Album Review - Breathe In
Published 11 months ago • 2 min read
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Album Review An Unmitigated Uninspired Mess
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Breathe In
by Armin van Buuren
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Armin van Buuren, the steward of trance music (for better or for worse), is back with his 9th studio album and direct follow-up to 2023's lackluster 'Feel Again'. And maybe... this is one sequel that could have been left in the drafts.
I'm always fascinated by Armin. On one hand, he is one of the most talented producers to ever grace music. On the other, he constantly succumbs to trying out the latest waves in mainstream dance music in a meandering way.
Let me clear, though, that there is nothing wrong with trying out the music of the moment and capitalizing off it. Get that bag, you know? But there has to be a better way of going about this than what we see on 'Breathe In'.
I was already not a fan of last year's 'Feel Again', which was a bloated mess at over 30 tracks (not including the extended mixes). So, to continue the "narrative" started on that album with this one was not something I was eagerly anticipating. At the very least, Armin realized that he needed to cut things down to a much more manageable 12 tracks.
And therein lies my biggest issue with this album. These 12 tracks just don't feel part of an aforementioned "narrative" that Armin has touted this album for being. The sequencing is completely off, and mostly feels like 12 singles randomly put together. If there's anything to expect to be good on an album made by a worldwide-touring DJ is that at least the sequencing is on point.
My other issue? The songs aren't bad! But they're little basic catchy tunes ready to be played on the radio at mostly under 3 minutes. We're talking about an artist that is known as a trance producer. Trance music, by any measure, is very well known to be a genre of music dedicated to making long tunes. I'm talking over 6 minutes. At least on his previous album, he had the cojones to make the intro track 7 and a half minutes (over 10 minutes on the extended). Not a single track on 'Breathe In' is over 3 minutes and 33 seconds. The album finishes before it even gets started!
The album isn't all negative, though. There are some tracks that I enjoy. My favorite, which should come as no surprise, is the A State Of Trance 2024 anthem track, 'Destination'. The downside? This is the album version, which is a heavily edited down radio cut as opposed to its 6 minute and 15 second extended mix that came out back in September 2023.
I also really enjoyed the bombastic and well-paced 'Inevitable'. Not a typical Armin track, but an absolute banger that's sure to rock any main stage festival set.
Frustratingly, that track was only 1 of 3 new songs that released with the album. The other 9 tracks had all been previously released; a common annoying practice in dance music when it comes to album releases. So, if you were someone that kept up with each single release (like me), this album offered no new surprises.
To say I'm disappointed in this album and in Armin as a whole would be an understatement, to say the least. He's better than this. Ever since the release of 2019's 'Balance', Armin has taken an IDGAF attitude toward making music and just doing what he feels like. And maybe he deserves that after being in the game for as long as he has. As for me, I'm just left waiting for him to release another true trance album, like 2021's sublime 'A State of Trance FOREVER' (my #40 album of 2021). I hope we get that again.
3.8/10
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