As trance continues its ascendancy of of the world's club scene, so to rises the chequebook DJ--an unscrupulous type that cobbles together a ropy compilation in order to con those sun-addled punters eager to re-capture that Balearic daze. Thankfully, Trance Nation 2 was pieced together for Ministry Of Sound on the decks of Ferry Corsten, the man behind System F, and at the time of release, one of trance's hottest names. Eager to come on like the definitive article, Trance Nation 2 is plain in its intention and clearly aims to be the be-all, end-all if-you-only-buy-one-trance-compilation, but that's not to cast aspersions on its ruthless appeal. Remember that this stuff only tore the charts to pieces in the first place because it filled so many dancefloors, and there's no room to be sniffy when the likes of Alice Deejay's "Better Off Alone", ATB's "Don't Stop" and System F's "Out Of The Blue" are plainly such cast-iron anthems. --Louis Pattison