8) Armin Van Buuren – Embrace
Between keeping fans, management and labels happy, it can often feel like world-class EDM artists are being pulled in several directions at once. For instance, when we were out at Dreamstate where trance is serious business, Armin Van Buuren’s name was practically a dirty word for how far the genre’s older fans feel that he’s strayed from its classic sound – but in the grand scheme of main stagers, the DJ managed to put out an album with a respectable measure of sincerity.
While songs like “Make it Right” and “Gotta Be Summer” might not be pure trance in its strictest, 138-BPM-and-rolling-bass-kicks sense, they capture the raw emotion and sensuality of the genre effectively. No matter what trance enthusiasts declare to be “pure trance” this week, the genre is all about emotion, and nobody can deny that Van Buuren does what he does with heart.