2350.org - Limelight

this is such an amazing cd, which i find many people do not like or find the sound too dated. the final minutes of track six are just amazing. the old skool trance brings a smile to my face and makes me want to dance (i guess i miss the good old rave days).

track 4 is another good highlight track.

i do admit it sounds rather dated, yet there is enough going on to make this a very enjoyable cd. i do not know who dj brainwave really is, but he hooked up nicely with namlook.

i only wish i heard this back in 1993, instead of 2000. even today however, it still ranks in my top 10 fax cds of all time.

it would be interesting for namlook to further experiment with a few underground djs. dj spooky and namlook could come up with a scary concept of an album to name one.

(review by jackthetab)

One of my all-time favourite Fax releases, Limelight represents classic Fax trance, interspersed with some moments of ambience, and is realised, for my money, in a superior way to similar discs such as 4 Voice and Deltraxx.

It contains one of my favourite individual tracks ever, the haunting "vastum maris aequor", while on the upbeat side of things the title track (amongst many others) also floats my boat.

This one is well worth tracking down, and if you can't find it you won't be disappointed. There's not much more to say, really...Verdict - 9/10. A Fax gem.

(review by Martin Jones)

In my review of Sequential a couple of years back I declared that album, together with the first 4 Voice, to be the best examples of the early Fax dance - oriented albums. I wish to take that statement back, in part at least - for I can now say unashamedly that it is Sequential and Limelight that for me best exemplify Fax's excursions into 'space-trance' (4 Voice unfortunately loses points for its descent into hardcore nonsense - "Move" et al).

To put it bluntly, this album kicks some serious ass. The majority of the tracks included fall into the category that Peter himself has referred to as Frankfurt Hardtrance. Sounds ominous? Well I can see that to some this kind of stuff may sound dated and to a certain extent this is music very much of its time. However, these tracks in contrast to a lot of their contemporaries contain several elements that in my mind at least have ensured they long outlive releases such as Deltraxx or Syn.

First of all attitude. Never underestimate a record with attitude. Hard to explain why, but in spite of sometimes sounding technically crude, most of the dance tracks on the album are gutsy enough, and maintain enough funk to bring a smile to my face on most occasions.

Secondly there is quite a variety of melody and beats and some unexpected changes in direction on a lot of the tracks. A funky, almost Mediterranean guitar riff on the title track that predates ATB by some 8 years or so. "Mens Mentis" starts out with some crunching drum tracks, over the top of which a simple, but oh-so spaced-out melody is thrown. We then get a short 303 interlude before two thirds of the way through we fly off into a trance-breakdown, before all three themes converge and explode for the finale. "Aquamentus" is another great example of this phenomena.

Even the ambient tracks are good. "Homo Ambiens" was I believe recorded in Pete's pre-fax Romantic Warrior period around the same time as "Sonne" from Sequential. The two in fact share the same background sample.

And if that wasn't enough, there is the fantastic "Sorti Destinatus". This has to be one of my favourite Namlook tracks of all time of any description. It is, on the surface, earth-shatteringly simple, yet at the same time mind-blowingly beautiful. It basically consists of a series of five bleeps played in ascending and then descending order over and over again, set against some huge rumbling bass tones and the quintessential Namlook wall to wall drone. Despite its simplicity this track, is totally haunting and conveys to me that spaced-out sense of wonder and mystery that first got me hooked on Fax all those years ago.

Track this album down - you won't be disappointed.

(review by Richard Hughes)

A fine FAX-trance release, especially for those who like Spyra's "Phonehead". There is a nice mixture of both hard dark trance and beatful ambient music here. Some tracks are laden with hard "four on the floor" beats, some are lush with Namlook's patented synth noodling and soundscape designs. Namlook and DJ Brainwave (who?) have created a wonderful CD that is both emotional and highly listenable. Old school FAX at its best. I love this disc!

(review by RecuRsion)