Tiësto: The track-by-track career retrospective
Tiësto: The track-by-track career retrospective
Celebrating his birthday this weekend, Dancing Astronaut is looking back at the career of Tiësto. While the milestones and accolades over the past two decades surely add up, this revisit is a track-by-track look from 1996 through present day, highlighting the landmark singles of each year.
1996. The Tube
Commonly known as the first single from DJ Tiësto, “The Tube” spawned after a young Tijs Verwest had already racked up a few mixes.
1997. Bleckentrommel
Together with Montana & Storm, this classic had been resurrected last year for a remix package, but remains one of the more respected pieces of early trance from Tiësto.
1998. Gouryella
Few trance fans today know of a duo consisting of Tiësto and Ferry Corsten known as Gouryella. In 1998 they produced their self-titled lead single, before going on to release a pair of vinyls the following year.
1999. Dreaming
The year was 1999, and BT was then a heavyweight in all things trance and overseas dance music. While Tijs put out solo records that year, along with tracks beneath his Kamaya Painters partnership, his remixes had begun catching on — this rendition of BT’s “Dreaming” in particular.
2000. Eternity
Armin van Buuren and Tiësto present Alibi. The main stage tag-team of a lifetime today was a casual occurance 14 year ago when Tiësto and Armin van Buuren connected to produce as Alibi with “Eternity” as the only release. While many of both headliners’ fans know these two as the most highly ranked DJs in the past few years, their DJ Mag ranking in 2000 was quite different; with Armin unranked and Tiësto at 24.
2001. Lethal Industry
Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano made this track relevant today following its 10-year anniversary, reworking one of Tiësto’s revered tracks in Holland’s dance history. “Lethal Industry” was one of the standout singles off his debut artist album, In My Memory, along with a little track you may know as “Flight 643.”
2002. Pulsar
Coming off a year where Tijs made a stride with the release of his first album, 2002 could be another highlight for the remixes. Most notably comes his take on “Pulsar,” originally crafted by Mauro Picotto with just the fitting balance of trance and growing drums to capture the times.
2003. Traffic
Arguably Tiësto’s most praised trance project of all time, Traffic not only marks a significant moment in the artists career, but for the genre it upheld when released in 2003. “Traffic” has become, to many, the go-to track when trying to pinpoint what is to be considered “classic” in a career that draws much of such talk.
2004. Love Comes Again
2004 brought the next studio album from Tiësto, along with his next level of quality production. Although including the aforementioned “Traffic,” Just Be is marked by its BT-assisted “Love Comes Again” single, which still rings loudly among faithfuls ten years later.
2005. Adagio For Strings
“Adagio For Strings” saw its official unveiling the year prior with the release of Just Be, but came in its single format and hit charts and new heights in 2005. Following as one of the artists more high-profiled trance efforts, it’s one he still uses as a weapon in his sets today.
2006. Dance4Life
This extremely memorable vocal hook and contagious rhythm dates back nearly a decade, but Tiësto’s “Dance4Life” made its greatest impact as a charitable production for the HIV and AIDS awareness organization of the same name in which Tijs serves as the worldwide ambassador.
2007. Break My Fall
Hailing from Tiësto’s third studio album, Elements of Life, another BT collaboration made lead single serves as a marking point for a year in a storied career. “Break My Fall” came has reliant on more melodic tones of both talents as well as featuring heavy vocalization, which had not been the case in most previous outings.
2008. Power of You
To look back upon the years that Tiësto has maintained a strong presence in global dance music, it makes keeping track of more than just one name. Under the alias Allure, which he has since passed on, Tijs beefed up releases in 2008 with a pair of vinyls. Capturing the essence of the moniker leads to the Christian Burns sung “Power Of You.”
2009. Escape Me
When Kaleidoscope was released in 2009, it was another animal for production capabilities of Tiësto. Another level of trance-influenced dance music along with an injection of pop persona, and it became well represented by its “Escape Me” mainstay.
2010. Only You
The direction of the latest album didn’t export Tiësto’s sound just yet. Linking up with Kaskade in 2010 for one of the most applauded collaborations of the year, both producers met in the middle for “Only You,” bringing their talents together while remaining distinct.
2011. Zero 76
2011 was the biggest year Tijs had then experienced in terms of the volume of music released, and while it capped off with “Maximal Crazy” as an entrance into more big room geared house, it began with a collaboration with then-protege Hardwell. “Zero 76” will go down as a decade’s most unforgettable in addition to the focal point in Hardwell’s now massive status.
2012. Chasing Summers
Volume 2 of the Club Life compilation series brought “Chasing Summers” as the original mix to jump-start the Miami themed collection. Dark and dreary yet bulky, it supplied great preface for an album that would follow with some of the year’s most powerful, commercialized hits.
2013. Take Me
It was business as usual for Tiësto in 2013, and that mean remixes, label-head duties, and of course, another compilation. It wasn’t until Club Life Volume 3 was released that Tijs made way for an original mix of his own, but he made the wait well worth it with “Take Me.”
2014. Red Lights
Although making its entrance in late 2013, “Red Lights” is leading Tijs’ 2014 campaign for a forthcoming artist album. Following in the electro-house and big room footsteps of his production in recent years, the first single off his still unnamed album features a distinct vocal that indicates a new flavor coming in full.
Categories: Features