This review covers the trance track DJ Tiësto – Urban Train (Original Mix).
This track was released in 2001 as a single.
The track starts with some chord synths. A vocal element makes an appearance with some reverberation and a delay effect. After that, the kick comes in along with the bassline. High hats join the track after. After a cymbal crash, an added synth joins the track. A synth effect makes a brief appearance. One of the main synth melodies then makes an appearance. A synth effect then makes an appearance.
After that, the main vocals join the track. Large portions of the track drop out, leaving the synth chords behind. After that, the vocals return and large parts of the track rejoin the track. An added synth joins the track as well in the process. A few effects make appearances towards the end of the vocal element.
After a bit, a drop hits and the synth effect, another synth, and the vocals take over. The vocals drop out briefly for the synth chords. Another synth element joins the track. The drum kit then drops out and the vocals rejoin the track for a verse. Another synth rejoins the track. Some of the synth elements rejoin the track. The high hats gradually fade in.
After a snare roll, a second main melody rejoins the track along with the drum kit. The secondary main synth melody has a bit of a synth string sound to it, though it’s not exactly a synth string. Large parts of the track then drop out.
The vocals then make a return in an non-lyrical manner. After that, some synths and the drum kit take over again. Another synth rejoins the track. Parts of the first main synth melody rejoin the track. The vocals return, repeating one of the verses. A filtered percussion makes a brief appearance before large portions of the track drop out.
The vocals make a return along with some of the synths. A snare roll makes a return before the second main synth melody takes over again, leaving the vocals behind. The drum kit is also back in full. Those vocals make an appearance in a non-lyrical fashion for a moment again.
Parts of the track drop out, leaving a few synths and parts of the drum kit. The main vocals return in a talking manner. After a bit, the drum kit drops out and the vocals along with one of the synths lead the track out.
One thing I really like about this track is the duel synth melodies. A lot of tracks rely heavily on a single synth melody to really sell the track. Some tracks don’t necessarily try to have two. This track, however, does this and does this quite successfully. It works quite well and really helps make this track stand out. So, great job on that front.
The main vocals are a bit of a mixed bag here. On the one hand, the non-vocal portions actually add a nice third main sound to the overall track. In that instance, they work quite well. On the other hand, the lyrical portions are a bit garbled and hard to understand. So, a lot of the meaning tends to get lost here. For me, there are reasons to like them and reasons to not like them.
Finally, the overall construction is worth commenting in in my view. This track does stretch things by quite a bit. Since there are a lot of elements involved here, it isn’t as bad as they could be for a track with this kind of length. Still, it does come off as a bit drawn out in the end.
Overall, this is a very solid track. It’s got a great duel main synth melody going for it. The vocals are a mixed bag, but do add to the overall sound of the track. It may be a bit on the drawn out side, but still, I found the track enjoyable.
Score
7/10
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
