Rank 1
Rank 1 is a Dutch trance group founded by Piet Bervoets and Benno de Goeij in 1999. Although Piet & Benno had worked together since 1997, Rank 1 was the first project which saw them achieve commercial success beyond the Trance scene. Widely regarded as one of the originators of the Dutch Anthem Trance sound, the group have produced a number of dancefloor hits since their conception.
Most-streamed chart
As of January 2025, their most-streamed tracks on Spotify include "Airwave", "Superstring ", "Awakening", "L.E.D. There Be Light", "This World Is Watching Me", "The Anthem 2003", "Such Is Life", "Symfo" "Wild And Perfect Day", and "My Enemy ". In recent times they've also enjoyed success with "The Greater Light To Rule The Night" and "Destination".This chart reflects the top streamed Rank 1 productions on Spotify: 18 of these have surpassed 1.000.000 streams. Tracks are ranked by cumulative streams since their release; only the highest streamed versions of a track receive a ranking number. The 2014 rework of Airwave and 2016 rework of Superstring were treated as new releases, hence they have been included in the ranking as such.
History
1999-2003: The Classic Years
The first Rank 1 release was an EP containing "The Citrus Juicer" and "Black Snow". It was the duo's second single "Airwave" however that brought them their biggest hit commercially. It reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 25 in the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. This was later re-released by Rank 1 remixed with added vocals as "Breathing ". Rank 1 reworked it again 11 years later with a modern “EDM” style remix in 2014 bringing their classic into the ‘10s. In 2011, the original version of Airwave was voted the number 1 Trance Classic of all time in the Trance Top 1000 poll. In 2013, Airwave reached number 7. Later in 2021, Airwave was ranked #15 in the A State of Trance Top 1000 list. In the 2024 edition, Airwave crawled back to #12, curiously being surpassed by their then latest single “Destination” which peaked at #9. In 2023 Airwave was remixed by Giuseppe Ottaviani and AlchemystIn September 2000, they performed the track "Many Miles Too Soon" live at Trance Energy as a tribute to the late Miles Stutterheim who was the younger brother of Duncan Stutterheim, one of the founders of the Dutch event organiser ID&T. A year later this track was released as "Such Is Life", with added vocals by Shanokee and chosen as the anthem of Sensation 2001, the first edition where visitors were asked to appear dressed in white.
A year later they released "Awakening" as the single preceding their debut album "Symsonic". The album was released with a CD containing downtempo versions of Airwave and Such Is Life as well as a some brand new tracks including the title track, a short version of "The Citrus Juicer", "T.T.C.", "Passage To The Unknown", "Still In My Mind" and more. The album also included a DVD with a few videoclips of their singles up till then as well as their live performance at Trance Energy 2002.
2003 saw the re-release of Airwave with vocals by Aino Laos which were written by Jan Lochel. In a recorded interview, Benno explained that Breathing was released to back up the album release in Germany.
Over the summer they were tasked to create the Sensation Anthem for Sensation White 2003: it was a record third time Rank 1 were asked to create the anthem for the event following Such Is Life and their remix for Superstring. Originally this track was released under the alias Sensation as "The Anthem 2003" but in recent times it was renamed Rank 1 - Sensation Anthem 2003: the track peaked at no. 10 in the Dutch Top 40 charts and remained their for 11 weeks.
By the end of the year, Rank 1 finally released their single Symsonic under the new title "It's Up To You", with Shanokee asked to provide vocals once more. Unlike the classically inspired Album version, these mixes were produced in the more typical 4x4 driven uplifting trance style, especially the "Instrumental Dub" and "Dub Vocal Mix".
2004-2008: Tech Trance and Electro Trance Era
2004 the release of the Symsonic album sampler titled "Unreleased Tracks" which contained extended mixes of "Conspiracy", "Cosmomatic" and "Down From The Deep". Shortly thereafter, Rank 1 radically changed their trademark euphoric sound and released an EP containing "Beats At Rank-1 Dotcom", a brand new tech trance record which ID&T would later pick up as the Trance Energy 2005 Theme. The flipside contained "After Me", a breaks driven string-laced track. The male vocals on this track were rumored to have been performed by Benno de Goeij himself. This would be the start of Rank 1's radical sound shift every few years which would lead to some genre-blending releases.In February 2005, Rank 1 performed live at Trance Energy for the third time. During this live show they performed a track which was only made for the event. However, the crowd's reaction to it was so immense that Piet and Benno decided to release it as an official track called "Top Gear". This would happen over the summer with another two-track EP: "Opus 17" was present at the flipside and was a moody Trance track unlike its unique heavy Techno-Techtrance influenced B-side.
In February 2006, Piet was interviewed for a WiLDCHiLD event. In this interview he stated that their second album was in progress and that they had made quite some diverse tunes for it, including a breaks track with the potential title "2 Drunk 2 Funk". As of 2024, this track has not been revealed yet. Piet also clarified about the mysterious unreleased and untitled "Rank 1 vs. Marco V" collaboration track that was also mentioned in the FAQ section of their old website.
