Remix Retrospective Part 6: The Future (Rank 1 Remix)


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Stream here
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High Contrast Recordings | Cat# HCR029
Released: Monday February 26th / Monday March 5th (Vinyl) 2007
Buy herehttps://www.beatport.com/track/the-future-rank-1-remix/276639
01. | 135 BPM | G#Min | 08:31 | Rank 1 Remix
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Discogs & additional info
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Enter January '07: Sometimes, you should just not have expectations. True: when they are met, there are fewer feelings in the world that top the joy surging through your veins, but when they aren't met, it's one of the greatest disappointments you can feel... Anyhoo. Over the course of Autumn/Winter 2006, I had come to enjoy the original The Future more and more. Then after a while, I saw the announcement of two remixes by two particular artists that made my heart race: none other than Leon Bolier and Rank 1!

I. Was. THRILLED (way ahead of you Ernesto vs. Bastian, hehe). The original was a killer Tech bomb and now two of my favorite artists were doing remixes, potentially taking those Tech levels beyond what is legally allowed?! I could not wait! So when the time came to hear both remixes I was shocked to learn that nor Leon, nor Rank 1 even bothered with a techy direction. Leon's Remix would end up becoming my Tune Of The Year 2007 however whereas my first taste of the Rank 1 Remix (ASOT episode #285) left me bitterly disappointed. It was too good to be true wasn't it? Two brand new remixes in two consecutive ASOT episodes! xD But yeah, at first I thought the Rank 1 Remix was highly underwhelming and weak. The choice to replace that wicked original lead with a guitar-ish sound I found mindboggling. I just could not understand the intention of this remix. Was it trying to undo the drive of the original? Thank God my brother felt differently about it: he liked it and bought the full version. So when we sat down to check the whole thing out, I gradually changed my opinion because as a whole it reflected Rank 1's typically sublime production skills. It never managed to beat the original or the Leon Remix for me, but it was a solid production by its own merit:

Rank 1 Remix
"The future, the future, the future" echoes back and forth as the techy, glitchy, heavily delayed sound effects flow through the opening phase of this remix like an electric current. A heavy thugging, low synth swells in power before the bassline kicks in. It too, has a strong delay, giving it a stutter effect. At 01:09 you hear a very strong glitchy effect, it kind of reminds me of that techy stutter you hear in Opus 17 (at 02:37). A sneaky background pad joins the mix at this stage. Rank 1 let the beat fade away whilst the percussion keeps playing and the pad gradually becomes stronger. A sort of guitar instrument is added in this part as the deep bass rolls underneath. You can hear another guitar playing the first bit of The Future's main melody. Despite the glitchy elements this is not a Techy remix at all. Rank 1 went for a deeper, more Progressive-minded approach. In the breakdown the main guitar lead is revealed along another background pad. At 03:48 that guitar lead repeats as the percussion elements increase their intensity and a smooth climax is reached. 04:45 the main guitar seems to fade, flanked by the voice repeating "The Future", whilst the percussion elements create more tension in a final post-main part climax. At 05:41 the beat returns. The glitchy elements carry on, as does the voice, as the main guitar slowly fades to the background until it's completely gone at 06:24. The track then takes its time to break down into less elements, making it quite a mixable track (I can also imagine you can play a lot with this one in a Mega Mix). The approach to this version is very different from the Leon Remix, the Markus Remix (which to me sounds more like a cheap bootleg, sorry Markus) or the original. I feel it was created with the dancefloor in mind but they went for a deep dancefloor experience. It's well put together, they gave a lot of attention to the details and percussion (very characteristic of this Ecclectic Rank 1 of the 2006-2008 era) in particular. I have to say though, much like with their Dub Mix for Freddie Mercury, the strenghts of these remixes lie more in their beats, basslines, effects and tension moments, rather then their melodies or leads. Again we see Rank 1

vs. the Original
Like I said before, the original was a firm fave. The Leon Remix actually ended up outshining everything else in a year I consider the best I've known in music so far (the kudos for this has to go to my highschool crush, she sure as hell helped 2007's music sound magical, in particular that Leon Remix since it would always make me think/daydream of her). Anyhow, digressing again! Now, the original The Future is an iconic "Tech Energy" anthem with the combined minds of Alkema and Bolier leading to an explosive result (yup, Leon co-produced the original). The build-up is intense, angry, menacing, you can tell that something big is coming. There is something almost cinematic to the tension they create in the build-up (I think they took this a step further in their 3008 collab a year later). Then comes that raw main lead. There isn't even anything really melodic throughout the track, not even in the breakdown. And such a raw lead in combination with such a loaded bassline and kick... Bangin' in all the way! Probably the techiest Trance Energy Anthem ever, in retrospect it was logically that neither Leon or Rank 1 bothered to make an alternative in a Tech style. Neither would have topped the original's ferociousness in the end. It took me a while to understand that.

Final verdict
As was the case with Analog Feel, the original takes my preference over the Rank 1 version though the margin between both sets of tracks is a bit bigger in the case of The Future. The Rank 1 Remix turned out to be an interesting Progressive take on a banging original and after all these years I still feel it's a solid remix. A job well done in the end, considering the quality of said original!
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NOTE | This review is part of a larger Retrospective feature:
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