Tiësto ::: Kaleidoscope (Review)

Scroll down to the post before the last or click here to read my introduction post to this album.

Having gotten ahold of a promo copy (throughout every single track it says "MUSICAL FREEDOM. DON'T. STEAL. THIS SHIT." So maybe wait 'til the real release date?), I'm going to attempt to write my first album review. Like sentences about each song, instead of a short paragraph or just a rating. (ALSO: since WEB SHERIFF commented on my blog I won't post link to the leaked album. If you want it you can find it for yourself [not hard], or just comment me for a link.)

To start off: FACE IT (and don't hate), Tiësto is not totally doing trance anymore. This cannot be more evident that through this album. He's producing electro. electro/trance. almost electro-indie. edging on *shudder* pop trance. edging. Specific track reviews:

01 Kaleidoscope [ft. Jónsi]

EXCELLENT. Jónsi of Sigur Rós. Dreamy, trancey, and beautiful. Then it drops, but stays nice and dreamy. Heavy synths. A great start to the album.

02 Escape Me [ft. CC Sheffield]

Electro, fun. Good vocals, bass, everything. Electro kids should like this. Indie-electro/dance-punk kids/fans of the Killers & similar artists should, too.

03 You Are My Diamond [ft. Kianna]

This is really edging on POP TRANCE. cheesy lyrics, major happy poppy. It..umm...feels like 2001 or something. Except better synths and bass..kind of. I don't know, I just can't take lyrics this cheesy/poppy and need to skip this song at 23 seconds.. Your non-EDM mainstream top40 friends (zomg you have friends who like top40?!) or roommates will like this. They will play it a million times, you'll hear it on the radio, you'll hear it at the all-campus dance, you'll hear it blaring from dorm rooms as you walk past with headphones on but it overpowering, and you will hate it and suffer. Then you will suffer more when you come home and your little sister has it on repeat and you share a room with her.

04 I Will Be Here [ft. Sneaky Sound System]

Err..it begins well, electro bass, but then at 15 seconds, electro ravers pause. because of the cheesy vocals. ALSO edging on pop trance/dance due to cheesy lyrics. I have low tolerance to cheesy/pop lyrics. This track is electro/dance/pop.

05 I Am Strong [ft. Priscilla Ahn]

I had not heard of Priscilla Ahn before, and am glad that I have now heard her voice. Absolutely lovely. Big props to Tiësto for featuring her on this album. She could totally do vocal trance. Airy, flowy, melodic, wonderful. Also nice that I heard this first since I don't like acoustic/folk that much, which is what Priscilla Ahn primarily plays/sings.

06 Here on Earth [ft. Cary Brothers]

Okay, also didn't know of the Cary Brothers, except for the trance-poppish "Ride (Tiësto Remix)" that I sort of like. So that's what I expected, trance-poppish. But just looked them up, and he's an indie rock person. And was on the Tonight Show and Late Night and Late Late Night shows. Yes, I obviously don't watch TV. Here on Earth is a pretty good track. Non-cheesy lyrics are always a plus. Trance, but more electro-poppy-trance than real trancey if you know what I mean.

07 Always Near

Short 1:34 trance (to serve as an interlude?). Good. Full length trance to come?

08 It's Not the Things You Say [ft. Kele Okereke]

Kele Okereke of Bloc Party. Piano, drums, vocals. Very good. If you like Bloc Party's "One More Chance"—this is similar and a great/logical follow-up— you'll enjoy this.

09 Fresh Fruit

Trance. Yes, TRANCE. But also electro-y enough to please the electro kids. Another great nonvocal trance tune by the mighty (his mightiness has passed but with this album, mightiness will return) Tiësto.

10 Century [ft. Calvin Harris]

I don't have any original Calvin Harris songs, just remixes, which are electro, so I expected this track to be electro. Wrong. It's trance-poppy/electro-pop with cheesy vocals. "Hello. Can/If you hear me. Now put your hands in the air for the century." Umm sure. What exactly in this century? Nevertheless, it's a decent track.

11 Feel It in My Bones [ft. Tegan and Sara]

You love Tegan and Sara? You love this song. Lyrics not cheesy, of course, with Tegan and Sara, but poppy-ish though good, if you are familiar with the two Canadian girls. Trance with Tegan and Sara. Synths are real nice at the breakdown.

12 Who Wants to Be Alone [ft. Nelly Furtado]

I really like this song. You'll be hooked within the first second. EASILY a dance floor/club filler. This is gonna be big. Nelly Furtado. That's a name appealing to mainstream peepz. "Who Wants to Be Alone" has got a hip-hop urban club/dance feel, but is no doubt better than that shit. This is wayyy better produced, shit, it's by Tiësto. I can totally see this hitting huge and mainstream kids/ppl saying "Who the f is Tiësto?? This track slaps." And then..the next generation of Tiësto fans from being introduced to trance. Electro/trance/hip-hop/urban.

13 LA Ride

lol in the promo dl I got, the titles are missing apostrophes and for this particular track, the capitalization, so I thought it was "La Ride" (interesting name). Trance, but because of this one keyboard sound/melody (I'm still never becoming a music critic/writer), it has an electro-poppy feel to it. Nice, but I'm hoping for a version with the underlying trance upfront.

14 Bend It Like You Don't Care

ELECTRO. What you call dirty electro, if I'm not mistaken. Yes. Pause right here and register what you just read. Tiesto is producing electro, real electro, not just electro-pop-trance, but electro. And yes again, this track is good.

15 Knock You Out [ft. Emily Haines]

BEST TRACK (alongside the title track)!!! I love Metric, especially lead singer Emily Haines, and I love trance and I used to love Tiësto (and now maybe still do, but Armin has long replaced his spot). I LOVE THIS TRACK. I've already listened to it 5 times today. Electro, trance, Emily Haines, fucking yes. This track rocks. ★★★★★ Not writing anything else more critiquely/critically about this track, you'll hear it and know how good it is.

16 Louder Than Boom

Electro-y trance? Prog house? Prog electro? Prog electro house? It's got that synth sound that's also heard on one of those Ratatat songs. Then it drops and you/I wonder if deadmau5 had any influence on Tiësto. Pretty good track.

17 Surrounded by Light

Trance outro. Beautiful. The real trancey type of trance, with piano. Sounds influenced by Jónsi. Full trance-length version please.

So then, the verdict: 4/5.

I would go 3.5/5 because I'm a trancehead and because of the tracks that are too poppy plus the cheesy lyrics, but since it's absolutely possible and easy to skip tracks while listening to an album (or to just delete them), I'll overlook them to focus on the best songs from this album and the album as a whole. Tiësto's not doing as much trance as before, but the few trance songs here are great. Again, I'm hoping for full 7-9minute versions. So outside of pure trance, Tiesto is rocking it. Bringing in guest artists and producing songs of other genres: electro, electro-pop-dance and all that. Confirms that his megastar dj status is well-earned. Covering more genres to bring more people into the wonderful world of EDM.

I'm expecting lots of singles and many, many remixes of songs in Kaleidoscope.

Oh, and CD cover is omgwtfruserious so I don't want to img src. Click here and then hurriedly click the back button.

Tiesto ::: Kaleidoscope

Label: Ultra

Release Date: October 20, 2009

Genres: Trance, Electro, Dance, Electro-Trance-Pop

Rating: 4/5

Hope you enjoyed my (unprofessional) review.

Please take the time to leave me a comment to let me know if it's helpful! =)

Thanks!