''Just Be'' is the second studio album by Dutch DJ

Tiësto Tijs Michiel Verwest (; born 17 January 1969), known professionally as Tiësto ( ), is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted "the Greatest DJ of All Time" by '' Mix'' magazine in a 2010/2011 poll amongst fans. In 2013, he was v ...

. It was released on 6 April 2004 in the Netherlands and 15 May 2004 in the United States (see 2004 in music). The album features BT,

Kirsty Hawkshaw Kirsty Hawkshaw (born 26 October 1969) is an English electronic music vocalist and songwriter. In addition to her work as a solo artist, she is known as the lead vocalist of early 1990s dance group Opus III, and her collaborative work with oth ...

, and Aqualung on vocals, as well as a remake of

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Proba ...

's "

Adagio for Strings ''Adagio for Strings'' is a work by Samuel Barber, arguably his best known, arranged for string orchestra from the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11. Barber finished the arrangement in 1936, the same year that he wrote the quart ...

". The album's singles were "

Love Comes Again "Love Comes Again" is a song by Dutch DJ Tiësto featuring vocals by BT. It was released on 8 April 2004 as the second single from Tiësto's second studio album '' Just Be''. It was written by Brian Transeau and Tiësto. In exchange to the collab ...

", "

Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...

", "

Just Be ''Just Be'' is the second studio album by Dutch DJ Tiësto. It was released on 6 April 2004 in the Netherlands and 15 May 2004 in the United States (see 2004 in music). The album features BT, Kirsty Hawkshaw, and Aqualung on vocals, as well a ...

" (the title track), and "

". The track "Sweet Misery" was originally written for

Evanescence Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer and musician Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording independent EPs as a duo in the late 90's, and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut ...

but it did not meet the deadline for the release of their album.

Style

The album begins with "Forever Today" which is composed of soft classical sounds of strings before moving into a strong trance beat and bassline later in the 12-minute track. The album's second track, featuring BT, is the second single from the album "

". The song uses

Latin percussion {{for, the company, Latin Percussion Latin percussion is a family of percussion, membranophone, lamellophone and idiophone instruments used in Latin music. Instruments Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican styles Folkloric and Santeria * Trap drums * Abakua ...

sounds which are followed by BT's vocals. The third track is the uplifting "

". Then he introduces his first work with Joanne Lloyd, titled "Sweet Misery", it is a chill out track with dark vocals and flowing synth lines, it is an unexpected break from the usually expected sounds of Tiësto. He continues by performing the title track of his previous album compilation '' Nyana''. Tiësto's first down tempo track in the album, " UR" features vocals of

Matt Hales Matthew Nicholas Hales (born 17 January 1972) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer who has been performing professionally under the name Aqualung since the early 2000s. Aqualung is best known in the UK for his song "St ...

from Aqualung and was remixed by

Junkie XL Tom Holkenborg (born 8 December 1967), also known by his stage name Junkie XL or occasionally JXL, is a Dutch composer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer, and engineer. Originally known for his trance productions, he has moved to producing ...

and released as a single with " A Tear In The Open" as its B-side. Another down tempo track in which Tiësto collaborated along half of

Gabriel & Dresden Gabriel & Dresden is an American electronic music duo comprising Josh Gabriel and Dave Dresden, formed in San Francisco, California. They collaborated from 2001 to 2008, then again from 2011 to the present. During that time, they have created num ...

Josh Gabriel Josh Gabriel is an American electronic dance music DJ and producer, most known for his collaborative partnership Gabriel & Dresden with Dave Dresden. History Early years (1988–2000) In 1988-89, a 20-year-old exchange student from Californi ...

in "Walking on Clouds" and

's vocals, the song was also released as an instrumental version. "A Tear In The Open" is played in track eight and was composed by Tiësto, Geert Huinink and Daniël Stewart. The title track "

" features Hawkshaw again and became a successful song as it was included in Gabriel & Dresden's '' Nip/Tuck: Original TV Soundtrack''. Then the final track of the album, "

" begins with a hard bassline which builds up until the melodic breakdown rises. The sounds of

's "

" have been featured in movies such as

Platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...

and on

William Orbit William Mark Wainwright (born 15 December 1956),"William Orbit." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 30. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2000. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 7 May 2017. Available onlinvia ''Encyclopedia.com'' known ...

