This review covers the trance track Apollo 440 – Liquid Cool.
This track was released in 1994 on the album Millennium Fever.
The track starts with a synth melody and a whispering voice sample. Some chime effects are added to the track. A snare and high hat are then added. A choir element is also added. From there,some more of the trance drum kit is added to build the track up. The main melody is played out on a piano after. Some elements drop out as a bassline joins the track. A synth effect is added. The piano element then drops out.
After this, some choir elements come in. An electric guitar is added. The piano comes back, but for chords instead of the main melody. Some additional percussion work is added. The electric guitar and piano take turns being prominent in the track.
From there, some choir elements lead the track to a drop. Some melodies and chime effects are there after everything else drops away. A synth comes in to play out the main melody. A female voice sample is added. Another voice sample is then played out. The whispering voice sample makes a return.
A melody then starts to play out and is backed by a synth effect. A high hat then comes in. An additional melody then comes in. The synth then continues the main melody as the rest of the trance drum it makes a return. A 303-like synth also makes an appearance. After that, some vocals then come in. Some choirs eventually back the vocals. This ends with some synths and the drum kit.
In the next section, an additional round of vocals come in. Again, this is backed by some choir elements. That ends with another drop as a synth melody takes over. This is backed by the 303-like synth and some pads. A melody then starts to play out again.
From there, the drum kit returns and the main melody plays out in the synth. The vocals then make a return and is backed by the choir elements again. Another drop hits at the end of the vocal section. Some 303-like synths then lead the track into a sort of guitar solo. The main synth melody makes a return as some voice samples continue to play out. An additional voice sample makes an appearance. A female vocal makes some brief appearance.
After that, some elements drop out, leaving mostly the pads. Some vocals make a return. The track further breaks down with the last of the drum kit fading out. The track then leads out with some choir elements, piano, and pads. The final seconds of the track have a synth effect and a voice sample.
One thing to note is that this is a pretty long track. It is more than a dozen minutes long and there is a lot going on in the track.
What I do like about the track is that the main melody is quite catchy. Both the piano and synth version sound great. The voice samples are pretty interesting. I also think the overall flow works quite well.
My only minor complaint is that it feels like this track is stretched out a bit. As a result, it takes a while to get from one good part to the next. It’s not overly obvious that this is happening, but there are some signs of it that I could tell.
Overall, this is a very solid track. It has a nice catchy main melody played out both by synth and piano. The voice samples and vocals work nicely. While the track is a bit stretched out, it is well constructed otherwise. A very solid track all around in my view.
Score
7.5/10
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
