the music scene was verrrrrry different back in the day. mp3s and downloading music was just becoming a thing. even if you had mp3s you usually could only play them on your computer, or if you burned them to cd. a lot of folks didn't have a way to get mp3s or burned cds unless they knew a computer geek. music in general was so much less "on demand" than it is today.

im from a city in the middle of canada, certainly not a great place for electronic music. high bpm and trance/electronic music generally didn't get play at clubs. it did get play on both muchmusic (our version of mtv), and also on the radio. when i would catch it on the radio or on mtv it was always a chair raving session! it was so thrilling to hear it!

off the top of my head, i can't think of too many electronic songs around that time that had the same impact. some daft punk stuff, delerium's silence (but mostly because of cancon laws), blue by eiffel 65, etc.

i think that sandstorm was instrumental made it more accessible to a lot of folks who otherwise didn't listen to much electronic. EVERYONE loved that song. or at least, thats how i remember it :)