's ''

Pieces in a Modern Style ''Pieces in a Modern Style'' is the sixth album by electronic instrumentalist William Orbit. He is credited as arranger, programmer, producer, and performer of the album. It was released in 2000 by WEA and Warner Music UK in Europe and Maverick ...

''
Sound Designer Mike Clark
contributed to this album. He made the Access Virus Soundset.

Reception

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Just Be'' received mixed reviews from music critics. Jack Smith of ''

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio ...

'' gave the album a mixed review, calling the album, "a more concentrated trance session aimed at those expecting to hear a replica of his live DJ set." Smith goes on to say that Tiësto "is giving the people exactly what they want, although at times in so doing he is guilty of sounding a little too clichéd in the process." David Jeffries of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album 2.5 stars out of 5, stating, "A better album to watch lava lamps slowly flow than for frantically twirling glowsticks, ''Just Be'' is as moody as the black-and-white photographs throughout the booklet, until a couple mindless tracks screw it all up." Kevin Hainey of '' Exclaim!'' gave the album a negative review, stating, "You couldnt find dance music more thinly ethereal, fluffily uplifting and overtly cheesy if

Yanni Yiannis Chryssomallis ( el, Γιάννης Χρυσομάλλης; born November 14, 1954), known professionally as Yanni ( ), is a Greek-American composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer. Yanni continues to use the musical shorthan ...

John Tesh John Frank Tesh (born July 9, 1952) is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. He hosts the ''Intelligence for Your Life'' radio show. In addition, since 2014, he has hosted ''Intelligen ...

and Kitaro met up with

Chris Sheppard Chris Sheppard (born 16 March 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and former chief executive officer of Queensland Cup club Northern Pride. Sheppard played at NRL level for the North Queensland Cowboys and the ...

and

Vengaboys Vengaboys () are a Dutch Eurodance music group based in Rotterdam. The group was the creation of Dutch producers Wessel van Diepen and Dennis van den Driesschen (known as Danski and Delmundo). It consists of lead vocalist Kim Sasabone, female v ...

to record a three-disc

Buddha Bar The Buddha-Bar is a bar, restaurant, and hotel franchise created by French-Romanian restaurateur Raymond Vișan and DJ and interior designer Claude Challe, with its original location having opened in Paris, France in 1996.Anthony D'Andrea, ' ...

mega-mix."

Track listing

All tracks produced by Tiësto, with additional production by DJ Waakop Reijers. ;Sample credits *"Traffic" contains a sample from the track "Psykofuk" by Sean Deason. *"A Tear in the Open" contains a vocal sample from the track "Vocal Planet" by

Spectrasonics Eric Persing is an american sound designer, professional synthesist and producer based in Los Angeles, California. He is best known as the Founder and Creative Director of the music software and virtual instrument company Spectrasonics. He has ...

Credits

* ''" A Tear in the Open"'' Composer(s):

Geert Huinink Geert Huinink () (born 29 April 1971) is a Dutch electronic music producer and classical composer. His compositions have been released under many different aliases. There is little published about him, but his name has surfaced around some influent ...

