In 2002 Asian music diva and original ‘Empress of J-Pop’ Ayumi Hamasaki released one of the year’s biggest international trance compilations, ‘Cyber TRANCE presents ayu trance 2’.
Featuring remixes from superstar producers Ferry Corsten, Rank 1, Push, Lange, Flip & Fill and more, the mix-only album propelled Hamasaki into the global spotlight, achieving chart success around the world. At the time of the albums’ original release, the individual singles were not made available to the public, and only a handful of superstar DJs ever received vinyl promo copies to play out in their sets.
Now all that is set to change, thanks to a ‘Complete Edition’ digital reissue of ‘ayu trance 2’ available to download and stream from November 17 – including remixes that were only available in certain territories or never even published.
‘Cyber TRANCE presents ayu trance 2’ followed on from 2001’s ‘Cyber TRANCE presents ayu trance’, which blew up the dance floor with edits from genre pioneers Armin van Buuren, Above & Beyond, Airwave, Darren Tate, System F and Moogwai. That album was also reissued earlier this year, to huge acclaim from Ayumi Hamasaki and trance fans new and old.
Comprising 30 tracks in total, ‘Cyber TRANCE presents ayu trance 2 – COMPLETE EDITION’ includes the Extended mix and the Push remix of ‘Connected’, produced by Ferry Corsten himself as an original Ayumi Hamasaki song. ‘Connected’ hit the club charts in countries across Europe when it was released in 2002 and was featured in countless DJ sets and DJ-Mix compilations. The album also includes ‘Dearest’, Hamasaki’s hit theme song for the anime ‘Inuyasha’, as remixed by Dutch trance pioneers Rank 1.
Following the reissue of the first ‘Cyber TRANCE presents ayu trance – COMPLETE EDITION’ album, the official Twitter account of Japanese dance music brand Cyber TRANCE posted a photo taken way back on September 30, 2001, when British trance group Above & Beyond were performing at an ‘ayu trance’ release party at renowned Tokyo mega-club velfarre. The photo captures the moment the three young artists were joined on stage by Hamasaki herself, making a surprise guest appearance that took the club by storm. This rare memento of a special moment in both Japanese and British trance music history reignited the excitement of fans around the world.
Whether you are from the generation that experienced the original thrill of ‘ayu trance’ the first time around, or a dance-music fan of the post-EDM generation experiencing her for the very first time, now is the perfect chance to check out these true, timeless, trance masterpieces.