Beat by Beat Review: Tiësto - A Town Called Paradise

Who has time to listen to entire albums? We do, apparently. In this, the first installment of Beat by Beat, we took on Tiësto's forthcoming and impressively long LP and Republic Records debut, A Town Called Paradise, from the opening cut (named after his management company?) through the eighteenth, enjoying a few drops, some catchy hooks and a little Matthew Koma and Krewella along the way. Shimmy on a skinny tie and strap on your aviators, because we're going to A Town Called Paradise…

1. "Red Lights" - This track makes me want to go shopping in a mall. Also it promotes dangerous driving. Okay here comes the drop. Hands in the air! This sounds like exactly what you want an EDM crossover track to sound like. You're rich!

2. "Footprints" - In what may or may not be an ironic reference to carbon footprints, Tiësto also maintains EDM's worrying preoccupation with 'living forever'. Are you guys sure that is as much fun as it sounds?

3. "Light Years Away" - This is the sad one, but by the time the drop comes I can't tell what sad is anymore. Tijs just made me sad and then he made me happy. That's power!

4. "A Town Called Paradise" - Featuring vocals from the lead singer of alt-bro band American Authors of "Best Day of My Life" fame, the title track is all happy, melodic tones and soaring highs and happy endings. This is the best day of my life.

5. "Written in Reverse" w/ Hardwell (feat. Matthew Koma) - Matty Koma is the secret songwriting overlord of EDM crossovers. This song is about time travel, by the way. Two-thirds through the song there's a complextro breakdown that is really cool, but then it disappears.

6. "Echoes" (feat. Andreas Moe) - I got down to this one. It's got a little mucky electro feel to it, like Feed Me on a rare happy day. The vocals have a bit of a Taking Back Sunday vibe, but we'll make it work. You may recognize Moe's voice from Avicii's "Fade into Darkness."

7. "Last Train" w/ Firebeatz (feat. Ladyhawke) - This one features the first female vocals on the album so far, via Kiwi nu-waver Ladyhawke. Katy Perry must be mad that she didn't get to sing on this. Dr. Luke must be mad he didn't write it. Someone's getting yelled at.

8. "Wasted" (feat. Matthew Koma) - The lyrics to this track discuss some pretty unhealthy attachment patterns and some nice stuttery synth plucks accompany. There's another pretty cool breakdown near the end of this —an M. Koma hallmark. It definitely makes you want to watch the video again.

9. "Let's Go" (feat. Icona Pop) - This is the one from that commercial so I already like it. That's how this stuff works, right? They also premiered it live at Ultra. Part of me misses Charli XCX though. Is she on this record?

10. "The Feeling" (feat. Ou Est Le Swimming Pool) - This one teases like it's gonna be a change-up and then teases like it's gonna sound like the rest of them and then it actually ends up being kind of different, so it's a fun ride. Believe it or not, Where is the Swimming pool, as their name translates to, are not French. They're English.

11. "Shimmer" (feat. Christian Burns) - This sounds like the rest of the songs except orchestral strings replace the synths. This is what you should show your parents when they ask what actually happens at EDC. Clever move, Tiësto, clever move.

12. "Rocky" w/ Kaaze - This track partially shares a melody with "The Final Countdown" so it's obviously a win here. The cool thing is that by the 30 second mark, the drop has dropped and you're already where you need to be.

13. "Close to Me" w/ Sultan & Ned Shepard (feat Quilla) - Quilla has a really unique voice. You could call this track a very, very shiny version of indie-pop until the drop comes and then it falls in line with the sound for this album. Sultan and Ned Shepard aren't the only Canadian duo to show up on this record.

14. "Set Yourself Free" (feat. Krewella) - I'm loving these straight-to-the-drop intros. Right to the point. Brevity is a virtue. The Krewella sisters brought some powerful vocals to this one.

15. "Don't Hide Your Light" w/ MOTi (feat. Denny White) - This album has been so great that I can't tell when one track ends and another begins. I'm just in a state of giddy ecstasy. Denny White has 2410 facebook fans so he is STOKED to be on this record.

16. "Calling on Angels" w/ Fred Falke (feat. Elan Lea) - Whoa, there's a background breaks beat on this one. Switch up! It took sixteen tracks, but the t-shirted one finally threw a curveball. Electro lover Falke must have some real sway to pull Tiësto away from the happy-synths.

17. "Can't Forget" w/ Dzeko & Torres - Nope. This is not a track made with soccer stars Edin Dzeko and Fernando Torres in advance of the World Cup (although that might have been a good idea). It's actually an interesting mix of bassline house builds with a searing big-room drop and some hardstyle elements. This is the most stylistically complex track on the album.

18. "Take me" (feat Kyler England) - This is the radio edit of the 2013 single that never quite stormed US radio the way it should have (no, really, it should have). However, in the soaring chorus, we finally arrived at a town called Paradise. Bravo.

Related stuff:
Killing it: The Surprise! It's Tiësto Edition
Ministry of Sound Tap Krewella to Curate 'The Future Sound of EDM'
See Baby Pictures of Hardwell at the Relaunched DJHardwell.com

Jemayel has his arms in the air because he's really feeling it tonight - @JemayelK