Ferry Corsten recently hit our shores to celebrate the second instalment of his Once Upon A Night compilation. This is said compilation. Like the first instalment in 2010, it is a gentle mix of tunes from new up and coming artists, as well as the more seasoned producers, and of course a cameo appearance from Corsten itself.

The first disc kicks off in exactly the same way that his Sydney show did – gently – with Once A Day from Dimension, before we move into one of Corsten’s favourite producers of late, Yuri Kane and Daylight with vocals from Melissa Loretta. It’s nice fluffy trance, bordering on sounding just a touch cheesy.

The appropriately named Angel Cry from Amurai is lush and uplifting, and slowly the release moves into a more proggy sound, with Changing Souls from The Low End Theory sounding ridiculously like a Jaytech tune, before Ferry drops his Festival, released under his Pulse moniker: very different to his normal sound, and like the previous offering it represents a far softer style of trance. And that epitomises disc one, all laced with vocals, lots of uplifting hands-in-the-air stuff: good, fun tunes, but hardly the cutting edge stuff that we’d normally associate with a Ferry release.

Disc two however, is a very different story. But for the opening track, a nice segue from the first, the second disc has far less vocals, and in its place, a much more edgy, gritty trance sound. Eden’s Light from Thomas Datt and Halicarnassus from Sydney’s own DJ Ange sits nicely among the likes of We Were from Rafael Frost and The Whip from Tempo Giusto & Ima’gin, and Sunstorm from Pulser is one of the standout tunes of the compilation. The trance is more what we’d expect from Ferry in the second disc, and it comes through in droves.

Endless Moments from Daniel Wanrooy has all the hallmarks of being a serious tune, and in a similar, but stronger fashion is Stay On The Way from Urry Fefelove & Abramasi, which has that big room sound that you long to hear in the middle of a massive set from a trance DJ. Running at just over seven minutes, it is the tune of the compilation and is a journey itself. It characterises what is so much better, in my opinion, about the second disc.

While the first disc might represent all that has been disappointing about trance in recent years, it is the second disc that could restore one’s faith in the genre. It is more what you’d expect from Ferry, as he bangs it out with harder, driving tunes. For a producer that is known for pushing the boundaries (to some extent) and being less mainstream than perhaps the likes of Armin and Tiesto (when he actually played trance), while disc one is a touch disappointing, the second disc nails it, and makes an otherwise average release so much more enjoyable.

And for Australian fans wondering who Ferry loves the most, take a look at the destination on the bus featured on the CD cover. A close look. Not sure when Ferry has ever been on a bus to North Bondi, but who cares. Good to know he thinks fondly of us down under. Little wonder he’ll be back by year’s end. One can only hope he brings a new studio album to go with it.

Once Upon A Night Vol. 2 is out now through 405 Recordings.