- Danny Tenaglia is like the Robert De Niro of DJs, in that he can phone in an apparently effortless performance that leaves most of his peers looking lightweight. Not that Tenaglia would ever be so lazy, as his reputation built on epic 12-plus-hour sets at legendary clubs like Vinyl attests. But just as De Niro now seems to be playing himself in whatever film he's in, so Tenaglia has developed an instantly identifiable signature style: the thundering tribal and progressive sound splashed with sex and sassiness, which defined his still classic Global Underground compilations. It's a sound only he can really pull off no matter how many others try it.
There was genuine shock when Tenaglia announced he was resigning from DJing in 2012, and genuine relief when that sabbatical turned out to be so short-lived. But if he's over the crisis he outlined in that Facebook post, Tenaglia—at least on the evidence of Balance 025—now seems to be having something of an identity crisis instead. While he was once the DJ so many others wanted to be, this mix sounds like it could be from almost anyone.
Of course, not everyone would have Tenaglia's knack behind the decks (or Traktor in this case) and there are still some brilliant transitions here—for instance, when he teases in the wriggling bassline of Laurent Garnier's remix of Gregor Tresher's "Nightcolors" after the cold pulse of H.O's "Deletion 3." True, there are none of the divas of yore, but the "ohh-la-la"s in Ugo Carrano's "GBass" and the orgasmic banshees in Thomas Schumacher's "I'll Do You" add a certain sensuality among otherwise unforgiving thumping.
But what's totally absent is the sense of pace and surprise Tenaglia honed over his sets in the past. Instead we get a mix that sputters along in fits and starts, with long, tedious stretches like the third quarter of CD 2, which just pounds along to nowhere in particular, leaving you crying out in vain for him to drop one of his old glitterball disco bombs. You can't blame him for trying something new—you might even admire him for it. But while Tenaglia used to be a DJ who could make a ten-hour set feel like two, here, unfortunately, the reverse is true.
TracklistCD1
01. 04LM - Tragicaller
02. Ugo Carrano - GBass
03. Reboot - Banging Ear Drum
04. Talismann - Zula
05. Cowboy Rhythmbox - Shake
06. Ø [Phase] - Dirtro II
07. MRI - Es Geht Um Mehr
08. Hot Since 82 - Planes & Trains (Dosem Remix)
09. Kernel Key - Out of Body Experience
10. Gabriel D’Or & Bordoy - Element 84 (Alex Under Remix)
11. Sanys - Dominance
12. Tom Laws - The Yellow Enemy
13. Pherox feat. Lee Curtiss - Black Copy
14. Nicole Moudaber - Movin’ On
15. Mancini (ManJas) - What I Think (Yamen & Eda Remix)
16. Basement Jaxx - Mermaid of Salinas (Michel Cleis Isla Dub)
17. Thomas Schumacher - I’ll Do You
18. Dadub - Existence (Kangding Ray Remix)
CD2
01. Architectural - 04.1
02. Funkndy - Station
03. Regis - Cold Water (Substance Version)
04. The Yellowheads - Red Light District
05. Antigone - The Melody
06. Antigone - The Time Merchant
07. Lewis Fautzi - Binary (Oscar Mulero Remix)
08. Dax J - Dreamscape
09. H.O. - Deletion 3
10. Gregor Tresher - Nightcolors (Garnier Without The B Devotions Remix)
11. Herva - Snow and Clouds
12. 2 AM/FM - Acid Planes
13. Svreca - Overgang (Oscar Mulero Remix)
14. Attemporal - ATT9 (Craig McWhinney Remix)
15. Spear - Cognitive Dissonance (Miki Craven Remix)
16. Brian Sanhaji - Datalogger (Jonas Kopp remix V1)
17. Sin Sin - Grounded
18. Exploit - UFO