Feel Again – Armin Van Buuren (Album Review)
I’ve recently gotten into trance music, with the help of the podcast A State of Trance hosted by Armin Van Buuren and Ruben de Ronde. Why not start listening to some of the main host’s music? Well, since he is the host, he promoted some of his music for his latest album from the podcast, so I decided to buy it. Since this is a big album (34 songs), it was split into three cds, so I’ll do rating for each cd (“part”) and of course the songs as well (I’m not including the extended versions).
Feel Again
Artist: Armin Van Buuren
Released: March 31, 2023
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style/sub-genres: Progressive House, House, Trance, Dance-Pop, Hands Up
Ratings
Overall – B+
Composition – A-
Lyrics – C+
Generic – Not really
Part 1 (A-)
- Feel Again (feat. Wrabel) – A+
- Oumuamua – B
- No Fun (w/ Stickman Project) – A-
- Human Touch (feat. Sam Gray) – A
- Come Around Again (w/ Billen Ted feat. JC Stewart) – B+
- Let You Down – C+
- Start Again (feat. Jesse Fink) – D
- Pas de Bourree (feat. Lucky Lou) – B+
- Love We Lost (w/ R3hab feat. Simon Ward) – C+
- Offshore (w/ Avira vs. Chicane) – A+
Part 2 (C)
- One More Time (feat. Maria Wright) – B+
- Superman (w/ Blasterjaxx feat. 24h) – C
- Forever & Always (w/ Gareth Emery Feat. Owl City) – C+
- Roll The Dice (feat. Philip Strand) – B
- I’m Sorry (feat. Scott Abbot) – A
- Computers Take Over The World – F
- Clap – D
- Hey (I Miss You) (feat. Simon Ward) – B
- Something Beautiful – C-
- Live On Love (w/ Diane Warren feat. My Marianne) – B
- Shot At Love (feat. Husky) – B+
Part 3 (B+)
- Tocando El Sol (w/ Azteck) – A
- Typically Dutch (w/ Wildstylez feat. Pollyanna) – C+
- Easy To Love (w/ Matoma feat. Teddy Swims) – A
- Dayglow (feat. Stuart Crichton) – B+
- La Bomba (w/ Blasterjaxx) – A
- Do Right (feat. Zoi) – B-
- On & On (w/ Punctual feat. Alika) – B
- Vulnerable (feat. Vanessa Campagna) – A+
- Letting Go (feat. Matluck) – A
- REFLEXION (ASOT 2023 Anthem) (w/ Cosmic Gate) – C
- State Of Mind (feat. Alba) – A-
- Rhythm Inside (w/ Ahmed Helmy) – C+
- Feel Again (Reprise) (feat. Wrabel) – A+
Top 5 tracks
- Feel Again
- Vulnerable
- Offshore
- Feel Again (Reprise)
- La Bomba
The title track is just simply amazing, with a long buildup and satisfying finish, and the reprise was a nice instrumental touch. Vulnerable was great, and Offshore was epic (I’m a bit of a Chicane fan, my bias shows through). La Bomba, while slighly annoying with the lyrics, is one of the most energetic songs you’ll ever hear.
Worst 5 tracks
- Computers Take Over The World
- Clap
- Start Again
- Something Beautiful
- REFLEXION
Here’s where some controversy might be. Computers Take Over The World I know is one of Armin’s top songs right now, but the beat does not go well with the robotic voice. It’s a cool idea, but way too annoying and repetitive with the lyrics and beat. Clap is kind of along the same lines. The rest of the songs here were generic and really didn’t feel for them.
Final Thoughts
For my first experience of a whole Armin Van Buuren album, it was overall very enjoyable and I’m very glad I purchased it. However since it is a big album, it has to have it’s bad tracks and it definitely did. Maybe some of the songs were repeated in the podcast swayed my view on some songs, but for my first time with half these songs, it was very well done.