The Rank 1 Wishlist (Then and now)

LAST UPDATE: August 24th 2025

We always dream of epic collab / remixes of tracks that sound perfect to be re-imagined by our Favorite Heroes... Or we envision specific styles/types or blends of tracks that we hope they play around with. With all that in mind; introducing The Rank 1 Wishlist! Collabs/remixes/projects one dreams of, past and present. Just some harmless speculative dreaming. How awesome could these (have) be(en)?

Collab	Era	Concept
Rank 1 vs. SUPERSTRINGS	2024-now	BIG Classic Anthem!
Come on. I mean, come on. Prototype - "Soundpiercing (SUPERSTRINGS Remix)" and Signum vs. SUPERSTRINGS - "What Ya Got 4 Me" were co-produced by Benno for the SUPERSTRINGS guys. Their name is literally SUPERSTRING(s), the track which Rank 1 made their biggest remix of. And these SUPERSTRINGS guys LOVE their Rank 1/Piet Bervoets/Benno de Goeij Classics! So I think it's time for things to come full circle. Do it. Make it official. Rank 1 vs. SUPERSTRINGS!

Collab	Era	Concept
Rank 1 vs. BLR	2025-now	A Deep/uptempo Prog kind of bomba?
We never got Rank 1 vs. Leon Bolier so maybe we can get Rank 1 vs. BLR since the latter has been doing great in recent years. I was thinking something along the lines of Your Loving Arms Remix, but different, with a cool Rank 1 hook? Mysterious breakdown? I dunno, but these guys have enough imagination between them to make something TRULY special happen...

Remix	Era	Concept
Solarstone - sonata (Rank 1 Remix)	2025-now	Something melancholic and brilliant
The piano breakdown and its delicate padwork just made me feel that this could really do some serious damage in the hands of Rank 1... Don't get me wrong, the original is awesome in its own way, deffo a Top 30 2025 candidate in my books but imagine how crazy a Rank 1 version of this would sound? Come on Rich, make the request!

Remix	Era	Concept
Cosmic Gate - Retrospection (Rank 1 Remix) [or any CG track really]	2011-now	TECH TRAAAAAAANCE
"Analog Feel (Rank 1's Digital Re-hash)" & "Fire Wire (Rank 1 Remix)" are two of the coolest and most UNDERRATED Rank 1 Remixes of all time and though I have to make peace with the fact that this will never ever change I am sad we never got more underrated brilliant Rank 1 re-imaginings of Cosmic Gate tracks... And like I've b*tched about for a while now... It's Cosmic Gate 4 - 2 Rank 1 in terms of remix-tally. Are the Dutchies gonna leave the score like this and let the Germans win so easily?? Surely not?

Collab	Era	Concept
Johan Gielen vs. Rank 1	2015-now	What they do best: Anthem-crafting!
In all honesty, 2005's "Dreamchild" SHOULD have been the first collab of its kind but sadly Piet & Benno gave it away to Johan. So kinda like with the Marco V collab situation at the time, I've been waiting for this to become official. I actually expected this to happen in the mid '10s when Johan was releasing bomba after bomba on High Contrast Recordings... He's with Black Hole nowadays? Maybe more difficult for it to happen then but if there was ever a time for the Kings of Trance Energy Anthems to come together and make a HUGE Anthem together, it would be now! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese? :D

Collab	Era	Concept
M.I.K.E. Push vs. Rank 1	2025-now	A REALLY oldskool hypnotic Trancer!
Okay so hear me out. They have us three amazing, cool and collabs between 2013-2015. M.I.K.E. once even entertained the idea of him and Rank 1 doing an album (more like a BIG "what if" question to us fans)... It's been 10 years already since the last collab (Zenith). So how about they do a fourth one and expand their succesful streak with just one more? And how about this time they do the ultimate "Universal Nation" meets "7 Instead Of 8" kind of hypnotic, melodic monster track? Don't forget, the reason we got "Elements Of Nature" in the first place is because of a fan's intervention when M.I.K.E. was heaping praise on Rank 1 for bringing back "the old sound" with 7 Instead Of 8... You know how I love things to come full circle, right? :D

Project	Era	Concept
Rank 1 vs. Dennis Sheperd	2012-2016	Classic Trance collab
Following the impending release of "7 Instead Of 8", Dennis Sheperd tweeted a photo of himself in the studio with Benno and Piet! Around that time he also tweeted about a dream he had about "The Golden Era" of Trance. With the guys releasing "7 Instead Of 8", "Elements Of Nature" and "13.11.11" in rather quick succession, everything seemed to point towards a potential fourth Throwback release in early 2014. Instead we got the vastly underrated feelgood jam "Freudenrausch". Surely they plan to do a second collab, and this time a real Classic sounding one?!

Project	Era	Concept
Rank 1	2012-2016	Top Gear-esque madness track...
It was an interview around 2012-2014, you'll have to forgive the specifics... But they said they might be working on something crazy like Top Gear again in the near future, or do something with Breakbeat as they've always loved that genre. Well, here we are, many years further and no "Top Gear" sibling in sight...

