This is the most confused genre of trance I know. Very good, but very confused at the same time. It was originally the bridge between old skool Classic Trance and '98/'99 Anthem Trance. i.e. Progressing from old to new, hense "Progressive Trance". Thats fine. This basically meant that anything produced in 1996-1997 was classed as Progressive. These tracks are best described as having a clearly defined breakdown giving Progressive relation to what was to come (Anthem) but also contained multi, relitviely complicated layers building on top of each other sometimes with acid elements showing Progressive Trance's link to its roots in Classic & Acid Trance. "Gamemaster" by Lost Tribe is a perfect example of this with its clear breakdowns allowing tension to be built in a single song but has the acid sample from "Dreams" by Quench and other electronic sounds melded together to create a still relitively entranceing piece of music. Others like "Xpander" by Sasha kept closer to its roots with less pronounced breakdowns as say "Gamemaster" and had much more focus on the sounds slowly buiding on one another like Classic Trance but as i have said....in one song rather than a set of songs.
Incidently, 1996 was when Old Skool Trance enthusiasts claimed to stop listening to trance all together, and understandably why. Pre Progressive there was no trance "formula". Trance music (within reason) could be produced any way you liked and was not tied down. What Progressive (intentionally or not) did was basically create the law of trance which was, as you will hear me go on and on and on about, the Breakdown formula. What it did was force trance music to be produced with this breakdown in it and while it was used in Progressive well Trance got stuck with it abusing it further (Anthem Trance) and further (Dutch Trance) to try and squeze every last drop of success out of this method of production.
Now, this is where it all gets confusing. After the Epic/Anthem two years of 1998/1999 many more people began to think that those styles of trance were sellout genres and so a new wave of Progressive Trance emerged in 2000 that almost took a step back towards the old days of Classic and Acid. This newer Progressive was darker in sound, breakdowns were shorter and less in number (sometimes only one in the track) and best of all....Acid was back! This was still Progressive but had much more in common with Classic Trance than its predecessor Progressive Trance.
After 2000/2001 Progressive gets a bit lost and fades into the background....maybe due to the rise in Dutch Trance and DJ's and Producers shamelessly cashed in on it to get maximum appeal rather than push progressive. (Rephrase)
Nowerdays Progressive is very electro in style and has made a come back with DJ/Producers all seeming to be making it. You cant buy a Trance Mix CD at the moment without it being pakced with this new Progressive Trance, and while it may not be to everyones taste, its great to see creativeness and sounds rather than notes are back on the agenda for trance.
The problem is that Progressive has turned into a genre itself rather than a temporary style during a movement from one genre to another. The irony is that Progressive Trance is still being made to day making it anything BUT Progressive. So while it may be the most mis-named genre of music ever, the music it contains is the best of both worlds: catchy melodies and entrancing. Unfortunately it all went down hill from here on the whole. Progressive Trance was/is the last of what I call "Pure" trance. That is that it still had some connection to what Trance music was meant to be about: becoming ENTRANCED. Trance from 1998 onwards was more focused on Uplifting rather than entrancing, which in some cases isnt a bad thing but its deffinately not a good thing either!
Related Listening: (in 3 Sections)
1996-1997:
Gamemaster - Lost Tribe
Flaming June - BT
Dreams Universe - CM
Greece 2000 - Three Drives
Blue Fear - Armin Van Buuren
Netherworld - L.S.G
2000-2001
Stringer - Riva
Horizons - James Holden
Subraumstimulation - Oliver Lieb
Heaven's Gate - Freon
Sister Sister - Sister Bliss
1-800 Ming - Brothers Love Dubs
Wide-Eyed Angel (Oliver Lieb Remix) - Origin
Modern (Electro?) Progressive:
