Paul Oakenfold Albums Ranked

Paul Mark Oakenfold (born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer and trance DJ. He is a three-time Grammy Award and two-time World Music Awards nominee. He was voted the No. 1 DJ in the World twice in 1998 and 1999 by DJ Magazine. Oakenfold has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Massive Attack, The Cure, New Order, The Rolling Stones, The Stone Roses, and Michael Jackson. Oakenfold’s musical career began in the late 1970s when he met Trevor Fung and began helping him DJ soul music in a Covent Garden wine bar. Here in London, he also met Rumours where he played Earth, Wind and Fire and popular British bands. In 1981, 18-year-old Oakenfold and his friend Ian Paul moved to New York City. Oakenfold worked as a courier in West Harlem. During this time, hip-hop was overtaking dance music as the most popular sound in the area (see 1984 in music). Oakenfold and Paul used fake identification to sneak into various dance clubs, like Studio 54, where they met members of the band Maze, Bobby Womack, and Bob Marley, whom they also interviewed, claiming to be NME and Melody Maker journalists. Here are all of Paul Oakenfold’s albums ranked.

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7. Travelling, 2000

“Even the name and cover art of this album rock! A seminal work in the history of trance music, and a collection that I still regularly que-up frequently a decade after it’s release, TRANCEPORT is one of the best trance collections ever produced. With instant classics like “Gamemaster,” and “Rendezvous,” Oakenfold has never produced another album of this quality. This is a complete, sickly awesome mix that moves effortlessly from track to track. Listening to this album is an experience. It should be listened to from beginning-to-end the first time through, and is best enjoyed in that format.”

6. Perfecto Presents Great Wall, 2003

“Perfecto’s Great Wall is an inimitable Trance compilation featuring two complementary mixes that set out to characterize the meaning of essential timing criteria’s. It takes a sparse collection of simplified Trance elements and then combines them together though a channel of complex waves of emotion, all of which orbit and rotate from within a singular hidden source, hence ensuring that any contemporised placements are sealed, intact and allowed to reach each set. Positioning every carefully thought track so as to bring a sense of inward focus is serenely decided by Paul Oakenfold, and even though the track listing may seem overly expressive in terms of featured artists, both mixes are firmly secured within a minimalist field of restrained tranquillity.”

5. Another World, 2000

“Paul Oakenfold quite often seems like he doesn’t really have a whole lot to do with any of his CD’s or mixes.. until you listen to them, the brilliant fades and sometimes unprecedented mixing is unique to him. I think that Oakenfold might have been trying to show something on this compilation… with songs like “The Host of Seraphim” by Dead Can Dance and “Rachel’s Song” by Vangelis. These songs were later mixed by Unity and Fridge (not to be confused with Ralph Fridge), respectively. But then songs like “Music”, “Song to the siren” and “Flesh” really top off the CD. This is a really great CD and I recommend it to anyone who likes electronic music.”

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4. A Lively Mind, 2006

“Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2006″A Lively Mind” is a great mixture of trance, house, breaks, and hip-hop produced by legendary DJ Paul Oakenfold. Though, everyone may not take into this album thinking that it may sound like his earlier work. I would say that this is one of the best albums of 2006, along with mixes from Tiesto, Sandra Collins, Hernan Cattaneo, and the ambient and inspirational BT album “This Binary Universe.”

3. Bunkka, 2002

“Paul Oakenfold made his name by bringing together some of the best trance sets together with his skills as a DJ. Now he brought something completely different and wonderous, with this album called, Bunkka. The first track; Ready, Set, Go! is an intense trance track with a throbbing beat and great synths. Track 2, Southern Sun is a mellow pop track with a female vocalist that has a sweet voice. Track 3, Time Of Your Life is alternative sounding progressive style with a male vocalist who sounds soft and melodic. Track 4, Hypnotised is another alternative sounding tune with a female vocalist, complemented with a nice beat set and hypnotic quality to the overall sound of this one.”

2. Swordfish: The Album, 2001

“The movie was universally panned. That and the John Travolta intro were big turnoffs. Add in that this ISN’T another Oakie long mix and my expectations were pretty low. Turns out this CD just blows me away the more I listen to it. Let go of our Oakie/trance assumptions and let Paul take you on a journey around the entire world of electronica. You’ve got trance epics, hip hop, breakbeat. All mixed impeccably by the master. I think Paul’s greatest skill may be in song selection, but there are plenty of his own tunes here as well. Outstanding!”

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1. Tranceport, 1998

“Oakenfold may have lost his way in recent times (although  Bunkka  is also a great album) but back in 1998 when this was released, there was nothing else out there is good, and they’re still isn’t. On my top five trance albums ever produced, TRANCEPORT should be part of any trance fan’s collection. Hopefully, Oakenfold will someday return to this level of greatness and give us at least one more 5-star album before he fades from the scene. Until that happens, keep this one close.”