A State Of Trance Classics — every volume guided.
The short answer
A State Of Trance Classics is the mix-compilation series Armin van Buuren released on Armada Music between 2006 and 2020. Fifteen numbered volumes, each two to three CDs of significant trance records from roughly 1993 to 2010. Below is a guide to every volume — release year, editorial angle, and three standout records per volume, with links to full track pages where available.
The series exists to give the classic-era canon a permanent home outside the weekly radio-show format. If you want a fifteen-volume shortcut to the entire classic-trance conversation, this is it.
Vol. 1
2006 · Armada Music
The series opener, released on Armada five years after A State Of Trance the radio show launched. Two CDs of 1996–2001 uplifting and progressive selections; the volume that established the mixed-plus-annotated-tracklist format the rest of the series would follow.
Three standouts
The record that defined uplifting-trance breakdown structure.
The 4am closer of the Gatecrasher era.
Ferry Corsten's Dutch-trance flag in the ground.
Vol. 2
2007 · Armada Music
The volume that widened the series' historical net back into 1993–96 territory and forward into 2003–04 late-classic Armada releases. First appearance of Above & Beyond productions on the series.
Three standouts
The most-remixed record in trance history.
The vocal-trance benchmark.
The dream-trance record that put the genre on daytime radio.
Vol. 3
2008 · Armada Music
First volume to be sequenced as continuous DJ mixes rather than track-by-track compilation. Heavy on 1999–2001 peak-era Dutch productions; the volume most casual buyers cite as their favourite.
Three standouts
Trance at cathedral scale — the epic-trance blueprint.
The 2000s vocal-trance benchmark.
The talkbox lead that took German trance to UK #1.
Vol. 4
2009 · Armada Music
First volume to include a bonus 'classic remixes' third CD. Marked the point where the series pivoted from documenting the classic era to actively commissioning new remixes of it.
Three standouts
Progressive trance's textbook breakdown.
Where progressive trance meets film score.
The canonical Ibiza-sunset trance record.
Vol. 5
2010 · Armada Music
The volume that broadened the series' definition of 'classic' to include 2002–2005 Anjunabeats and Black Hole releases. First OceanLab, first Andy Moor original mix.
Three standouts
The 1999 crossover single that defined trance for a whole generation of casual listeners.
The Perfecto vocal-trance blueprint.
The record that fused UK dance with trance's melodic sensibility.
Vol. 6
2011 · Armada Music
Themed as 'the vocal-trance volume'. Almost every track features a lead vocalist, weighted toward 2001–2004 Anjunabeats and Black Hole productions.
Three standouts
Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan — Silence (Airscape Remix)
The harder, later-era alternative to the ISOS Remix.
Alex M.O.R.P.H. feat. Sylvia Tosun — Feels Like Home
Late-classic vocal-trance from the Armada mothership.
Above & Beyond feat. Zoë Johnston — Turn It Around
Anjunabeats' answer to the mainstream vocal-trance moment.
Vol. 7
2012 · Armada Music
First volume mixed entirely by an artist other than Armin van Buuren — Ferry Corsten guest-mixed CD 1. Programmed as a Dutch-trance history lesson from 1997 forward.
Three standouts
Sky — L'Esperanza
Corsten's own 1999 anthem, one of the first Tsunami releases.
Ferry Corsten — Punk
The 2002 record that briefly turned trance toward electro-rock.
Andain — Beautiful Things
The Gabriel & Dresden production that defined 2003 vocal-progressive.
Vol. 8
2013 · Armada Music
Themed around the 138 BPM Who's Afraid Of 138?! sub-label, released the same year the sub-label launched. Almost entirely uplifting selections at the genre's spiritual centre tempo.
Three standouts
Push — Universal Nation
The M.I.K.E. record that put Bonzai on international rotation.
Storm — Storm
Jam & Spoon's 1998 hard-uplifter — an ASOT staple for a decade.
Planet Funk — Chase The Sun (Planet Funk Remix)
The Italian trance record that closed a thousand Ibiza sunset sets.
Vol. 9
2014 · Armada Music
First volume to add a 'classic vocal edits' third CD dedicated to the vocal-trance strand specifically. Coincided with the Anjunabeats-heavy 500th episode of the radio show.
Three standouts
iiO — Rapture
The Nadia Ali vocal that defined turn-of-the-millennium NYC vocal-trance.
Delerium feat. Leigh Nash — Innocente
The Sarah McLachlan follow-up; Josh Gabriel remix a highlight.
DJ Sammy & Yanou feat. Do — Heaven
The Bryan Adams cover that briefly made trance-pop a chart genre.
Vol. 10
2015 · Armada Music
The tenth-anniversary volume. Three-CD retrospective spanning 1993–2005 with a full CD dedicated to Ibiza-recorded / Balearic-adjacent records.
