Super Eurobeat 148
1.Niko - Superbad (Delta)
From the initial negative reaction this song gave me I eventually was kind of
surprised with the song, that it turned out rather decent. The song has
similarities to
Niko's previous songs but that's not a huge surprise, but
the part about this song that truly rock is the catchy chorus combined with the
great c-melody. The vocals aren't as bad as with some of
Niko's other
songs and the song really left a positive vibe even though I was ready for the
worst.
Rating : 8+
2.Cherry - Lonely Night (Delta)
Ah our dear old
Cherry her songs seem to do a yo-yo movement and range
from horrible to plain terrific, this time we are treated to a song that is way
better than anything we've heard from her ever before. The cheery sounds and
Clara Moroni's wonderful vocals are a real treat for eurobeat fans, and the
chorus really sums up the essence of the song: Fun. The lyrics seem a bit out of
place, as the song is really cheery and she's so lonely according to the vocals,
oh well anyway the song shines practically on all of the levels. Way to go
Delta!
Rating : 9+
3.Manuel - Shock Me (A-Beat C)
Ah and the much discussed
Manuel that everybody seems to like these days,
and no wonder... He has gotten some truly terrific songs and this time the song
features the queen of eurobeat:
Elena Gobbi! And with a combination like
this you can't expect anything but quality. The song starts of magnificently and
when
Manuel's and
Elena's vocals are combined in the chorus it
works magnficently, the clear highlight for the song. And over all the song is
pretty much your standard A-Beat C (as they really love doing duets, so this
song should've been titled
Manuel & Lolita instead of just
Manuel).
Rating : 10-
4.Jean Love - Movin' Up Movin' Now (Delta)
People seem really thrilled about
Jean Love and I can partly see why, but
then I also have some trouble understanding where all the hype is from. This
song is again a different style from the previous songs which is always a good
thing, and just shows that these new talents aren't stuck doing the same thing
over and over. The song features some truly ingenious moments in the background
and the keyboards sound really pleasant to the ear. The vocals are actually the
only thing that leave me feeling a bit cold, I just somehow don't like his
freaky sound, but it's not annoying or anything so that's not really that bad.
Rating : 9-
5.Lolita - Anynight Anyday (A-Beat C)
Elena Gobbi is without doubt the real queen of eurobeat, and she's
deserved the title for multiple reasons. A) Her vocal skills are perfect for
eurobeat, she can offer us energy and a lot of variety B) She has truly
ingenious songs time after time under all of her different aliases C) There's
really no competition for the queen's title anymore. This is a rather typical
Lolita song with loads of energy and catchiness, over all just what we can
expect from her. Not the best one on the album, but from the better end.
Rating : 10-
6.Robert Patton - Rock And Roll Babe (Time)
A rather surprising song from the label that has been rather crappy during the
past few years. The cheeriness and upbeat melody are kind of uncommon for Time,
but it's always nice to be surprised. The song has an excellent chorus that uses
guitars in a really cool way. The song surprised me yet again, and after a few
replays it just got better, not as catchy as the more mechanic and variable
songs, but still a great performance.
Rating : 8+
7.Powerful T. - Blood And Fire (A-Beat C)
This title is always a bit controversial in my opinion, the songs are great but
the vocals are at the same time good and bad. His vocal skills are truly
magnificent, but I guess it's a matter of taste how you see it. I like his
vocals from time to time but the next moment he can sound plain horrible. This
song goes pretty much from one end to the other, at some points he sounds
marvellous but the next second his voice goes way too high and it sounds quite
hideous. The melody in
Blood And Fire is really good and the chorus
creates a really irresistible athmosphere with electric guitars and nice harmony
with the vocals and the sounds.
Rating : 8+
8.Spock - Enter The Sandman (A-Beat C)
Covers have been a discussion before and again this song shows us why they
shouldn't do covers from other genres. The song at first sounds really good when
it mixes a heavy background to eurobeat beats (so you might get brief flashbacks
into the
Dark Angels song on the previous SEB). But when the vocals begin
it goes awfully wrong, the sounds are actually really really good, and the cover
itself isn't as bad as many others, but the vocals just don't work at all. A
controversial song yet again, not a huge disaster but clearly the worst song on
the album.
Rating : 7+
9.Pretty Woman - Did Or Didn't (Delta)
And we're back on Delta territory, the song got some negative feedback from
other people and I didn't have my hopes up, and I was again surprised by a
cheery song that works quite well. The chorus repeats the title a bit too much,
but it doesn't hurt the big picture at all and when the melody and sounds work
well, I had to like this song even though many others didn't. Perfectly cheery
to make you feel happy and make you move.
Rating : 8+
10.Rick Castle - Ride In The Night (HI-NRG Attack)
And another huge surprise by HI-NRG Attack, this was totally unexpected, and
again in a very good way. This is yet another rather calm song from the label
that shows they are capable of doing songs that aren't either on crack or dumb.
The backgrounds give a lot of room for the vocals that have changed dramatically
from the Euromach times, and I wouldn't even recognize
Rick Castle as the
same vocalist as back on Euromach. A great song that showed us how versatile
HI-NRG Attack really is.
