#1Robert Miles feat. Maria Nayler — “One and One”
DBX·1996·Vocal Trance
The follow-up to "Children" added vocals (Maria Nayler) and pushed Miles further toward song-led trance. The arrangement is more patient than "Children", and the breakdown is one of the most quietly devastating moments in 1990s electronic music. Frequently cited by every vocal-trance producer who came after.
#2Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan — “Silence”
Nettwerk Records·1999·Vocal Trance
The 1999 original was already a vocal-electronic crossover hit; Tiësto's 2003 In Search of Sunrise remix turned it into one of the most-played vocal-trance records of all time. The Sarah McLachlan vocal carries a generation's frequently cited by what vocal trance could feel like.
#3Above & Beyond pres. OceanLab feat. Justine Suissa — “Sirens of the Sea”
Anjunabeats·2008·Vocal Trance
The title track of OceanLab's 2008 debut album. Justine Suissa's vocal is one of the genre's most enduring performances; the production is the cleanest possible expression of what Anjunabeats stood for in the late 2000s. A early defining release of the modern vocal-trance canon.
#4Above & Beyond feat. Richard Bedford — “Sun & Moon”
Anjunabeats·2011·Vocal Trance
The 2011 single is Above & Beyond's most enduring vocal record outside the OceanLab catalogue. Richard Bedford's topline carries the kind of emotional weight the trance-anthem form is built for, and the breakdown remains one of the genre's most frequently cited "this is why I love trance" moments.
#5Armin van Buuren feat. Sharon den Adel — “In and Out of Love”
Armada Music·2008·Vocal Trance
Armin's 2008 collaboration with Within Temptation's Sharon den Adel charted across Europe and became one of A State of Trance's most-played records — the kind of vocal-led peak-time anthem that defined what Armada vocal trance could be at its commercial peak.
#6Gareth Emery & Christina Novelli — “Concrete Angel”
Garuda Music·2014·Vocal Trance
Over 70 million YouTube views and 44 million Spotify streams. The Christina Novelli vocal is co-write level, not feature level — the record DJs across the genre still close peak-time sets with twelve years later.
#7Cosmic Gate feat. Emma Hewitt — “Be Your Sound”
Black Hole Recordings·2011·Vocal Trance
The 2011 collaboration is one of the era's most-played vocal records. Emma Hewitt's vocal performance and the duo's clean production together produced a record that has remained in active festival rotation across fifteen years.
#8Tiësto feat. Kirsty Hawkshaw — “Just Be”
Black Hole Recordings·2004·Vocal Trance
The 2004 title track of Tiësto's third album. Kirsty Hawkshaw's vocal sits inside one of Tiësto's most patient long-form arrangements — a record that demonstrated his vocal-trance range alongside the peak-time work the same album produced.
#9Markus Schulz feat. Departure — “Without You Near”
Coldharbour Recordings·2005·Vocal Trance
Schulz's 2005 vocal collaboration is one of the era's most emotionally direct records. The Departure vocal performance carries a heaviness that fit perfectly with Coldharbour's darker editorial direction, and the record has remained a Schulz set staple for over fifteen years.
#10Lange feat. Skye — “Drifting Away”
Lange Recordings·2002·Vocal Trance
Stuart Langelaan's 2002 vocal collaboration is one of the most enduring vocal-trance records of the early 2000s. The arrangement is generous; the vocal carries genuine emotional weight; the production has aged better than most peers from the same period.
#11Dash Berlin feat. Emma Hewitt — “Waiting”
Aropa Records·2010·Vocal Trance
The 2010 collaboration extended the Dash Berlin / Hewitt partnership beyond the earlier "Till the Sky Falls Down" success. Hewitt's vocal performance is one of the era's most-played, and the record's melodic-accessibility-meets-peak-time-impact balance is what defined Dash Berlin's commercial vocal trance.
#12Conjure One feat. Sinéad O'Connor — “Tears From the Moon”
Nettwerk Records·2002·Vocal Trance
Rhys Fulber's Conjure One project produced this 2002 vocal collaboration with Sinéad O'Connor — sitting at the same Nettwerk-era crossroads as "Silence" three years earlier. Less commercially visible but artistically equal to the Delerium / McLachlan record.
