Six numbered anthems —editions 500, 600, 800, 900, 950 and 2024— and none of them sounds the way you remember: every one arrives remixed, handed to Bouras, Goom Gum, Dan Harrison, Matt Fax, ReOrder and Andrew Rayel. That gesture defines the label better than any slogan: A State of Trance marks its quarter century by rewriting its own archive instead of embalming it.
History backs that reading. What began in 2001 as Armin van Buuren's radio show is now a label within Armada Music, self-described as the definitive guide to global trance music, with a festival rooted in Rotterdam and announced plans for a first edition on US soil. These 31 cuts, hand-picked by the Dutchman, work as a statement of identity: he signs 18 of the 31 credits, yet the rest draws the full map of the house, from Above & Beyond and Aly & Fila to Markus Schulz, Ferry Corsten, Rank 1, John O'Callaghan and Solarstone.
The other pillar is the voice. Justine Suissa on 'Burned With Desire', Susana on 'Shivers' and 'Unbreakable', Zoë Johnston on both Above & Beyond cuts, Audrey Gallagher on 'Big Sky', Ana Criado on 'I'll Listen': the vocal lineage this label has nurtured for twenty-five years runs through the whole record and carries its most emotional side.
As a mix, the arc is textbook: it opens at 145 with the ASOT 500 anthem —Gaia's 'Status Excessu D', reread by Bouras—, glides over plateaus of 139 and 138, and descends into the closing 132 block, where the tribal oddity of 'Tuvan' surfaces alongside an unexpected finale: Solarstone's 'Solarcoaster', the longest cut here at 5:25, touching down at 85. One delicious paradox sits on the store page: nearly all of this is filed under Dance/Pop. Twenty-five years on, trance still won't fit other people's labels; on its own imprint, it fits whole.
Sources: DJ Mag · Armada Music
