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Frontliner - Producers Mind

Label: Scantraxx
Release Date: 19-12-2011
Cat: SCCD007
Style: Hardstyle

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Frontliner’s album is finally here, and what an album it is! Fifteen top notch tracks with a lot of variation and originality. The album covers many different styles within the hard dance world but at the same time maintains that unique Frontliner sound that we all know and love.

Tracklist:
1. Frontliner ft. Ellie - Lose The Style
2. Frontliner - Dream Dust
3. Frontliner - You Want It
4. Frontliner & Max Enforcer - We Forget To Live
5. Frontliner ft. MC Villain - Who I Am (Scope DJ Rmx)
6. Frontliner - Opposites
7. Frontliner - Creative Community
8. Frontliner & Deepack - Move 2 Thiz
9. Frontliner - Time (Album Edit)
10. Frontliner - Whatever!
11. Frontliner - If You Find
12. Ran-D & Frontliner - Skills
13. Frontliner - External Life
14. Frontliner - Extreme Loudnezz
15. Frontliner - Spacer (The Prophet Remuxx)

1. Frontliner ft. Ellie - Lose The Style



This track has already been played by Frontliner a couple of times and it has a fresh hard dance sound. The break is just epic, clear your mind of all ‘hard dance boundaries’ you may have and be honest with yourself. Doesn’t this break just give you goosebumps all over? It sounds like Frontliner wanted to try something different this time. His attempt was a huge success! The climax of course keeps the same atmosphere and can be judged as euphoric and works well with the vocals from Ellie!

2. Frontliner - Dream Dust



When this melody kicks in you know it’s time to make a fist and pump to that mid-bassline. The mid of this track is great, just a pounding bassline with some sneering sounds on top of it, preceded by the promising melody of the climax. This kind of build makes for great tension towards the end. The break contains that melody again, which is simple and quite powerful. The thing I love the most about this track is the fast pitching bassline, usually just 2 beats one tone and then it shifts again. This fits perfectly with the nature of the melody. Some fans may recognizable this track from Frontliner's performances, probably because that first melody is extremely catchy.

3. Frontliner - You Want It



Fresh sounds! A build up with beats that just go faster and faster, followed by a cool rhythm with a lot of different sounds. Reminds me a bit of Grindin’ by The Pitcher, funky! The second mid is a bit more straight forward than the first one and has a more pounding beat with less funk. The break is original and gives me the vibe I usually get from the beginning of a hip-hop track it then progresses back to a hardstyle track. A cool melody with a decent pitching bassline moves the track along into the realms of perfect party material. To end it all, the funky mid starts again.

4. Frontliner & Max Enforcer - We Forget To Live



Now it is time for the first collaboration. Last time Frontliner and Max Enforcer teamed up, the world was blown away by the epic power of the simple but powerful, On The Go. That melody has been sampled a little in this mid, which made me smile. It has a refreshing kick and is a bit chaotic, but in a good sense. The break starts with a piano rhythm and is then followed by a vocal containing a message. That message is ”We forget to live”, meaning that we miss the little delights of life because of day-by-day routine. The climax contains a side chained melody which shifts together with the pitching bassline.

5. Frontliner ft. MC Villain - Who I Am (Scope DJ Rmx)



This track was one I was looking forward to. Already being a fan of the original, it makes me extra curious about how Scope DJ incorporated his sound into this track. The mid contains that perfect modern reversed bassline Scope DJ is known for. This is only the first mid-intro, after the vocals and a little break, fist pumping can begin. A smashing bassline with a revamped rhythm and screech from the original. When we’re done with that, it’s time for MC Villain to tell us the story of this track, one that is probably recognized by a lot of hard dance fans. I love the way Scope DJ managed to make this track sound fresh with his own sound and still keep the original attributes at heart.

6. Frontliner – Opposites



Just like the previous track, the Scope DJ remix, “Opposites” possesses a reversed bassline. The first being more distorted, the other deeper like the older days of hardhouse. The vocal contains only ”Opposites: Black, White, Dark, Light.” The break is quite short and the climax is good. For me this track seems like a basic approach to hardstyle. The outro got me going quite well.

7. Frontliner - Creative Community



This track title sounds promising. The mid-intro sounds creative to me, different enhanced sounds together with a pounding reversed bass. It contains a lot of sounds, but they are combined in such a manner where everything fits perfectly. That break will be recognized by a lot of listeners as the Frontliner sound. The climax contains the same together with a pitching bassline. The second climax is viewed upon as one of the best parts of the track, it's quite cool how he put that little panning sound (left->right->left->right) on top of the first climax.

