It's time to revisit the classic Cosmic Gate records of a decade ago all freshly rejuvenated by some of today’s finest electronic artists. It’s back to the future, 1999 – 2003 to be precise from Cosmic Gate…

A decade is quite a long time with memories being as short as they are these days. Cosmic Gate in recent years has reinvented their sound to become one of the biggest German double acts in electronic dance music, most specifically the trance variety. With their sound being so polished and different from when they first starting release records over a decade ago the paring of Claus Terhoeven and Stefan Bossems decided they wanted to inject their old sound with new life. They found that the original tracks did not fit into their sets with the sound of trance being very different now as it was back in 1999. This is where the idea for their latest album came about. It’s not just a remix album of their last artist release, which is becoming quite the norm in recent years, but a modern day overhaul of their classic anthems from 1999 to 2003. They had a few if you dust off the memory banks and remember the like of ‘Fire Wire’, ‘Raging’, ‘The Truth’ and ‘The Exploration of Space’.

Lending a hand in breathing new life into these old gems are some of dance music’s most talented producers. Arty, Markus Schulz, Arnej, Rank 1 and Jochen Miller are just a few of today’s current crop who have injected their own flavour into Cosmic Gate’s old tracks. They were good back then but the question here is, are they even better now?

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!

TRACKLIST

DISC ONE

01. Exploration Of Space (Cosmic Gate’s Back 2 The Future Remix)
02. Fire Wire (Cosmic Gate’s Back 2 The Future Remix)
03. Raging feat. Jan Johnston (Duderstadt Remix)
04. Back To Earth (Jochen Miller Remix)
05. Human Beings (Estiva Remix)
06. The Truth (Cold Blue Remix)
07. Fire Wire (Rank 1 Remix)
08. The Drums (Markus Schulz Remix)
09. Melt To The Ocean (John O’Callaghan’s Main Room Remix)

DISC TWO

01. Back To Earth (Arty Remix)
02. Fire Wire (Wippenberg Remix)
03. Raging feat. Jan Johnston (Alexander Popov Remix)
04. Exploration Of Space (Spencer & Hill Remix)
05. The Drums (Robbie Rivera Juicy Mofo Remix)
06. Fire Wire (DJ Delicious ReWire Fire Mix)
07. Human Beings (Daniel Kandi’s Human Society Remix)
08. Exploration Of Space (Dirty Herz Rave-O-Lution Remix)
09. Fire Wire (Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike Remix)
10. Human Beings (Arnej Remix)

It won’t take long to refresh your ears of the records that put Cosmic Gate on the map back in the late 90’s and into the 2000’s. The brand is lead at the helm by Nic Chagall and DJ Bossi with a little help from fellow German Andre Wevers back in the early days. The two which stand out for me from back then is ‘Exploration of Space’ and ‘Fire Wire’. The latter was huge here in the UK and even made the UK Top 40 with the guys performing the single on the now defunct Top of The Pops. You know how it goes, ’Fire…….Wire’ der der der da. That was how the original went anyway and it’s a track which gets remixed five times on this album. Cosmic Gate drop their new mix of it which is very bass heavy but quite light in terms of sound. There is a superb remix from Rank 1 who drops an incredible edge and addictive lead hook before smashing it to bits with a huge melody. Just those two mixes seem to offer more warmth’s than the hard edged original from years ago. For the more house and tribal fans the other two mixes from Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and DJ Delicious will suit you down to the ground. They play around with the original’s elements and come up with a very beat addictive adaptation of this cosmic classic. Whippenberg is an artist who seemed to have a hiatus a few years ago but in recent years is back producing some great music. He drops in with a funky remix that will keep you on your toes with a huge leading riff and sweetly worked in breakdown which twists the original riff into bits. All the remixes still have that vocal element of the original left in just to remind you of what you’re listening to if your drawn into the production and forget.