Collab	Era	Concept
Rank 1 vs. Marcel Woods	2006-2010	Massive Tech Trance banger
Alright. Take "Advanced", "Top Gear", "Cherry Blossom", "Opus 17", "Musical Madness", "And Then... (Rank 1's Minimal Progressive Techno Electro Trance Mix)", "Lemon Tree", "Analog Feel (Rank 1's Digital Re-hash)", "Avalon" and "L.E.D. There Be Light (Laserlight Rework": throw them all in a blender. Whatever wicked, banging, raw, industrial, sinister mixture came out of that would surely have been one of the biggest High Contrast Recordings hits of all time, right?? Such a pity they never took the leap together...

Collab	Era	Concept
Rank 1 vs. Leon Bolier	2006-2011	Symphonic Melancholic masterpiece or insidious Tech monster
Out of all wishlist collabs, this is the biggest one I had to miss out on... For the longest time, Leon Bolier was my "Rank 2": an incredibly talented guy with loads of diverse styles at his disposal with an incredibly recognizable unique sound. For me Leon was the heir to Rank 1's throne and as such I wanted nothing more then seeing these two heroes come together for an unforgetable melancholic masterpiece. OR of course, Leon could go full Precursor mode whilst Rank 1 would go full-on Tech 1 mode and we'd get a Tech Trance banger for the ages!

Collab	Era	Concept
Rank 1 vs. Cosmic Gate	2006-2010	Something with BIG synths and a lot of groove!
Look, I know that "Nic Chagall, Rank 1 & Wippenberg - 100" or "Armin van Buuren & Cosmic Gate - REFLEXION" KIND OF count as Rank 1 vs. Cosmic Gate collabs in a way, but I always wanted an OFFICIAL one, damn it! Cosmic Gate are sort of the German equivalent of Rank 1, if Rank 1 did things the "conventional way" so to speak (not a shot at the Cosmics! Rank 1 just do it... The Rank 1 way). Back in the late '00s / early '10s both acts had been dabbing around in Progressive as well as Big Room sounds and I think they could have come up with a massive anthem at some point!

Remix	Era	Concept
Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene Part 19 (Rank 1 Remix)	2016-2020	Full-on Trance Remix
JMJ's Oxygene 3 album at the tail-end of 2016 was the perfect Christmas gift: I didn't discover JMJ's work until March 2015 and from that point onward I slowly collected nearly all his early albums. In the same year I discover him, he starts releasing albums again, SICK coincidence if you ask me... xD But anyway, this one was announced and I couldn't wait to get it. The album kicks of with Oxygene Part 14 and the use of synths and melodies actually strongly reminded me of Armin & Benno's sound in a way.The album progresses beautifully, at some point I was feeling ATB vibes (Oxygene Part 17) before we get lulled into a sense of security by Oxygene Part 18. Then, dramatic epicness awaits in Oxygene Part 19. It's a dark, melodic masterpiece, with a larger-than-life atmosphere. Now picture these melodies and synth plucks re-invented by Rank 1 in a modern full-on Trance Remix... OOOOOF that would KILLLL!

Remix	Era	Concept
Format #1 - Solid Session (Rank 1 Remix)	2012-2016	2010's style rework
In their 2012 live shows, Piet and Benno played a brand new Untitled Rank 1 track (that would resurface during their Dreamstate 2017 SoCal performance) that had a vague resemblance to the infamous Orlando Voorn Dutch Techno Classic "Format #1 - Solid Session". It made me wonder... How friggin good would an actual Rank 1 Remix of that classic sound? It has the sort of simple catchy hook that Piet & Benno love themselves and a proper Rank 1 bassline from those days used for this Classic? It would be such a SMASH hit...

Remix	Era	Concept
Cygnus X - The Orange Theme (Rank 1 Remix)	2008-2012	2010's style rework
Another staple of their 2012 live tours, Piet & Benno began playing The Orange Theme a lot. They used a bit of a Deadmau5 synth-style on it (with loads of sidechaining) and it sounded really cool! So uh, why didn't they ever do an official Rank 1 Remix for it? Doesn't Be Yourself owe the ID&T backcatalog which includes the original? And Yes. I know what you are gonna say. "What about the The Bervoets & De Goeij Remix of The Orange Theme from 1998?". That's nice and everything but now imagine Piet & Benno taking that incredible L.E.D. There Be Light/Symfo style and unleashing it on The Orange Theme's melody?? It could have been INSANE...

Remix	Era	Concept
Samuel Barber - Adagio For Strings (Rank 1 Remix)	2008-2012	2010's style rework
Comparable to the above really. Their 2008 tours saw them casually play a bouncy live version for their live shows but now picture them putting a Symfo-esque heavy bassline under it and adding a "24 Hours (Rank 1 Remix)" / "My Enemy (Rank 1 Remix)" inspired saw-chords for the main melody? Would this not be the epitome of epic, quite possibly usurping the impact of Tiesto's 2003 version (HA, as if that will ever happen)?

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