Three standouts
Ayla — Ayla (Taucher Remix)
The Ingo Kunzi record that opened the Bonzai catalogue to the UK.
T99 — Anasthasia
The 1991 Belgian record that predates trance as a genre name but sounds like it invented one.
The Age Of Love — Age Of Love (Watch Out For Stella Mix)
The Jam & Spoon remix on the record that first got called 'trance' in print.
Vol. 11
2016 · Armada Music
Marked the point where the series began actively commissioning new remixes of classic tracks rather than just re-compiling existing mixes. Andrew Rayel and Aly & Fila remixes feature prominently.
Three standouts
Push — Universal Nation (Andrew Rayel Remix)
The commissioned rebuild of the Push classic; 2016's biggest ASOT anthem.
Energy 52 — Cafe Del Mar (Paul Oakenfold Remix)
Oakenfold finally tackling the Energy 52 hook after twenty years of playing others' remixes of it.
Signum — Coming On Strong
The 2000 Signum epic; still an ASOT staple.
Vol. 12
2017 · Armada Music
The volume most weighted toward 2005–2010 late-classic material. First appearance of Alexander Popov and Ruben de Ronde productions on the series.
Three standouts
Kyau & Albert — Cocoon
The Anjunabeats 2004 progressive-trance benchmark.
Perpetuous Dreamer feat. Elles de Graaf — Sound Of Goodbye
Armin van Buuren's own 2001 vocal-trance breakout.
Armin van Buuren — Communication
The 2000 Cyber Records instrumental that launched Armin's international touring career.
Vol. 13
2018 · Armada Music
Themed as an intentional cross-section — one CD progressive, one CD uplifting, one CD vocal — programmed as a listener's guide to the three main strands of classic trance.
Three standouts
Way Out West — The Gift
The 1996 Deconstruction record that widened progressive-trance's harmonic vocabulary.
Robert Miles — Fable
Miles's follow-up to Children; darker, more cinematic.
Tiësto — Traffic
The 2003 Black Hole single that voted #1 in DJ Mag's year-end poll.
Vol. 14
2019 · Armada Music
The volume most explicitly framed as a listener's onboarding for the 2015+ trance-revival audience discovering the genre through Twitch and TikTok. Includes an extended sleeve essay by Armin on why the classic era still matters.
Three standouts
Paul van Dyk — For An Angel (2009 PvD Rework)
Van Dyk's own harder rebuild of the record he made his name on.
Sasha — Xpander (Sasha 2007 rework)
The unofficial re-edit Sasha played on his Involver 2 tour, given a rare compilation release.
Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan — Silence (Above & Beyond 21st Century Mix)
The 2004 Anjunabeats commission that Above & Beyond still open sets with.
Vol. 15
2020 · Armada Music
The most recent numbered volume. Released to mark ASOT's twentieth year on air. Three CDs of Armin-selected personal favourites from across the whole series lineage, minimal overlap with the previous fourteen volumes.
Three standouts
Armin van Buuren feat. Sharon den Adel — In & Out Of Love
Armin's own 2008 vocal-trance crossover with the Within Temptation vocalist.
Armin van Buuren feat. Susana — Shivers
The Armada-era vocal-uplifter that hit US Billboard dance charts.
Deep Dish — Twilight
The 2005 Dubfire and Sharam production that closed the classic era at the exact moment it was ending.
What is A State Of Trance Classics?
A State Of Trance Classics is an annual mix-compilation series released by Armin van Buuren on Armada Music from 2006 to 2020. Each volume compiles two to three CDs of significant trance records from roughly 1993 to 2010, most drawn from A State Of Trance radio-show broadcasts. Fifteen numbered volumes were released. The series exists to give the classic-era canon a permanent physical and streaming home.
How many volumes of A State Of Trance Classics are there?
Fifteen numbered volumes were released between 2006 and 2020. Armin van Buuren mixed the majority himself; Ferry Corsten guest-mixed part of Volume 7 (2012). No numbered volume has been released since 2020, though single-volume Armin van Buuren classic-trance compilations continue under other titles (Armin Only, A State Of Trance Year Mix).
Which volume is the best starting point?
Volume 3 (2008) is the most-cited starting point among long-time listeners — it was the first to be programmed as continuous DJ mixes rather than track-by-track compilation, and its selections lean toward the 1999–2001 peak era. Volume 10 (2015) is the alternative starting point: three CDs, ten-year anniversary retrospective, and the widest historical span across the series.
Where can I stream A State Of Trance Classics?
All fifteen numbered volumes are available on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon Music under the Armada Music label. Physical CD pressings of volumes 1–10 are out of print; volumes 11–15 remain in print through Armada's own store. YouTube hosts full-volume DJ-mix uploads of most volumes on the official Armada channel.