A State of Trance, the weekly radio show is likely trance music’s most valuable commodity — in my humble opinion Markus Schulz and Mark Sherry are the best trance DJs, Ferry Corsten is the overall best producer, Andrew Bayer is the best producer under 35, but Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance radio show and events are the scene’s top assets. Not that AVB isn’t a quality DJ because he is, but ASOT is a smart mix of music, events and community which is quite the feat.
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I got an up-close look at the Armada Music machine in 2017 when I traveled to Amsterdam to write a story for DJ Mag. I spent three days with the crew — a day at headquarters talking with CEO Maykel Piron, I interviewed Armin, his brother Eller, Benno de Goeij at the Armin Only rehearsal and I spoke with the massive team that created the two-night Armin Only show at Amsterdam Arena (now called Johan Cruijff Arena). Both shows were sold out with 50,000 trance fans and it was phenomenal with cameos, fire, lasers, flying trapeze and other insanity — no one is better at stage, sound and lights than the Dutch.
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Many of the preconceived ideas I had about Armin from listening to ASOT were accurate. I found him to be a confident, personable, smart and hard working guy. He was open, honest and held nothing back — even when the Paul van Dyk accident entered the conversation — he spoke sincere with real hurt. To create and publish a radio show every week for 1,000 weeks says a lot about someone. If nothing else — you can’t question their passion or persistence.
Here’s my list and perhaps not all 100 tracks are proper trance tunes, but Mat Zo, Union Jack, Lane 8 and Underworld are hard to put in a box and too good to leave out. I also understand that the Original 1996 Breaks Mix of “Under the Red Sea” is a breaks track, but dance music wasn’t so genre-specific in the 90’s so it makes the cut.
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I know a few tracks will come along that should be included here — I will add them at the bottom in additional list called “My A State of Trance Top 100 Annex.” If you have suggestions — please email me here or find me on Twitter here.
- Giuseppe Ottaviani & John O’Callaghan v. Armin Van Buuren, “Ride The Wave vs. Burned With Desire” (Armin van Buuren Mashup)
- Mat Zo & Arty, “Rebound” (Original Mix)
- Richard Durand, “Tiger’s Apology”
- Mat Zo, “Bipolar”
- Mike Koglin, “The Silence” (Original Mix)
- Cosmic Gate, “Exploration of Space”
- Rapid Eye, “Circa-Forever” (Rapid Eye’s R.E.mix)
- Matt Lange, “Sixty Six” (Keyworth Remix)
- Y traxx, “Mystery land”
- Mario Piu, “The Vision”
- Kyau vs. Albert, “Velvet Morning” (Mirco de Govia Remix)
- Cosmic Gate, “Crushed” (Mark Sixma Remix)
- Albert Vorne, “A Leaden Day” (M.I.K.E. Remix)
- Paul Van Dyk Featuring Vega 4, “Time Of Our Lives” (PvD Club Mix) (Featuring Vega 4)
- Mauro Picotto, “Komodo” (Save A Soul)
- Matt Bowdidge, “No Room to Breathe” (Original Mix)
- Mike Koglin Vs. DJ Uto, “Time”
- Klubbheads, “Turn Up The Bass” (Extended Mix)
- PPK, “Resurrection” (Wellenrausch Remix)
- Fire & Ice, “Lost Emotions” (Original Remastered Mix)
- Talla 2XLC, “World In My Eyes” (Cosmic Gate Remix)
- BT, “Flaming June”
- Matt Darey presents Lost Tribe, “Under The Red Sea” (Original 1996 Breaks Mix)
- Will Atkinson, “Pat Butcher” (Original Mix)
- Parker, Hanson, “Arabesque” (Casey Keyworth Remix)
- Darren Porter & Alessandra Roncone, “Transcendence” (Extended Mix)
- Gouryella, “Gouryella”
- Underworld, “Two Months Off”
- Matt Darey presents Lost Tribe, “Gamemaster” (Original 1996 Mix)
- Goose, “Synrise” (Single Edit)
