Customer Reviews
Sirens - By: B. +land, 19 Nov 2008 
This is my favourite album of 2008. I bought it on a whim having purchased previous albums by Above & Beyond - but nothing could prepare me for the sheer beauty. Justine Suissa's vocals are amazing - the music & the beats drift through me & emulate my hidden desires. My favourite track is 'On a Good Day' - the vocals are perfect. Very happy & looking forward to future releases.
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Why no Above & Beyond Club Mixes? - By: skyzbig, 30 Sep 2008 
This album is very much like Above & Beyond's first album, Tri-State; very floaty & very chill-out with no defining beat or rhythm -- something which their other singles have possessed. (OceanLab & Above & Beyond are the same people +Justine Suissa for those who might not know.)
Even though I have both of the tracks anyway, it was disappointing not to hear the Above & Beyond Club Mixes of Sirens of the Sea & Miracle on here, both of which are far superior to the album mixes.
I guess it was too much to expect the 13 tracks to be of the standard of those two mixes, but even so, some of the production here sounds cheap & rushed; "Secret" I would say is the only half-decent track on the album.
If you are looking at this album because you like the other OceanLab productions like Clear Blue Water, Satellite, Beautiful Together, etc & are hoping for more of the same i.e. 8 minute anthems with beats & breakdowns then you will be disappointed with this album.
But even if you were not expecting that, I think you will still be disappointed. Too floaty & not enough cohesion.
Come on OceanLab, you can do much better than this.
Suffocating Tedium - By: S. Templar, 11 Aug 2008 
I love Above & Beyond's earlier work - Tri-State was a fabulous album with drive & variation. Ajunabeats 100 was great too - with a round up of some of their best tracks - Oceanlab's Satellite (Justine Suissa sounds sublimein this), Beautiful Together (Justine's superb again) & the classic Clear Blue Water tracks stand out. In music I always look for pleasing underlying rythms / melodies / hooks & varying sound Fx additions / mixing. Sirens Of The Sea had very little of any (admittedly Trance is more likely to have strong hooks) & is far to samey 4 me. The lack of variationin the tracks of this album is stifling. Ok obviously it was set up to be more Chill than Trance but come on compare this to Good For Me & Can't Sleep from Tri-State - there is no contest. I think the only way to appreciate this album is if you get totally stoned (which of course might appeal to some) & just let it wash over you. YAWN YAWN. It seems like they are trying to reach out to a whole new audience - Ashes (to ashes). Don't make my mistake & base this purchase on previous reviews (I have a bad habit of doing this, lazy I think) - Just Listen B4 buying. A Miracle might happen & you like it! I think they've lost their way & definately my admiration has ebbed away recently. Maybe they are getting complacent or lazy, maybe both but they are not hitting the right buttons for me. They are still trying to inject soul & feeling into their work but it's not quite happening at the moment - I hope their best work is not behind them. There is one 'killer track' though - If I Could Fly is sweet. The Sirens Of The Sea track sounds like its been ripped off an Enya album of 10 years ago - not bad though. Come Home is ok but all the other tracks are boring.
Very good - but different to 2004 - By: Alan, 10 Aug 2008 
Above & Beyond are firmly establishing themselves as top quality mixers & producers of modern day trance music, & with it, diversifying under their varying aliases. This time we see the return of OceanLab, & the wonderful vocals of Justine Suissa, who is a trance Goddessin this day & age!
However, this album is not just about trance - far from it. I believe the success of this album liesin the chilled ambient efforts we get, namely Miracle, Ashes & I Am What I Am. These & a couple of others are sublime, relaxing & as uplifting as you can getin electronic music. They are wonderfully crafted efforts, capturing the sunrise that wein England can only dream about. They float you away into another place, as I believe is the intention.
However, if you are expecting OceanLab to have contiuned with their progressive trance & powerful basslines that we heard backin 2004, mainly with the excellent Satellite, then prepare to be disheartened. Whilst about half of their songs are still 'trance,' to me, they lack that bite that Satellite did, & that many other A&B songs do. They are a little inspid, although still quite good & very much worth a listen.
I think they could have solely focussed on the ambient side of their music, which works so well. A&B deal with the uplifting trance these days, & to me Satellite is more A&B style than the new OceanLab. Just a warning.
But overall another excellent album from an group of producers who are bringing certain areas of electronic music to the forein 2008.
excellent - By: L. C. Wilson, 24 Jul 2008 This album is excellent, this takes me straight to a bar chillingin front of the sea, after a nightin a club. As said previouslyin reviews this is very Zero 7 type. This album is a must for anyone who likes chill out/ trance. I will be playing this as much as i can
