Gary Dicks - 10/5/2009

The word 'genius' gets bandied around far too often nowadays for my liking. As does the word 'legend'. And so I try to be very careful when applying these words to people. However, within the fraternities of clubbing culture and especially that sub-culture of progressive house, the name of James Zabiela has already become associated with both of the above words. I hasten to add that I wholeheartedly agree with anyone whose opinion of him is this. He is a genius. And this, only his second major mix CD release for Renaissance, is exemplary of Zabiela's gift with electronic music and its various tools and tricks.

Live, he is no ordinary DJ and getting that across on a CD is always difficult but he shows his extraordinary skills with great effect here and, I might add, better than on his debut for Reniassance (Alive), which was certainly a mix CD to reckon with but, as his primary genre implies, James Zabiela progressed.
These mixes are not filled with dancefloor smashes nor a load of esoteric progressive house tunes that only the most hardcore of followers will recognise - the balance is good and, to the tuned ear, his influence on them is outstanding.