Ladies and gentlemen, the day has arrived. After lots of months of waiting, the brand new Blasterjaxx album, “Perspective”, is out now. Even if they teased some clues in the last months, showing us that they wanted to keep their musical essence intact in the upcoming album, some people, like me, were still thinking that they would put some poppish stuff on it. Fortunately, they shut up our mouths releasing only pure EDM: Big Room, Progressive House, Hardstyle and even some experimental stuff. Chapeu. Let’s get into it.
First of all, I want to remark that the album has some orchestral parts (Welcome, I, II and III) that, as we are on EDM Reviewer and not on Orchestral Reviewer, I won’t be covering. Anyway, I recommend you to listen to them, they are really epic and they help to give coherence to the whole concept of the album.
Other Side (feat. Drew Ryn)
74
Is there a better way to start an album than with a good Progressive House song? I don’t think so, and it seems like they shared my opinion. Drew Ryn’s performance is ok, but since the vocal part only covers both build-ups and the second break I felt like it could be developed in a better way. Drop is good, just that. The melody is not an amazing one but does his function, and the sounds are typical but well-chosen and mixed in a proper way.
Alice’s Story
83
I don’t personally know Alice, but if this song really tells her story, then her life might be really intense. Blasterjaxx are one of the kings of Big Room, and they start here showing that. The first break is pure gold: since the bpm change to the melody and the intriguing atmosphere, it’s enjoyable and differs a bit from what we are used to nowadays. The drop is not that remarkable, but the massive kicks and leads can easily destroy any stage out there.
Let The Music Take Control (feat. W&W)
93
I already wrote a whole article about it, here you can find my thoughts about it.
Children Of Today
77
I really appreciate the fact that they wanted to make lots of Progressive House, but in my opinion this genre it’s not the one in which they do their best. Featuring soft pianos and pads, the break is pretty standard, being just the expected. The drop is better balanced and composed than the Other Side’s one, but the melody still lacks something to make it next level.
Never Be Lonely (feat. Envy Monroe)
80
Envy Monroe was the singer chosen to perform on this one, and she didn’t defraud us. Their powerful and striking voice fits like a ring on a finger over the instrumental, making it dynamic and enjoyable. Going into the drop section, I appreciated that the stereo placement of the elements was really weird, but it feels really powerful and hard-hitting. The melody is simple but catchy, one of the best ones between the progressive tracks of the album.
United (feat. Ziya)
85
We start getting serious with this one. The structure of a breathtaking Big Room drop and a melodic sung break reminded me a lot of some old school tracks that followed that schema, like Hardwell’s Run Wild. I realized I was not wrong when I heard the pre-drop vocal saying “take me back to the old school now“. The drop is a normal one, nothing out of this world, but it really makes sense with the overall concept of the track, which I liked a lot.
Music Is Our Religion
89
I can easily say that, together with “Let The Music Take Control”, this is one of the best Big Room tracks of the album. I’m not giving it a higher score because the plucks and supersaws of the break seem a bit typical and lazy, but the drop is just spectacular. A mighty kick, a memorable melody and some classical big plucks with a crazy amount of reverb, they didn’t need more to build it. It might seem like the standard formula to make a big room banger, but these guys showed us that, if applied correctly, it still works.
Fire (feat. Forester)
73
Another progressive house composition, this time featuring Forester’s charming vocal. As usual, we have a good overall quality, but following a really safe structure and with melodies that seem to be created a bit in a rush.
Better
75
As the title suggests, it’s a good track. They turned down a bit the BPMs to make a song that is clearly more commercial than the rest of the tracks, but it differs a bit from the overused typical formula of most poppish records.
Wake Up (feat. Josie)
81
There’s also a place for experimental stuff in this album, and this song is a clear example of that. Continuing with lower BPMs, they managed to create an interesting amalgama with influences from various genres, which resulted in a radio-friendly but enjoyable tune at the same time.
Hide Away (feat. Envy Monroe)
71
I’m going to be honest, I love Progressive House as the most, but as long as I continue listening to “Perspective” I’m starting to get tired of it. Maybe it’s just me, but all their progressive stuff is starting to sound almost the same to me. Anyway, considering the size of the album, it’s more than understandable that they reused some elements of songs with the same style.
Royal Beluga
80
I’m loooosing it! As we are on a golden era for tech-house, it seems like Blasterjaxx wanted to add some techy influences to their productions. Royal Beluga is a caviar brand, and even if I’m not an expert on the genre itself, I can ensure that it lives up to the name!
Blast Off
78
This one is, of course, one of the laziest Big Room tracks from the album, but even without having a melody at all the drop is still breathtaking. Some producers have a natural gift for making this genre. These boys are for sure part of that small group.
Wonderful Together (feat. Envy Monroe & DBSTF)
90
It’s really criticized in the hard scene, but I love when hardstyle artists add their signature sounds on Big Room tracks. DBSTF collaborated with Blasterjaxx to give us the best track of “Perspective”. Having Envy Monroe’s for the third time in the album, the best part of this song is the drop, where a massive bass drive us through it while a crunchy lead adds the necessary amount of power and epicness.
Afterlife
79
Old school Big Room again, following the structure of “United”. Unfortunately, the result is not that convincing in my opinion.
Super Friends (feat. Jack Wilby)
82
You can imagine what I’m going to say: it’s progressive and it has the same sounds that we heard like 5 or 6 times before. Yes, you are right, that’s an accurate description of the track. The main difference is that this melody makes much more sense to me, it’s well developed and really catchy.
Our Luck (feat. Frontliner)
68
In an effort to touch as many genres as possible, Blasterjaxx joined Frontliner to create a hardstyle track this time. I’m sorry, but for me, it’s the worst track of the album. Old school kicks, diffuse melodies… It’s not that bad actually, but it does not reach the level of most hardstyle tracks of this year.
Children Of Today (Festival Mix)
75
As you may imagine, it’s just Children Of Today, but with a massive drop which makes it more mainstage friendly for their sets.
What do you think?
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