George Acosta - Miami

I am not familiar with most of George Acosta's past works, but friends told me to expect an abundance of melodic female vocal tracks, mixed in the 'Acosta' signature way. So I was surprised, but not in a bad way because this album is not what I was expecting since it mainly nonvocal progressive trance.

The album kicks off with the wonderful Van Buuren track “Prodemium,” which made me wonder if I had popped in the right disc since the same track starts Armin Van Buuren’s latest album 76. These cds captures the big room trance sound that many dance addicts can hop a groove to, although after several listens, I sensed a touch of progressive house. Favorite tracks on the first cd include Paul Van Dyk’s “Time of Our Lives” and the Above and Beyond mix Rusch & Murray’s “Epic” which were among the slim few tracks which featured vocals. Nevertheless, I was at a loss in the 'Ian Van Dahl' sounding vocals department while listening.

The second disc goes more hard house kicking off with the superb track, Miss Loony's “Superbitch,” mixed into Dumonde's “Atmosphere,” a track that I absolutely love. Other notable tracks featured on the second disc include Soulmate's “Moment of Silence,” Pro-Tech's “Dominating Power,” and “Cold Night” from Thomas Rubin. The Mystery track “Feel 4 You” offers just the right touch of vocals floating on the dark twisted beats, with a lovely buildup leading by an elegant release into a trance voyage that continues for the remainder of the disc.

In my honest opinion, there isn’t much to be said for this double album other than it offers a non-stop mix of, at times, very progressive trance jams. Acosta is an excellent trance dj and definitely knows how to choose a clever set of tracks to mix and the album seemed more enchanting each time it played through. I recommend this “Miami” to progressive trance fans, and it could possibly appeal to progressive house fans as well.