- Utah Saints, “Lost Vagueness” (Oliver Lieb Mix)
- Nalin & Kane, “Beachball” (Extended Version)
- Andrew Bayer, “From The Earth” (Breakfast Remix)
- W&W, “Invasion – ASOT 550 Anthem” (Club Mix)
- Shogun, “Space Odyssey” [Mix Cut] (Original Mix)
- Rex Mundi, “Back Pain” (Original Mix)
- Tiësto, “Driving To Heaven” (Mat Zo Remix)
- Push, “Strange World”
- Gareth Emery featuring Christina Novelli, “Concrete Angel” (Original Mix)
- Chicane, “From Where I Stand” (2019 Extended Rework)
- Mark Sherry, “Sangre Caliente” v. MaRlo, “Megalodon” (Armin van Buuren Mashup)
- Shogan, “Skyfire”
- Sunlounger, “Another Day On the Terrace” (Mixed Version)
- Lane 8, “Every Night” (Original Mix)
- Andrew Bayer featuring Asbjørn, “Super Human” (Radio Mix)
- Andrew Bayer, “Nobody Told Me”
- Solarstone, “Seven Cities” (Solarstone Pure Mix)
- Paul van Dyk, “Nothing But You”
- Union Jack, “Two Full Moons & A Trout”
- Bryan Kearney presents Karney featuring Shugz, “Floorburn”
- Veracocha, “Carte Blanche” (Original Mix)
- Gouryella, “Anahera” (Extended Mix)
- Chicane, “Saltwater”
- Above & Beyond featuring Richard Bedford, “Northern Soul”
- Solarstone & Scott Bond, “Red Line Highway” (Factor B’s Back to the Future Remix)
- Andrew Rayel & Jwaydan, “Until The End (Club Mix)”
- Chicane, “Lost You Somewhere” (Heliotropic Mix)
- Ferry Corsten, “Drum’s a Weapon” (Mix Cut)
- Chicane & Ferry Corsten featuring Lisa Gerrard, “38 Weeks”
- Coming Soon, “Become One” (Interactive Noise Remix)
- DJ Taucher, “Child Of The Universe”
- DJ Jean, “The Launch” (Original Mix)
- Joy Kitikonti, “Joyenergizer” (On Air Mix)
- Aly & Fila featuring Sue McLaren, “Mysteries Unfold” (Extended Mix)
- Craig Connelly featuring Jessica Lawrence , “How Can I” (John O’Callaghan Extended Remix)
- Mark Sherry, “My Love” (Outburst Vocal Mix)
- Eyal Barkan & Yahel, “Voyage” (12” Version)
- Dave Gahan, “Dirty Sticky Floors” (Junkie XL Vocal Remix)
- Jorn van Deynhoven, “Headliner” (Original Mix)
- Kyau & Albert, “Are You Fine?” (Arty Remix)
- Airwave and Rising Star, “Sunspot” (Original Mix)
- Cosmic Gate, “The Truth”
- BBE, “Seven Days and One Week” (Original Club Mix)
- Tiësto, “A Tear In the Open”
- Paul van Dyk, “For An Angel”
- Insigma, “Open Our Eyes”
- Rank 1, “Airwave”
- Lence and Running Man, “Never Look Back”
- Jon O’Bir featuring Julie Harrington, “Perfect As You Are”
- Paul van Dyk, “Another Way”
- Armin van Buuren & System F, “Exhale”
- Gouryella, “Ligaya” (Ferry Corsten Remix)
- Solar Impact, “Der Schwarze Monolith”
- Adam Nickey, “Perfect Destiny” (Daxson Club Mix)
- Marcus Schossow, “Swedish Nights” (Original Mix)
- Arctic Moon, “About You”
- Genix, “For Those We Lost” (Extended Mix)
- Robert Miles, “Children” (Full Length)
- Airscape, “L’Esperanza” (Svenson Goes To The Loveparade Mix)
- Delerium featuring Sarah McLachlan, “Silence” (Tiesto’s In Search of Sunrise Remix)
- Armin van Buuren, “Dominator” (Extended Mix)
- Arkham Knights, “Nightfall”
- ATB, “9PM (Till I Come)”
- Dash Berlin, “Till The Sky Falls Down”
- The Quest, “C Sharp”
- Armin van Buuren, “Sail”
- Arisen Flame, “Gladius” (Original Mix)
- Scot Project, “O (Overdrive)”
- Andrew Rayel & Alexandre Bergheau, “We Are Not Afraid Of 138” (Original Mix)
- GAIA, “J’ai Envie De Toi”
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My A State of Trance Top 100 Annex:
- Members Of Mayday, “10 In 1” (Paul van Dyk Club Mix), added Jan. 21, 2021
- Chrome, “The Fly” (Criss Source Mix), added Jan. 21, 2021
- Simon Patterson, “Mood Swing”, added Jan. 22, 2021
- System F, “Out Of The Blue” (Original Extended), added Jan. 27, 2021
- Bryan Kearney, “Wake Up Call”, added Jan. 28, 2021
- Daniel Sea, “Voices”, added Jan. 28, 2021
- Ferry Corsten, “Festival Crash”, added Jan. 28, 2021
