Any fan of the acid genre (no, not the drugs — come on, you know winners don't do that) should be familiar with Acid Air Raid. This track's pretty much legendary in the electronic music circuit, one you should hear at least once. But... seems like you'll hear it several times with this single package.
Right from the get-go, the eerie sci-fi mixture of bells and gruff acid rips a hole of happiness in my heart as the Analogue Attack version of the song enters the fray with unrelenting TB-303 action. This track wastes no time in getting right into the action. Things keep getting faster with constant gorgeous acid jabs full of energy and brutality. Solar Quest wavers between tones as an ominous death siren brays in the background with very few moments to actually relax in the entire track. In short, acid and psychedelic fans will go nuts for this mix.
But maybe non-stop squidgy audio blubs just aren't enough. Perhaps you really do want to enter a higher state of consciousness. Enter the Euphoric Acid mix. This one actually starts out with just the siren, though it doesn't take long for the dark acid stabs to make a triumphant return. This one has a strong similarity to the Analogue Attack mix, but this one seems a bit more liquified and is a little less vicious overall. Whether both of these versions need to exist is debatable. Yet it's more or less a minutely calmer cut of the previous mix. Still worth a listen.
If anyone remembers this single, there's about a 99% chance they remember the George's All-Nighter mix, as that's the one that made this tune so popular. With a gruffer bass and sharper sci-fi blips, this version tries to deliver a firmer grip on your eardrums. Though the song has a fairly calm start, don't expect this to last forever: the TB-303 will rip through your heart like a hungry puma in good time as this twelve-minute opus grunts into full gear. The beat is relatively mild, but you'll be too busy getting snarky vibes from all the weird acid whips. Thematically, however, it's very much a similar beast to the previous two tracks, giving the sensation of being caught in a real acid-based air raid — and by the middle, there's enough tension that you feel like ducking for cover.
Last is the Ambient, starting with a piano (an obviously fake one, mind you) doing the sci-fi fandango with the siren faintly wailing in the distance. The bass is deep and cool, and you start to feel (relatively) relaxed compared to the three banger before it. The squelchy acid is relegated to the background as twinkles occasionally sneak into the foreground. But ultimately, this track doesn't really go anywhere productive, and is simply a softer edge to an otherwise edgy record.
Acid Air Raid is THE acid track to hear. It's just too bad there isn't significant variation between the tracks; they're really just shadows of each other, blending the same elements in moderately different ways. Solar Quest now makes much calmer, ambient music, leaving his in-your-face energy as a thing of the past. 'Tis a shame, because when Solar Quest got a hold of the TB-303, he was able to get the absolute most out of it. You'd be hard-pressed to find many who could crank out the acid better.
