Q (p.124) - 3 stars out of 5 - "JUST BE's sprawling vocal cuts will delight those who flock to his epic, stadium-filling trance seats."
Additional personnel: Kirsty Hawkshaw, Aqualung, Joanne Lloyd (vocals); Josh Gabriel.
Recording information: 2004.
Known for creating hypnotic electronica in which fragments of airy female vocal melodies weave through pulsating layers of rhythms, Dutch DJ Tiesto is one of the most noted producers/remixers in progressive dance music. JUST BE continues Tiesto's forays into beat-based trance music, and his trademark sonic elements--floating vocals, eerie synth textures, and incessant, high-energy beats--are all present and accounted for.
"Forever Today," which opens the album, features a building, swelling orchestral fanfare before launching into a flurry of breakneck beats. Surging compositions (particulary "Love Comes Again" and "Nyana"), complete with the requisite electro-hi-hat, conjure visions of late-night ravers contorting wildly, their waving hands illuminated by psychotropic light displays. The real surprise comes with the ghostly, lovely "UR;" the closest Tiesto gets to conventional song structure, this track recalls Japan, Nick Drake, and Radiohead, while still maintaining his lush electronica sound. A clever, twitchy reading of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" closes things out, putting a cap on 78 minutes of innovative DJ music.