Trance

Like many electronica subgenres with telling titles (the power drill rhythms of drum 'n' bass, the bubble bath bliss of down-tempo), trance actually puts you in one –– shutting brains off like a light switch as spellbinding synth lines swirl and swell for what seems like an eternity. In a good way, of course — from the wild, windswept melodies of modern classics like "Sandstorm" and "Adagio for Strings" to the chewy bass lines of "Insomnia" and the minimal but massive "Acperience 1." Want to realize the endless dance party promises of "9 PM (Till I Come)" right in your living room? Tap the Next Steps tab once this playlist's done banging the box, then.

While peaks and valleys have always been the mark of any good DJ mix, trance sets often sound like one massive head rush. And who better to MC the madness than accidental divas like Tori Amos, Brittany Murphy, and club remix queen Sarah McLachlan? Hitting high notes and angelic harmonies with ease as top-notch producers, like Paul Oakenfold and BT, manipulate our mood with a wave pool of synthetic sound effects, they're to trance what Gloria Gaynor and Donna Summer once were to disco — absolutely essential. Yet that's not the whole story of what makes trance tick like a time bomb. For that, you're going to just have to click on the climatic, hands-in-the-air tracks of our Deep Cuts list.

It's 4 a.m. — do you know where your head is? Of course you do. It's planted firmly on the floor of your favorite club, along with your feet, which haven't stopped moving since a support-slot DJ dropped BT's own cloud-surfing cut "Dreaming." The lights aren't coming up until 6, either, so don't blame us if you drop dead while dancing the night away to sweaty, don't-stop-'til-you-get-enough standards from Paul Van Dyk, Tiësto, Way Out West, Ferry Corsten, and warehouse party vets Rabbit in the Moon. Cancel that gym membership — you're not gonna need one once we're through with you.

Aside from being the spot to strut your stuff and sex drive, dance clubs are temples of a different sort — places to worship DJs as they lead the converted on a journey of exhausting, inhuman proportions. Or in the case of our Trance Essentials, you may bow down to our bottomless record collection as it cuts across the entire spectrum of all that is epic and electronic, including the jet-setting superstar likes of Tiësto, Paul Oakenfold, Paul Van Dyk, and German trance pioneer Sven Väth, along with such heartstring-tugging, second-wave leaders as Markus Schulz, Ferry Corsten, and Infected Mushroom. So forget about your job and your worries; we're coming to take you away as night turns to day and nothing else matters but bright, blinking lights and pounding, palpitating beats.