It May Be Volume 5, But it's Not Worth 5 Stars
Ambient Compilations are far too common nowadays. Very easy to collect an album's worth of tracks at any given time thanks to the thriving Ibiza music scene (where Cafe del Mar lives). So what makes a great album different from an OK album. Generally just track selection, but a great album is usually mixed which none of the Cafe del Mar compilations are. Regardless they do put out some decent ambient/chillout albums, and after collecting a few, one can make their own favorite chillout mix.

This is the fifth installment of the still going strong series. Not bad, but not great. I can't consider any of the tracks as phenomenal, but I do think there are a couple of duds. "Tout Est Bleu" [Original Ame Strong S.A. Remix] and "Talking With Myself" '98 [Canny Remix] receive the dud awards for this album.

3/5 stars.

Not Bad
Volume 5 isn't a bad mix, but is definitely not the finest of the Cafe Del Mar series. Volumes 4, 6 and 7 are far more relaxing and have better flow than this volume. Nonetheless, not bad for background music if you are entertaining and not intently listening to the album.

Chill
Bought this on a whim, actually it was one of the suggested picks from amazon. I put it on but never really listen to it. Definitely background music. Its got like weird orchestral and indian stuff going on, but its good. I like Talk with Myself.

the series did get abit tired...
One of my favourite tracks ever from the series is the last track on Volumen Ocho, Plum Crazy by Celestial. And if you like that sound, then you'll love the albums from Hong Kong's Celestial. Check them out, they are titled:

Hong Kong Dub Station
Happy Valley
Spirit House

it's a deeper dubbier sound that most of Cafe Del Mar, more real instruments, and more space...

My favorite Cafe del Mar so far!
I'm not sure if I can articulate how amazing this cd is. It really grooves and flows. The beats are more lively than some of the other volumes, but this is exactly what I have been looking for! The other Cafe del Mar's have taken a few listens before I really liked it, but I got into this one immediately. I try to work while listening to this and all of sudden I just get caught up in the grooves and forget about work. I am also a big fan of volume 7, but volume 5 doesn't have the prominent vocals of v.7 (not that either is bad or good- they are just different).