Paul Oakenfold Albums (23)
What The Critics Say
With credits and credentials stretching back to the genesis of the U.K. rave scene of the late '80s, few DJs have had as much impact on the overall mainstreaming of electronic dance music as Paul Oakenfold. Under his shepherding in the late '90s, the formerly underground genres trance and progressive house, became electronica's default pop crossover styles. While the club music landscape of the late 2000s evolved into a far more eclectic arena -- with the resurgent disco movement and electro house finding favor, once again -- Oakenfold basically stuck to guns, plying his trade across perfectly mixed, progressive-flavored dance fare, stepping out of the DJ booth only occasionally to pen a mere three artist albums. While the days of spearheading musical revolutions are well past for this veteran DJ, he has, proven his mettle as a savvy artist-marketer with numerous film, TV, and video game credits, even launching a full-on Ibizan-styled club experience at Las Vegas' Palms Hotel & Casino, a venture that's been commemorated with the release of his 2009 double-CD mix set Perfecto: Vegas. Despite its nakedly commercial origins and too-obvious lifestyle-targeted marketing, there isn't much here to dissuade die-hard fans or even newcomers, as the mixing, track selection, and programming are as tight as anything the DJ was releasing during his late-'90s prime. ~ Dave Shim, All Music Guide
'Perfecto Presents...The Club'
Release Date 1/25/2005
Tracks 13
Label Thrive
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What The Critics Say
Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto Presents...The Club is a "main room" affair. In other words, big tunes to move the masses. This means folks like the Doors, Justin Timberlake, the Flaming Lips, and U2 figure into the mix, along with an amazing amount of guitars for a Perfecto album. There's also surprisingly less of what you could call "trance" on the disc, but that doesn't mean Oakenfold isn't going for the epic and grand sounds. Mixing the Doors in a way they become a dance act may be sacrilegious, but on the other hand, it's campy fun, something the disc is filled with. Oakenfold isn't "working the wheels of steel" as much as just sequencing the songs in an order that makes dramatic sense, but he does blend a couple of the tracks rather nicely. The one-disc format is actually beneficial to the collection, seeing as much more of this grandeur would be cumbersome. Not a giant leap forward for the DJ; rather, it's a fun collection that's huge, rousing, and perfect for taking the top down on beautiful days. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Perfecto Presents: Paul Oakenfold - Great Wall'
Release Date 9/30/2003
Tracks 19
Label Reprise
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What The Critics Say
Oakenfold a producer? Well, he may not release much other than mix albums (exceptions being the Swordfish soundtrack and scattered singles), but Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne once formed one of the most highly touted remixing teams in dance music -- though Perfecto is now known to British teenagers strictly as a label, not a sound aesthetic. So when a man who's not only the biggest DJ on earth but the producer of one of the greatest LPs of the '90s (Happy Mondays' Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches) finally decides to turn in a full production LP, notice must be paid. Unfortunately, Oakenfold isn't much of a pioneer any more, and though it's clear his ear for a solid production hasn't deserted him, Bunkka sees him following the trends instead of pushing them. With a new partner, Andy Gray, Oakenfold shows often that he has the production gloss all taken care of, but track after track here tries, and fails, to capitalize on a familiar sound or a style, from stylish big-beat pastiche ("Ready Steady Go") to robotic experimentalism à la Radiohead ("Motion," with Grant Lee Phillips) to evocative female singer/songwriter electronica ("Southern Sun," "Hypnotised," "Hold Your Hand"). A pair of hip-hop tracks, the sublime "Starry-Eyed Surprise" and Ice Cube's hardcore "Get Em Up," are great productions, but "Zoo York" and the Hunter S. Thompson spoken-word feature "Nixon's Spirit" are potted examples of the very blandest ethnic fusion. With so much attention being paid to the production, the songs, unfortunately, just can't compete. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Paul Oakenfold gets negative reviews for his DJ albums all the time, but the low rating accompanying this release has nothing to do with lackluster track selection or anemic mixing. Bust a Groove, released by the Hypnotic subsidiary of goth/industrial giant Cleopatra, is a beats-and-breaks record dating from early in Oakey's career, the late-'80s and early-'90s era when any budding producer could get a few ideas and samples from the dozens of breaks records littering the racks. This one includes short tracks like "Sexy Sax," "Jazzy Vibe," "Brixton Grooves," and "It's a Def Jam," each consisting of nothing but a short break repeated ad infinitum, with a single effects line doing the same thing. Avoid at any cost. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
