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Reviews: Back to Index
The albums have been graded on the most common grading system used in
Finnish schools. Where 4 is the worst, and 10 is the best. The final score
for the album is most of the times the average for all of the tracks, though it can also change if the reviewer wishes so. The Super Eurobeat Non-Stop albums will be reviewed as full collections, and the individual songs won't be reviewed, unless they are completely new. Though Euromach and JGTC albums for example will have complete song by song reviews.
The grading system simply goes as ie. 4- (3,75), 4 (4), 4+ (4,25) and 4½ (4,5) and the next one again would be 5-. A simple system we have over here in Finland.
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Super Eurobeat 195
1.Dave Rodgers Feat. Alex De Rosso - Burning Like A Fire (A-Beat
C)
I do have to bow down to the fact that Dave manages to keep
producing and doing his own style over and over. While some of the
tracks recently haven't been as influential and memorable as some of his
biggest hits, he still clings on to his own thing. Burning Like A
Fire sounds every bit like Dave, in both good and bad. The
song has a fun chorus that manages to draw in a bit of energy, but the
song structure otherwise seems to be quite flawed. Verses keep stumbling
and sound really lifeless, which makes the song sound slightly
depressive. I can see what the production team was going for, but the
track just needs more raw power and a more inspired attitude. Some
explosions here a wrrryyyyyy there and who knows, this might have been
Space Invader '09.
Rating : 6+
2.Project 2 - Ultra Mi-Ha Deluxe (Go Go's Music)
Mari-San and Leo River together, can things get any better
than this? Well maybe if Elena Gobbi joined in the fun. Ultra
Mi-Ha Deluxe is an exceptional example of how addictive and
memorable a typical eurobeat song can be. The song doesn't introduce in
a lot of extra tricks of the trade, but it's just an upfront eurobeat
track that is so catchy you can't resist it at all. Combining male and
female vocals always adds up some extra power to the track and when the
vocalists are as strong as these two, you just know the result is gonna
be phenomenal. If you have enjoyed anything that Go Go's Music
has done up to this point, I see no reason what so ever to dislike this
song. Since eurobeat usually falls distinctively into male and female
tracks, it's nice to hear a track that balances perfectly between the
aggressive and more soft grounds. This is like good popular music:
simple and catchy.
Rating : 10
3.David Dima - King Of The World (Dima Music)
This song has balls, the real hairy manly ones that jingle. King Of
The World is exactly what Dima is good at: It's powerful and
insanely addictive, if you enjoy macho eurobeat I can't imagine why this
song wouldn't be one of the best ones ever. The song just oozes of
masculinity that makes you want to drain it all out, cock goes here >
X <. There's just something how this song has been produced,
the vocals are so upfront that in a weaker production they'd steal the
whole show, but the sounds have been produced to perfection this time
around so they are not overshadowed by Davide's strong voice.
It's actually not very common to have a song where neither the vocals or
the sounds overpower the other party member. This is eurobeat
perfection, simple and pure.
Rating : 10+++
4.Derreck Simons - Stop City Lover (Go Go's Music)
Tomas Marin is one of the more respected male eurobeat vocalists
since his career has been long and the amount of hits is quite
overwhelming. Derreck Simons title has been MIA for a while so
it's definitely refreshing to hear more material after a brief hiatus.
Stop City Lover is a logical follow up to the masculine King
Of The World and quite surprisingly when two macho men are facing
eachother it's actually Tomas that has to submit to his superior.
While the song is catchy and adding Alessandra's vocals at the
background adds up some extra edge, Stop City Lover still can't
quite reach the same level of the two previous songs. The song is
definitely well produced and is catchy, but there are some minor parts
that seem to be missing that extra power.
Rating : 9+
5.Gold-Rake - Hurricane Man (Eurogrooves)
With a masculine streak on the roll it's just fitting to add in 2 songs
by Cristian De Leo. The level of Eurogrooves aggressive
songs varies a lot for me, but this time around they bring in their
A-game. Hurricane Man is simple and addictive. Strong melody
builds up a lot of energy, but some of the stored energy leaks out due
to the unnecessarily thin synth layers. Chorus works out marvellously
and the wind effects fit the title just perfectly. Without being a big
fan of superheroes in general, it's odd to keep coming up with all these
titles of X, Iron, Hurricane and what not men... At least the
producers have a good sense of humor and imagination instead of just
writing more of the same with the lyrics. Yet this song does come off
sounding slightly corny at certain points, a big bonus to introducing
extra vocals by Elena though.
Rating : 8½
6.De Leo - Save Another Day For Me (Time)
After a slightly corny track it's time for Time to show what they
really are capable of. Save Another Day For Me comes of as the
most well balanced and catchy eurobeat the label has done in years.
