drop, helped by a short build up. Then, we have a bunch of gorgeous kicks, being followed by a characteristic offbeat reverse bass which is very typical of hardstyle. Finally, a vocal and a first preview of the lead playing short notes are added before the end of this part.
Here starts the break, one of the most exciting parts of this track. Coming from W&W, you would expect the typical supersaws that they use in almost all of their productions. And you’re not wrong at all, but that’s only a partial truth. The supersaws are there, but they’re not the big room ones. Adding to them a high release and a bunch of reverb, they managed to transform a generic sound into a great trancey one. I’m pretty sure that Armin’s influence was present here, so congratulations to him and W&W, because they merged their styles well at this point. Chapeau.
Every great story has a high end, and this could not be an exception. We have a hard kick, a reverse bass, 140 BPM… but we’re missing something, right? Some screeches maybe? Of course. But not just a couple of short ones, no. We want a bunch of them taking over the final drop, and that’s exactly what they gave to us, ending the track in the best way possible.
We’ve already reached the end of our journey, and I was impressed by “Ready To Rave”. Its capabilities are endless, being able to make a crowd crazy at any festival, to smash a club or to just make you dance while listening to it in your home. These guys knew how to end a year. We hope that they also know how to start this new one at the same level.
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