25 Years of Perfecto Records.... It’s difficult to find the right words to do justice to this album.At its most basic it’s simply 34 tracks which, taken as a whole, represent the output of Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto Records over the past 25 years.Stop a moment though and consider that statement; especially the bit where it says ‘over the past 25 years’…. then take 25 from 2015 and what do you get? If your subtraction skills are any good you should end up with 1990.Many of you won’t even have been born in 1990, most of the rest of you will have been mere children and some of you (very lucky ones) will have been old enough to witness the birth of dance music as we know it today.At the forefront of the movement then, as he is now, was Paul Oakenfold.Whether as a DJ, a label owner, a producer, or a scout, Oakenfold has always managed to spot great talent, write great tunes, produce great music and, above all, stay ahead of the game.This album is testament to his taste, his skill, his ear for a killer tune and his ability to fill dancefloors all over the world year after year, after year.It’s a back catalogue of extreme quality.It’s a body of work that forms the backdrop to the very evolution and development of house music.It’s a ‘must have’ album for any serious lover of dance music.When asked in a recent interview to try and sum up his three decades long career in just one word Paul Oakenfold simply smiled and said “Perfecto”.I cannot recommend this album highly enough.

A shockingly disappointing compilation from Oakie. If anything it highlights the difference between the absolutely quality house and trance from a decade or two ago, and the drivel he is throwing out today. Half of the 2-disc comp is an absolute pleasure to listen to (BT, MWNN, Tilt, Ascension, Quivver, Grace, etc) and the other half is a combination of poor tracks and complete bastardisations of classics. Oakie's remix of Cafe Del Mar is shockingly bad, and his destruction of leama's immortal 'Requiem for a dream' is shockingly bad. I would advise against this aural violence and just buy the classics individually. A terrible release that could have been excellent. Very disappointing. 3/5 (simply for the gems on it)