There were no official single releases during 2006 but in 2007 both "This World Is Watching Me" and "Life Less Ordinary" were released. Both tracks mixed Electro-driven beats with Trancey strings and saw yet another sound shift from Rank 1. Life Less Ordinary also received an experimental Rank 1 interpretation in the guise of "A Less Ordinary Rank 1 Remix".
Early 2008 saw them release another Electro-style collaboration, this time it was a collaboration with Jochen Miller, titled "And Then...". Rank 1 made an own version of the track which they titled "Rank 1's Minimal Progressive Techno Electro Trance Mix". It was darker and heavier than the original and had a more Techno-driven twist.
2009-2013: New Bigroom Sound and Retro Excursions
The duos' track: "L.E.D There Be Light", was chosen as the Trance Energy 2009 Anthem, as well as the background track to the 2009 Electric Daisy Carnival commercial. This track combined the soft-loud synth dynamic from And Then with sweeping strings and more Trancey elements. It leaked out in late 2008, which led to the early release of the "Special Download Mix". The track was officially released in February 2009, with remixes by Wippenberg, Marcel Woods as well as an alternative "Laserlight Rework" by Rank 1 themselves. In 2010, the song was formally remixed by Cold Blank. It is the most successful remix to date, reaching No. 10 on Beatport's Top 100 Electro House Chart. It also landed a release on Ministry Of Sound's Trance Nation 2010 compilation. There were also released some another remixes by tyDi & Trent McDermott, Yvan & Dan Daniel and LoKo. Their next track, "Symfo," was the self-titled Sunrise Festival Theme 2009 and was released only five months after L.E.D. There Be Light. This track received remixes by Marcus Schossow and The Prime Sins, as well as a more House-driven "Rank 1's That Side Mix".In 2010, Rank 1 and Miller released another collaboration which was chosen as the theme to the Polish Entrance 2010 event called "The Great Escape". Armin van Buuren even played it during his short satellite-connection gig during Trance Energy 2010. On February 11, Benno tweeted there would be an alternative non-Trance Rank 1 Remix of The Great Escape but as of 2024, this version has not been revealed. Whether it has been cancelled or not remains unclear. Two weeks later, Benno tweeted that they would start their own radioshow. Indeed, April 6 saw the start of their monthly one-hour radioshow "Rank 1's Radio Rush" on Afterhours FM, which is aired every first Tuesday of the month between 20:00 - 21:00 CET. A forum on the Rank 1 Hyve contained an updated track list of all the episodes, as well as a list of the Rank 1 Classics played so far. As Hyves later went defunct, all the information on the old Rank 1 fan Hyves was transported to the "Rank 1 Fan Blog" instead. As the summer approached, another collaboration saw the light of day, this time Rank 1 teamed up with Nic Chagall and Wippenberg to release "100", the self-explanatory track to celebrate High Contrast Recordings reaching the 100th milestone release. The vinyl release of the track was a limited edition pressed on gold.
Similar to 2006, 2011 saw no official single releases.
The two singles to follow this "radio silence" were released in February and March respectively, with the Trouse driven "Wild And Perfect Day" providing their third collaboration with Jochen Miller : it peaked at #2 on Beatport's Trance Top 100 chart. Meanwhile "Witness" provided a more typical ‘10s vocal Trancer collaboration in tandem with Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren. It entered the Beatport Trance Top 100 at #69 but didn't manage to crack the Top 10 like most of its counterparts did, peaking at #22. On April 23 the guys announced they had almost finished a brand new track, so far without vocals. After various cryptic Facebook and Twitter updates alike, on the 15th of October they finally revealed that their third 2012 release would be a Rank 1 solo track called "7 Instead Of 8". The single's title referred to its 7/8 time signature. It entered the Beatport Trance Top 100 chart at #27 and fell just short of top spot, peaking at #2.
On December 21, they revealed a 30-second snippet of their collaboration 'Elements Of Nature' with Belgium Trance artist M.I.K.E. This collaboration was initiated by a Twitter user under the name 'Ramballo'. This single was released by the end of January 2013 and received much positive feedback for its Classic Trance vibe and was even rated an 8.5/10 by the DJ Mag; it got them another Beatport Trance Top 100 hit, peaking at #5. On March 13, Conjure One revealed that a Rank 1 Remix for his new single "Under The Gun" would debut during Rank 1's set at ASOT #600 in Mumbai; it entered the Beatport Trance Top 100 chart at #25 and peaked at #3. Just one day later, Rank 1 themselves announced a brand new single 'Floorlifter' to debut on the very same event. Its Beatport Trance Top 100 trajectory saw it enter the charts at #27 and peak at #5 A month later the Rank 1 Remix for Italian Trance artist Giuseppe Ottaviani's single 'Love Will Bring It All Around' was released. Like Witness, it didn't manage to reach further than #22 in the Trance Top 100 on Beatport. Over the course of the summer, Rank 1 announced to be working on a third single. As October passed by, they revealed their new single titled '13.11.11' which combined the track's duration with its release date and tempo. With 13.11.11 Rank 1 secured another Beatport Trance Top 10 hit, peaking at #6.