Ferry Corsten

Ferry Corsten learns some tricks from electro-house and toughens up his big-room trance sound on his studio follow-up to 2006's L.E.F.. Opening with a lick of hip-hop scratching, the album surges into a succession of stomping beats and emotive synthesizer melodies; the classic arpeggios of trance and progressive house are abundant, but they're offset by tougher beats and touches of electro, as on "Gabriella's Sky," which transforms itself from yearning ballad to dancefloor powerhouse (and back!) with ease.