& Daniël Stewart. Vocal samples from ''"Vocal Planet"'' by

, originally a folk song called

Ailein duinn "Ailein duinn" ("Dark-haired Alan") is a traditional Scottish Gaelic song for solo female voice, a lament that was written for Ailean Moireasdan ("Alan Morrison") by his fiancée, Annag Chaimbeul ("Annie Campbell"). Ailean Moireasdan was a sea capta ...

that was first featured in the movie '' Rob Roy''. * ''"Forever Today"'' Composer(s): Geert Huinink & Daniël Stewart * ''"

"'' Producer(s): BT ** BT appears courtesy of Binary Acoustics. * ''"

"'' samples from ''"Psykofuk"'' by

Sean Deason Sean Deason is an American techno producer from Detroit. His aliases include Project X, Sounds Intangible Nature, Freq, and X-313. Deason got his start doing graphic design for Detroit techno artists while studying at the Center for Creative Stu ...

. * ''"Sweet Misery"'' Composer(s): Dan Muckala, Joanne Lloyd & Jon Ingoldby * ''" UR"'' Composer(s):

, Michael Scherchen & Naomi Striemer ** Aqualung appears courtesy of First Column Management. * ''"Walking on Clouds"'' Producer(s):

** Josh Gabriel appears courtesy of

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing. Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...

Management and Kirsty Hawkshaw appears courtesy of Impro Management. * ''"

"'' Composer(s):

Judie Tzuke Judie Tzuke ( ; born Judie Myers, 3 April 1956) is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1979 hit " Stay with Me till Dawn", which reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. Life and career Early life Tzuke's family relocated ...

, James Wiltshire & Kirsty Hawkshaw * ''"

"'' Composer(s):

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

''Just Be'': Train Tour

The ''Just Be'': Train Tour is a Tiësto tour in support of his album ''Just Be''. The event began in Breda, on Thursday, May 20, Ascension Day; Tiësto was honored by the mayor of

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

as an officer of the Royal-Nassau. At 11:00 AM, everyone is on board and Tiësto's special train leaves from platform 1 to the first stop, Eindhoven. He is driven by a car with blacked out windows and escorted by two policemen on motorbikes, then he arrives at a stage built on a huge trailer of a truck housing with a huge sound system. Disc jockey Barry Paff from

Radio 538 Radio 538 () is a Dutch commercial radio station that was founded in Hilversum, Netherlands in 1992. It is the second-most listened to radio station in the Netherlands. Radio 538 refers to the wavelength on which Radio Veronica used to broadcas ...

is says Tiësto will be there in five minutes. He finally appeared on stage and began spinning "

", followed by his first single from ''Just Be'', "

". He finishes his presentation and goes back to the train station toward his next stop in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

. Utrecht is a small town for press purposes only, no one thought that he would play in there, but some people began to gather, as if the rumors were being spread, even though people started to realize about what was going on, Tiësto still played. Then he went back to the station to his final destination,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. Some parts of the train were mini-discos complete with a bar and a sound system while others were relaxing zones to sit down and chat with other fans. It also makes for great pump up music. Amsterdam is also the location for the last promotional stop and the official release party which will take place later that same night at the

Heineken Music Hall AFAS Live (formerly known as the Heineken Music Hall) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands, near the Johan Cruyff Arena. The big hall, named "Black Box" has a capacity of 6,000 and is 3000 m2; a smaller hall for after parties (Beat Box) ha ...

. It's a venue that was nominated for the highest prize in the concert industry for the third consecutive time that year. Tiësto hosts his official release party which featured a set along with a special live PA by

, and support from

Black Hole Recordings Black Hole Recordings is a Dutch record label founded by Tijs Verwest (Tiësto) and Arny Bink in 1997. In August 2009, Tiësto decided to leave Black Hole Recordings, setting up the record label Musical Freedom in association with PIAS Entertai ...

' deejay's Cor Fijneman, Ton T.B., Mark Norman, Montana and

Le Blanc Le Blanc (; oc, Lo Blanc; la, Oblincum Cuborum) is a commune and a subprefecture of the department of Indre, and the region of Centre-Val de Loire, central France. Geography Le Blanc is the main city of the Parc naturel régional de la Bre ...

References

{{Authority control Tiësto albums 2004 albums Tiësto concert tours