Short on Filler, Big On Tunes (Kaleidoscope - Tiësto)

Member Name: plipplop

Product:	Kaleidoscope - Tiësto
Date:	29/09/09 (287 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent collaborations and good variety of sounds

Disadvantages: Some misfires and not the 'classic' Tiesto sound

A review of Kaleidoscope, Tiesto's fourth studio album, which you can buy in either physical or downloaded format for around £8.00. The album will be officially released in the UK on October 6th.

For those of you who are unaware, Tiesto is a Dutch megastar DJ, who is revered in many quarters as one of the best DJs in the world. The commercial evidence is hard to ignore; he's one of the few DJs around who can fill the O2 stadium with a crowd of sweaty, loved up clubbers. Given his 40 years on the planet, he's shamefully cute too, but production, mixing and looking good duties aside, he also releases original music and this, Kaleidoscope, is the fourth release from Tiesto in his own right.

Arranged across seventeen tracks, Kaleidoscope is a combination of vocal trance numbers, placed alongside more traditional instrumental material. Taking a leaf out of the superstar DJ book (I'm thinking David Guetta) Tiesto has enlisted the help of some well-known vocalists here, bring featured star names on ten of the seventeen tracks, even if you are unlikely to be familiar with more than two of them. It's a good concept. It's difficult to release an album comprising solely instrumental material in this genre because even the biggest fans get a bit bored of it. As such, the combination of the two could easily lure the listener into thinking this was just Tiesto on the mix, rather than Tiesto in the studio with a selection of singers. Indeed, the 'fool you into thinking you're in a nightclub' idea is picked up infrequently around the album, notably in the first track that has a long, swirling, atmospheric introduction as if to welcome everybody to the dance floor, and in the last track that chills it all down again after one last storming anthem, as if to relax everybody on their way out. It's clear that Tiesto lives for, and loves, the experience of being on the decks.

Generally, it initially seems like a bit of a mixed bag, but does pay dividends on invested listening time, with quite a few 'growers' bubbling away in the background that could soon become favourites. Indeed, unusually for a studio album of club music, Kaleidoscope goes the mile, engendering plenty of adoration from start to finish. It's a good album for a night out, or for more sober, chilled out moods, simply because even the 'big numbers' are relatively sedate. It's not unlike fellow Dutchman Ferry Corsten's previous effort Loud Electronic Ferocious, which was almost a perfect example of how to make a credible trance album that was serious enough for the hardened clubber and yet still accessible for the casual listener. Indeed, there are a lot of similarities between Tiesto and Ferry Corsten and if you like one, it's almost certain you'll like the other.

There are some very dominant numbers here, some quite obvious and predictable, and others perhaps more surprising. The recent number one single from Calvin Harris, I'm Not Alone, featured a great remix by Tiesto and so it seems that Harris has returned the favour by contributing something to Kaleidoscope. 'Century' is by far the best thing that Harris has put his name to as yet, a storming, electronic, uplifting instrumental, peppered only two or three times by a "Calvin Harris goes all spacemen' vocal, in which Harris seems to transmit from his space station. It's not quite as bonkers as it sounds, but it's absolutely addictive and a solid companion piece to Harris's current disc, showcasing his versatility to cross genres. "Put Your Hands In The Air For A Century" says Harris. It's hard not to comply. The other biggie is a rather gorgeous vocal tune, featuring a female vocalist named Priscilla Ahn. Gentler than some of the other material without slowing the tempo down too far, the dreamy, wistful vocal is reminiscent of Mike Oldfield's Moonlight Shadow and bears that dubious quality of being simultaneously melancholy and uplifting. Needless to say, it's fantastic and richly deserves commercial success as a single.

The variety of sounds on the album is surprisingly and, it's fair to say, reasonably impressive. Escape Me, featuring CC Sheffield is a traditional industrial club anthem, replete with the required harshly synthesised female vocal and pounding beat. I Will Be Here (also the first single) has more of the same but then Here On Earth is much mellower and more akin to Above and Beyond except the vocals are male (and surprisingly good). It's Not The Things You Say features vocals from Kele Okereke from Bloc Party and isn't really a club tune at all, layering an anxious vocal over a piano-heavy riff. Then, later on, Fresh Fruit proves that Tiesto doesn't need a vocalist at all, with a fiendishly simple synthesised instrumental accompanied by an escalating beat that's guaranteed to get those arms back in the air. In fairness, this is what Tiesto probably does best, and the occasional onslaught of these big synthesised trance numbers almost feels like the DJ dropping in to remind us who is boss.

There are some less successful tracks, which wouldn't work in isolation, but are perfectly acceptable within the confines of the play list. Nelly Furtado's collaboration 'Who Wants To Be Alone' doesn't seem to suit her vocal style and whilst the arrangement and overall sound is great, it feels as though a different singer would have been preferable. The opening (and title) track suffers from a slightly protracted introduction, which is a shame because when it gets going it's really good stuff, not unlike some of the remixes of Moby's stuff from the late 1990s, but sadly likely to get skipped here by all but the most patient. There's also an inevitable (and pointless) instrumental filler but this is forgivably short.

This isn't going to be to everyone's tastes. The number of collaborations and variety of sounds here is possibly out of sorts with traditionalists who are looking purely for that 'big' Tiesto sound. Arguably, those tastes are better catered for on one of the DJ's mixes, as opposed to a studio album and Kaleidoscope gives the Dutchman some identity as a producer and original artist. One or two misfires aside, this is a solid collection and could be the start of a more commercial era for our man with the discs. Whether or not this will erode his "superstar" status, only time can tell.

Recommended, nonetheless.

Track Listing

1. "Kaleidoscope" (featuring Jónsi)
2. "Escape Me" (featuring CC Sheffield)
3. "You Are My Diamond" (featuring Kianna)
4. "I Will Be Here" (with Sneaky Sound System)
5. "I Am Strong" (featuring Priscilla Ahn)
6. "Here On Earth" (featuring Cary Brothers)
7. "Always Near"
8. "It's Not The Things You Say" (featuring Kele Okereke)
9. "Fresh Fruit"
10. "Century" (featuring Calvin Harris)
11. "Feel It In My Bones" (featuring Tegan and Sara)
12. "Who Wants To Be Alone" (featuring Nelly Furtado)
13. "LA Ride"
14. "Bend It Like You Don't Care"
15. "Knock You Out" (featuring Emily Haines)
16. "Louder Than Boom"
17. "Surrounded By Light"

(Note: the version on iTunes includes an exclusive track with Dizzee Rascal not included here.)

Summary: Dutch super-DJ's fourth studio outing