8. Frontliner & Deepack - Move 2 Thiz



Time for another collaboration, this time with Deepack, another two pioneers of the scene. Nowadays they are known for a straight forward party sound, a tad raw and usually cool recognizable vocals. In this track you can really hear the influence of Deepack in the mid-intros, mostly in the kicks and vocals. The break contains a decent buildup with a fitting melody, overall this track is a bit more euphoric then I expected and the climax is perfect for the dancefloors.

9. Frontliner - Time (Album Edit)



The mid-intro of the original with this new cool edit is just smashing. It kicks in with a simple (but a tad dark) melody and the only thing that comes on top of it is an earth quaking bassline. Hidden amongst this edit is an extra bassline, but it fits perfectly. Frontliner added some vocals to the track breakdown, and changed the melody a lot. A cool new jacket for the older track!

10. Frontliner - Whatever!



I can’t help but think of Daft Punk when hearing the first sounds of this track. But that fantasy get’s washed away after the vocal. The mid-intro starts, and again it feels funky and almost house-like, a bit like the Digital Age releases. Enough with the comparisons because it sounds very great and saying that it’s just an imitation would degrade this track to something it is not. The break has a scary atmosphere, mostly because of the dissonant synths Frontliner used in the melody. The climax tops this with a strong pitching bassline, supporting the melody like it should. Sometimes a bit higher pitched than a few may like but that is Frontliner's style and it works nicely. It seems like there is a second break, but that one get’s cut off by an anti-climax.

11. Frontliner - If You Find



Here comes the reversed basslines again, supported by a high female vocal with the words from the track title. The mid-intro consists of a longer vocal and a straight bassline. This continues until the break, which starts with an organ sound and gets topped off by a breakbeat. You would expect a melody to kick in, but instead you are greeted by some rawer stuff. Frontliner took his most sneering screech and created a strong rhythm with it for an anti-climax consisting of two parts. Then the real break shows up, to be honest I didn’t really expect that one since the first anti-climax was already so strong and entertaining. Luckily the break isn’t too long which keeps the straight forward approach of this track intact. The very last climax and melody just put me in a ‘wow’ mood throughout the full length of it. I would describe it as a bit more melodic and euphoric compared to the rest of the track.

12. Ran-D & Frontliner – Skills



This one will probably be recognized by most hardstyle fans as it has been played before. Unique vocals (as always in Ran-D’s tracks) with a taste of Frontliner’s hard-euphoria can only turn out awesome, and so it did. A carving synth with a slightly dark melody and cool rap vocals ensure this climax lives up to its full potential. There is guarunteed lip synching to be had when this track is played by both the DJ and the crowd.

13. Frontliner - External Life



It could be the flow in this track, but it feels like Frontliner turned up the BPM a bit. The mid-intro makes you want to dance like a maniac. The first break contains vocals about how humans try to comprehend their external life. Along with that there is a melody with an adjusted synth, which makes it lean more towards the rawer side of hardstyle. Next up is a climax, but quite a short one. It’s interrupted by a break and the rough part from the mid-intro starts again, but now with a deep pitching bassline climbing straight up after going very low. If you survive that, you will be taken aback by the vocals and melody.

14. Frontliner - Extreme Loudnezz



“This track has been perfected to play at Extreme Loudnezz”. Okay, I will turn up the volume one last notch and see what we’ve got here. A deep smashing bassline to start with, topped by a tiny playful sound. The break builds like a classic, a melody which stays the same but shifts chords ending with the vocal ”Loudnezz”. The climax isn’t a surprise, but it gives a great feeling each time. Then Frontliner changes the theme, after the vocal “Extreme” and a different melody kicks in which still has the same chords but a different feeling and rhythm. It’s refreshing. The outro contains the deep bassline and playfull sound once again.

15. Frontliner - Spacer (The Prophet Remuxx)

[PREVIEW ONLINE SOON]

Time for the last track of this album, a remix of what could be Frontliner’s biggest hit. It has some extra vocals in the mid-intro which are new to me. The first part sounds like a hardcore edit of the original but the second part is a bit more unique, and gives it more of a hardcore feeling. The use of this track to end the album was a great decision, as the best hard dance experiences usually close with a hardcore track.

To summarize, this album is full of high quality material. As I interpreted, its goal was to give you an insight in the producers mind. Frontliner certainly achieved that. This album shows a variety of sound within one genre, but still has that unique Frontliner edge. I expect it will have a great impact on the development of the genre.