★★★★★
One of the original 'Superstar Djs' along side Sasha, John Digweed and Pete Tong. Paul Oakenfold took a slightly different path immersing himself in the 'Hollywood' lifestyle with various film scores for large scale movies and remixing for the likes of Madonna, The Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson...
- www.beat.com.au
2011-05-04
★★★★★
Paul Oakenfold long ago left the ranks of the UK's dance music DJs that he rose to prominence with with in the late 80s, after being a crucial figure in the UK's acid house then trance movements...
- www.recordcollectormag.com
2010-12-21
★★★★★
The product is different, but the result is the same. Paul Oakenfold, an artist best known for spinning, producing and remixing, releases an album of original compositions that will make you want to get on the dance floor. The folks at Maverick, Oakenfold's label, are referring to "A Lively Mind" as an "artist album." That basically means that Oakenfold is creating the music instead of just shaping it. It's his second so-called artist album, following 2002's "Bunkka...
- www.soundspike.com
2010-12-07
★★★★★
If you forgo the lack of twatty beard for a minute, you could say Paul Oakenfold is the Richard Branson of popular music. Some parallels: Branson opened a record shop, Oakenfold became a talented young A&R. Branson started an airline, while thanks to Oakenfold Ibiza became a global brand attracting clubbers and young holidayers from around the world. And while Richie chased world records in hot air balloons, Paul was breaking them from the safety of behind his Technics SL1210s...
- www.gigwise.com
2010-11-09
★★★★★
Like gangsta and grunge, trance is one genre that lives up to its appellation. Rooted in old-school disco, this techno offshoot is like a love train through the solar system. British DJ Paul Oakenfold's authorized mix tape collects a slew of trance tracks from various artists ? each one a souffle with a distinctive flavor, like Ascension's siren call "Someone" ? and lets them flow, beautifully and fluidly, into one another...
- ew.com
2010-08-27
★★★★★
Paul Oakenfold returns, bringing with him exactly what he's brought time and time again - endless trance, 21 nearly indistinguishable club-cut comp tracks on two discs. You want the summer to last forever? This is your disc. Ohh yeaaah. Perfecto Vegas is the musical equivalent of a discount mall. Tired background beats best suited for those times you're waiting behind a mass of gyrating beefcake at a fluorescent bar. Whether you like it or not, you'll be sweating in slow motion...
- nowtoronto.com
2009-11-07
★★★★★
With his largely successful residency at the Palms Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, along with his reputation as one of the most notorious trance party-starters, it's only natural that Paul Oakenfold release an album in celebration of his achievements. Perfecto Vegas, named for his famous Saturday night throwdown at Rain Nightclub in Sin City, is everything classic Oakenfold fans mighit expect from their beloved Brit...
- www.urb.com
2009-07-21
★★★★★
"I think maybe the next generation of clubbers will want to move out of the hip-hop, r&b vibe--they'll want something a bit more," posits the Guinness World Record DJ (opened for U2, you know) as he predicts US dominion for his post-Balearic tranceport, which turns out to be textured Eurodisco BPMs sans diva mess. It's only a mix record (two mix records, why stint in utopia?), so how bad can it be? Start with four tracks featuring Dead Can Dance and/or Lisa Gerrard...
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
Like the famed U.K. DJ's 2002 CD Bunkka ? which utilized the variedtalents of Ice Cube and Hunter S. Thompson ? this follow-up has anopen-door guest policy. Filling the nonmusician slot this time isactress Brittany Murphy, who is surprisingly good on the Madonna-ish"Faster Kill Pussycat...
- ew.com
2009-06-12