One thing which the guys have done nicely with this collection of remixed classics is spread around the style with the first disc being more uplifting trance and styles in-between. The second is altogether more a house and progressive vibe which gives each remix a nice diversity to it. There is no better example of the uplifting flavour than in Duderstadt’s gorgeous remix of the ‘Raging’, which the guys originally did with Jan Johnston. One of their first vocal tracks they ever did and quite a rare one as they didn’t do many back in the day. The production and vocal here are suited right down to the ground with Duderstadt creating just the right mood for Jan Johnston’s irresistible voice. Alexander Popov’s version does the vocals proud yet again but his mix is more focus around an electric low end bass line which maybe gets a little to overpowering as the breakdown comes to en end. The sort of sound which the originals used to pump out were quite similar to Jochen Miller’s current style and it’s not surprising he’s kept the melody of ‘Back To Earth’ quite true to its original sound. No so for Arty’s remix who plays around with things a lot more in creating a very haunting breakdown and introducing an erratic flow to the bass line which acts as the pulse of the track. He’s a Russian onto big things I’m sure and delivers a slice of tech flavour to proceedings here.

The two remixes in here which really caught my ear were unsurprisingly from John O'Callaghan and Daniel Kandi. John's adaptation of 'Melt Into The Ocean' is a super production from start to end with an uplifting main break using the melody. He seems to in keep the main melody from the original, touching it off a little softer and floating a sweeping synth behind it to add great depth. It’s a shame the mix just cuts off after euphoria but that’s a point I’ll get to in a moment. Daniel Kandi’s remix of ‘Human Beings’ stands out for me as he goes more aggressive than you would usually expect with a frantic build and roaring bass line. He drops his more familiar soft touch to the melody with a delicate sweeping chord, just dropping the vocal in before smashing things up with his percussion and kick drum. It’s the bass line which creates gives his mix that touch of aggression though and that’s no bad thing. While I’m on about bass line you should enjoy Robbie River’s juicy mofo mix of ‘The Drums’ which has bass galore! He’s known for dropping the drums in his tracks and the title fits the artist for me and he comes in with a very unique electro house flavour. Contrasting his mix is the progressive edge Markus Schulz puts on the same record. A man very much with the production wand still in hand from all his own work during last year doing the business for his remixes. His production here is a little dark in a way but drops the classic sound with the main melody that creates some uplift within the track.

There is one appearance here for ‘The Truth’ with Cold Blue putting some energetic production into this part time male vocal banger form back in the day. They keep in tone with that spacey atmosphere the original seemed to have with the main melody being more of a seamless flow than an aggressive indentation the original had after the vocal cuts off. One remix here for the Anjuabeats style of trance fan comes from Estiva who puts a mellow flavour on ‘Human Beings’. The keys on the break are pure sublime to the ear and keep rolling to create a bright and flavour rich melody.

There are no disgraces to the original Cosmic Gate tracks over the course of this album. They did come from a time where trance music did not have so many cross genre styles in its productions and was mostly about that one big riff. Those big riffs of the originals are all to be found in their future remakes just wrapped around the extra production that goes into making records today. I don’t think that all the original Cosmic Gate tracks got the respect they do now than they did at the time. The remakes here deserve respect though, although they may not be for all tastes with such a range of style being put across, but those with a diverse audio palette these will go down a treat. They are also a great reminded of a time when trance music in particular was a dominant force in on the dance scene and remind you of those classic Cosmic Gate melodies once forgotten but now, timely reminded of.

And…just going back to a point earlier in this review if your thinking of dropping one of these in your sets you might just want to hang on until the extended versions get released as they do tend to just chop off after the main melody on a few of the tracks. I’ve no doubt they will be release as I’m sure the Cosmic Gate boys will be dropping this over the months to come in there sets.

Conclusion:
If you’re a Cosmic Gate fan and wonder how their old tracks would sound in today's dance scene then within this album you will have the answer. On the whole this is a cracking album with plenty of diversity in the remixes but each having a taste of the original sound that Cosmic Gate used to be renowned for.