Rating : 9+
11.Susan Bell - Never Fall In Love Again (A-Beat C)
The keyword for this album seems to be cheery, and I am perfectly fine with this
as I love happy and cheery materials above all else. I was expecting a nice song
from
Susan Bell as I've loved her previous productions pretty much
completely and she didn't let me down. A really happy song with an exceptionally
nice chorus and the vocals are truly the highlight for the song, I can not put
enough words for this song, it is one of those songs that will make you smile
due to the irresistible cuteness.
Rating : 9½
12.Pamsy - Dancin' Alone (SCP)
Another song that had been hyped a lot, and this time the hype is really at
place. The song starts with a really trance-ish soundworld and it gives the song
a really distinctive sound, I'm not a huge fan of trance myself, but when they
mix eurobeat and trance like this I can't complain. Duo the exceptionally cool
backgrounds this song earned a lot more playback than some of the other songs,
and it really is one of the highlights on the album. Everything about this song
works magnificently.
Rating : 10
13.Angela - Killing My Love (Vibration)
The cheery mood just keeps on going strong, as we get a song that takes us back
in time a few years. The song seems a bit older than the other materials on the
album, but that's not a bad thing by any means. The older generation Eurobeat
was just as good as the present. The song has some truly memorable moments due
to the effective vocals, the lyrics are nothing to go yay for but that's a
normal eurobeat flaw. The lyrics very seldom offer anything special, but who
cares for those anyways, right?
Rating : 9
14.Sophie - Magic Time (Time)
When even our good old
Sophie goes cheery something must be wrong with
Avex, are they already on a festive mood due to 150. This song has many typical
Sophie elements along, but it's still very different from most of her
songs. The vocals are your normal nice and the song is also pretty general good
level so it doesn't offer any real highlights but still it managed to leave me
feeling good.
Rating : 8-
15.Susy Wender & Nuage - Plastic Girl (A-Beat C)
As far as anticipated materials go this was my main priority on the album, and I
can't even express how positively I was surprised. I've liked many songs on the
previous Super Eurobeats as well but this song is something way different, from the
moment I heard it I was completely blown away. The vocals, the sounds, the
melody, simply everything about this cheery and upbeat song works perfectly. I
honestly can't think of an other song that would've been as much of a hit for me
than this one. The girls really throw in their best and this will definitely
earn a place in my favorite eurobeat songs of all time. A round of applaudes for
Susy Wender & Nuage and A-Beat C. The synths in this song are simply
irresistible and the lyrics are just too cute.
You guys really made my
day (notice no other song has ever earned 10 + 5 plusses). I don't know why but
I just don't wanna stop praising this song, it's really uncommon to bump into
songs as good as this one, definitely 1 in a million song.
I'm feeling blown
away.
Rating : 10+++++
16.Mad Max - Tsunami Comes (Delta)
An awesome intro with different kind of videogame sounds, and I could swear they
say
Super Nintendo in the intro as well. The song has a really variable
soundworld which gives the song a lot of positive boost. The vocals sound great,
and I gotta admit that this is definitely the best song from
Mad Max that
I've at least heard. The female vocals in the song back up the male vocals
perfectly and in the end the song works pretty much on all levels, not as much
of a classic as for example the previous song (that I still want to rewind back
to).
Rating : 9-
17.Time All Stars - 150 (Time)
Ah the big title track for the big
150. An interesting song that mixes up
various old Time songs including
Lonely Night, Supermaio,
Ding A Lin
and,
Love 4 Money. The brief flashbacks to older songs are really
nostalgic and work perfectly and like they're meant to work. The song itself
isn't really special but the brief clips here and there are the main spice in
this track and earn it a lot more edge. Time has done some truly memorable songs
in the past and they've perfectly chosen some of the highlights for this song.
Rating : 9-
18.Damon - Work Your Body (SCP)
The album finishes off with SCP like on the previous SEB, and
we're again treated to a real treat. The first thing that made me love the song
is the clip from the legendary
Kiki & Kika song
Jam Jam Jam. The
song itself is your typical SCP with some excellent sounds and strong vocals.
The male vocalist in this one seems like a new one, or at least he doesn't sound
like any old one I would recognize. The lyrics are perfectly suitable for an
aerobic's cd and perhaps the song is meant to be just that : an aerobics song.
Either way, catchy, effective and a great way of ending the album.
Rating :
9
Final Words :
For some reason my initial thoughts for this album were that this would be
the worst one in ages, but again my initial reaction was totally wrong. I can
say from the bottom of my heart that this is definitely the best SEB from the
140's with a really high level on the productions. There are no bad songs in the
mix at all, and the best moments are forever memorable.
Susy Wender & Nuage
display us with a song that is definitely one of my very favorite songs ever
made. The whole album is a lot cheerier than eurobeat in general, which I in
particular loved and it left me feeling really satisfied. I can't do anything
else but praise Avex. A marvellous collection with a really high level. And
again a huge thank you to A-Beat C for
Plastic Girl.
Final Score : 9
Reviewed by Bore