"Universal Nation" is a song by Belgian DJ/producer Mike "M.I.K.E." Dierickx under his alias Push. What began as small trance studio project in late 1997, became an international commercial success over the years. The song was first released in 1998 on the legendary Belgian trance label Bonzai Records. After receiving positive reviews, the song was signed in

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and

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. One year later, other European countries followed (UK, Italy, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands). Due to the several individual releases, the song has three different titles: Universal Nation, Universal Nation ’99 and Universal Nation (The Real Anthem).

Mike Dierickx Mike Dierickx (born Dirk Dierickx on 20 February 1973), most commonly recognized under the aliases Push or M.I.K.E. Push, is a Belgian DJ and producer. Best known for the song " Universal Nation", he has also released other club singles inclu ...

is generally praised for his high quality productions. Universal Nation is often quoted as an "all time favorite trance record". In 1999 Universal Nation won "Best club single Move-X Dance Awards".

Background

Dierickx has released music under various aliases on multiple Belgian labels, including the renowned Bonzai Records. At the time, he had just completed a track titled Prisma, intended to be the A-side of his upcoming release. In an interview, he revealed that he planned to create a B-side track to accompany Prisma. This led to the initial composition of Universal Nation, which at the time remained untitled. When the management at Bonzai Records heard the draft of the track, they were thoroughly impressed and decided it should take center stage as the lead track of the upcoming release. When naming the track, Dierickx took inspiration from the 1997 Love Parade in Berlin, which was scheduled to take place. He selected the title Universal Nation based on the event’s theme of "Love" and "Unity".

Legacy

Universal Nation was followed by "Cosmonautica", "Legacy", "Please Save Me" (feat.

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) and "Strange World". All of them were extremely well received in the European clubscene. Today Universal Nation is regarded as a classic trance record. The phrase "proceed with visual attack formation" is sampled from the 1984 film

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Tracking list

# Original Radio Mix (3:46) # DJ JamX & DeLeon's " DuMonde" Radio Mix (3:04) # Original Extended Mix I (10:15) # DJ JamX & DeLeon's " DuMonde" Remix (9:00) # Original Extended Mix II (7:57)

Charts

Original version

Universal Nation '99

Trivia

* To celebrate the 10th anniversary the special mini album “Universal Voice E.P.” will be released. A 15 minutes preview is yet available on the official Myspace page. * In 2007 Dutch jump-style duo Jeckyll & Hyde made a radio remix of “Universal Nation”. * DJ Tiesto used the Club Illusion live recording of this song in his 1999 release Live at Innercity: Amsterdam RAI. The recording was then incorrectly labeled as "The Anthem".

References

External links

*http://houbi.com/belpop/telexn/19990604.htm {{Authority control 1998 singles Trance songs Electronic songs 1998 songs