«The best Annual since 2006»

I've been an avid listener to club, house, just plain old great music for years now. The last Ministry of Sound annual to actually be pretty good was way back in 2006--I would definitely recommend picking up the UK version of that one. No annual since then has come close to the choice of songs and entire mix that was done then---Until now.

The Annual 2009 is a pretty well put together CD. I would definitely recommend checking this album out. Yes, there are a couple of those songs when you hear them the first time you're like "are you serious", because they don't seem to go with the flow, but then you listen to the CD a second time and you hear, feel, and see the genius put behind this album. Definitely check this out.

-Delia, NJ

[Monday, December 08, 2008]

«Commercial, But Decent»

This is probably one of the most, if not, the most criticized Annual in years. It is very commercialized and has songs that you probably think have no role in this album. But even after all the controversies, this album has a good flow of different styles of dance music throughout. It is also pretty well mixed. CD1 for example goes from house, eurodance/pop, funky house, electro house, and some pretty good underground tracks from Mark Knight, Guru Project, Chris Lake, Steve Angello, and Lys... CD2 is more funky house based with a nice flow of groovy tunes from Freemasons, Sharam, Haji & Emmanuel, No Halo, Jason Phats!, Mobin Master, and others.. I personally enjoy CD1 a lot more than CD2.. and the DVD well what can i say... some good videos, but over all mediocre and i probably won't watch after going through it once.. Could it leave it at 2 cds.. or a 3rd CD for Trance and other uplifting songs... but well its been since the Annual 2004 that ministry hasn't put out some good trance on the Annuals.

This album really could have been a little better without songs like "Love Shy" "Girl You Can't Dance" "Dance Wiv Me" and "I Kissed A Girl".. songs just had terrible remixes or just bothered me.. I really have to say that the Jason Nevins Remix of "No Air" is pretty good..

This is technically like any other annual. It is very varied from commercialized tunes, to mainstream radio songs, all the way to more underground solids. A little bit of everything for a large ministry of sound community.. it is kinda hard to please everyone.. so you gotta understand that money plays a big role in this label nowadays. oh well (this is when a shrug).

[Monday, November 24, 2008]

«A must have for dance/house/electronic music aficionados and amateurs»

First of all, let me point out that this is the UK version(the best) of the Annual 2009, and that the editorial review and track listing are completely wrong on Amazon, but they can be found here http://www.ministryofsound.com/Music/MusicProduct.aspx?pid=5210&type=1_type=2&col=30&size=61

Ministry of Sound is and has been the authority of dance music for years. The UK version of The Annual 2009 is an excellent dance album, although one may not come to this realization immediately. Upon hearing it for the first time, I could not appreciate the full complexity of the compilation, but after listening to the whole album again, the beats in the songs really started to stand out individually. The next day I realized I had many of these songs stuck in my head and I couldn't wait to get back home to blast these tunes and immerse myself in the pleasure a true audiophile experiences when he finally gets the dose he has been craving all day.

To prove my point, I'll give out some solid examples of songs that, in my opinion, excelled in The Annual 2009 so that you can listen to them on youtube before you decide whether or not to lay your faith in this review and buy the album.

The beats and rhythm in "Flickery Vision" (Audio Bullys) and "Under the Sun" (Kidda) can channel a sublime alternate state of mind which you could dance to at a rave or will make you want to close your eyes and bob your head while you sit and listen to them on your iPod and feel the music take over you. "Girl you can't dance"(Example), "Raindrops"(Sash!) and "Dance wiv me"(Dizee Rascal) will have you singing along almost immediately to their upbeat and lively tunes. Also, Basshunter was an excellent addition to this year's Annual with "Angel in the night" and "Now You're Gone".

For the sake of brevity I will not discuss the other songs, but I would like to highlight that you should not make your decision solely based on reviews. Try to listen to parts of it or look them up on youtube and decide for yourself. If you do purchase this compilation, rest assured that you have opened the gates to a journey full of thrills, dance, and ecstasy (the emotion, not necessarily the drug).

[Tuesday, November 18, 2008]

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