#13Above & Beyond pres. OceanLab feat. Justine Suissa — “On a Good Day”
Anjunabeats·2009·Vocal Trance
The 2009 OceanLab single appeared on the Sirens of the Sea: Remixed (2009) Anjunabeats album cycle and entered ASOT 1000-era listener-poll vocal-trance retrospectives. Charted in the UK Indie Singles Chart in 2009. Year and label confirmed via Discogs.
#14Aly & Fila feat. Plumb — “Somebody Loves You”
FSOE Recordings·2014·Vocal Trance
The most disciplined vocal-uplifting record FSOE has produced. Plumb's vocal sits on top of one of the cleanest 138 BPM arrangements of the era — frequently cited by the harder, faster wing of vocal trance.
#15Gareth Emery & Standerwick feat. HALIENE — “Saving Light”
Monstercat / Garuda·2017·Vocal Trance
The 2017 three-way collaboration became one of the most-played vocal-uplifting tracks of the late 2010s and a HALIENE-era widely-cited record. Demonstrates how vocal trance can absorb the melodic-bass DNA of Monstercat-adjacent production without losing the genre's core form.
#16Standerwick & HALIENE — “FOMO”
Black Hole Recordings·2018·Vocal Trance
The 2018 collaboration consolidated HALIENE's status as the defining female voice of late-2010s emotional uplifting. The Standerwick production is melodic-bass-adjacent without losing the 138 BPM uplifting form — exactly the late-2010s evolution the subgenre needed.
#17Susana with Armin van Buuren — “Shivers”
Armada Music·2005·Vocal Trance
Armin's 2005 collaboration with Susana broke through to become a defining vocal-trance track of the era. Susana's harmonic clarity and the production's precision together demonstrate why she became the genre's most-collaborated-with vocalist for the next two decades.
#18Above & Beyond pres. OceanLab feat. Justine Suissa — “Beautiful Together”
Anjunabeats·2003·Vocal Trance
The 2003 OceanLab single predates the Sirens of the Sea album by five years but already shows the project's defining fingerprints — Suissa's vocal sensibility, the patient long-form arrangement, the harmonic generosity that became Anjuna's signature.
#19Andrew Bayer feat. Alison May — “Open End Resource”
Anjunabeats·2018·Vocal Trance
The 2018 vocal collaboration is Bayer's most fully realised song-led record. Alison May's vocal sits inside one of the era's most carefully arranged melodic-progressive productions — a clean expression of late-2010s Anjuna at its most ambitious.
#20Gareth Emery & Christina Novelli — “Save Me”
Garuda Music·2017·Vocal Trance
The follow-up to "Concrete Angel" three years later confirmed the Emery / Novelli partnership as the era's most consequential vocal-trance writing duo. The arrangement is more mature than 2014's breakthrough; the vocal performance carries the same emotional load with added confidence.
#21Ferry Corsten feat. JES — “Beautiful”
Tsunami Records·2008·Vocal Trance
Corsten's 2008 collaboration with JES is one of the era's most-played vocal records. JES's vocal sits inside Corsten's most patient long-form arrangement and the breakdown is one of the era's most beautifully resolved harmonic moments.
#22ATB feat. Heather Nova — “Renegade”
Kontor Records·2007·Vocal Trance
The 2007 ATB / Heather Nova collaboration is one of ATB's most-played vocal-trance records. Nova's singer-songwriter sensibility and ATB's late-2000s production approach together produced a record that has aged well across two decades.
#23Dash Berlin feat. Emma Hewitt — “Till the Sky Falls Down”
Aropa Records·2008·Vocal Trance
The 2008 single broke Dash Berlin internationally. The arrangement's vocal-led structure and the project's clean production approach defined what late-2000s commercial vocal trance could sound like at its most accessible.
#24Above & Beyond pres. OceanLab feat. Justine Suissa — “Satellite”
Anjunabeats·2004·Vocal Trance
The 2004 OceanLab single anchors the early period of the project alongside "Beautiful Together." The vocal performance, the arrangement, the harmonic generosity — all present in mature form. An early influence on the modern vocal-trance era.
#25Above & Beyond feat. Marty Longstaff — “Crazy Love”
Anjunabeats·2021·Vocal Trance
The 2021 Above & Beyond / Longstaff collaboration closes this list at #25 to mark the modern era. Demonstrates that the Anjunabeats vocal-trance tradition that ran from "Sirens of the Sea" through "Sun & Moon" continues into the 2020s with Marty Longstaff carrying forward what Justine Suissa and Richard Bedford built.