Cristian's vocalwork is absolutely magnificent and when it gets
combined with a great melody the results are miles above the generic
eurobeat. The chorus has some magical charisma that is just impossible
to resist and the c-melody even manages to top that with sheer
brilliance and power. The song structure itself doesn't offer much
surprised but instead it follows the strict eurobeat formula, but in
this case it's not needed at all. The sounds are perfectly in unison
with the vocals and the melody is just ingenious. After such a strong
lineup in the beginning I did not initially expect things to get even
better.
Rating : 10+++
7.Mari-San - Don't Belong (Go Go's Music)
After 4 masculine songs it's time for Marina to show what women
are capable of doing. There's basically not one other female vocalist in
the eurobeat world who could put out an as impressive performance as she
does. Don't Belong is an absolutely amazing piece that steals a
permanent slot from your memory. Vocals are so strong it's easy to
forget that it's eurobeat we're listening to, it's just too rare to have
as powerful performers in the eurobeat world, especially when it comes
to female vocalists. While most of the girls can pull off the cutesy and
bubbly attitude, only a few manage to do this mature and powerful style
without sounding corny. Don't Belong is blessed with a great
melody and a chorus that easily competes with the other masterpieces on
this album. It is quite stunning to see how overpowered the selection on
this album is as opposed to the other recent releases.
Rating : 10+++
8.Mad Max - Rock You (Delta)
With the ~Speedy~ word attached to the album title, it's just fitting to
have mostly men representing, so who would be better than Claudio
Magnani from Delta? Rock You is an absolutely
powerhouse that kicks off with raw power and such attitude it can just
sweep you off your feet. Magnificent sounds and great vocals work
together to form a really memorable track, definitely something worthy
of more appearances on nonstop albums. The trend on this album does seem
to be that both genres (men & women) are present on vast majority of
songs, if that alone makes the songs work out so well, then this is
needed more in the future as well!
Rating : 9½
9.Fastway - Monsters Ready (SCP)
Halloween themed songs have always had a place in my heart, since
there's just something about monsters that makes me intrigued.
Monsters Ready is your every day Fastway so you can pretty
much predict beforehand whether you'll like it or not. The fans of his
previous hits will be perfectly at home with this piece as well. The
song itself is well produced and has a great chorus, but the fact is
that since this album is featured with an incredibly effective array of
songs, this one seems to fall a bit behind the rest. A good song none
the less, just not as much of a classic as per say Shock Out.
Rating : 9
10.Megan - I Will Survive (SinclaireStyle)
I try my best to give Sinclaire a shot everytime new music is
produced, but there's just something about his style that doesn't
generally appeal my taste. The synths are time after time too airy and
sound metallic and hollow, there'd be a dire need for more power. I
Will Survive is plagued by those very same synths I can't exactly
stand, but if I put those aside, the song actually is from the better
end by the label. Chorus is really catchy and vocalwork also sounds
really good, yet maybe a bit too much altered by pitching at points. The
vocals sound slightly distorded at points which sort of spoils the mood.
A great melody and a good chorus, just a shame Sinclaire hasn't
managed to find out new and inventive ways to produce synths for his
tracks.
Rating : 8½
11.Mister Max - Shine (Asia/Saifam)
There's something about this song that makes me feel it's not a 100%
fully fledged eurobeat track. The song has a fairly western popular mood
to it, or maybe I'm just not used to hearing as fully produced stuff by
Asia. The tasteful use of guitars and electric elements make this
track stand out and act out more of a piece of mature dance music
instead of basic eurobeat. This is just one of those songs that
borderlines between the various Saifam labels that produce
similar music but under different wings. A good song none the less,
whether it falls under certain niches of not is not that important in
the end. Not as powerful and addictive as some older hits, but a good
piece to represent Asia on such a strong album.
Rating : 8½
12.Scream Team - Kooky Spooky (SCP)
Well most of us are already familiar with the quirky and ever so
adorable Scream Team. Horror Fantasy and Ice Cream (U
Scream) were instantly infectious and Kooky Spooky does not
fall at all behind. The song features an absolutely amazing chorus and
intelligent use of all types of horror elements. The lyrics are so odd
that they actually end up sounding good due to the sheer stupidity.
Spiders dancing to parapara is such a funny thought you just gotta smile
at it. An absolute masterpiece on all fronts, and it is quite important
to notice that with a strong array of masculine tracks on this album,
the more upbeat and light production of Kooky Spooky does not
need to bow down to the others at all. Fun and addictive, just shows how
great and inventful the SCP producers can be.
Rating : 10+
13.Joe Banana - Wild Boy Bad Love (HI-NRG Attack)
It isn't frequent to have HI-NRG Attack wrapping up albums,
they usually fall more easily into the middle crowd. Wild Boy Bad
Love does not bring anything new to the plate, but instead shows
that sheer bubbly energy and a catchy melody can be enough to yield good
results. An upbeat melody with male vocals can drive some listeners
away, but if you can enjoy the more simple sounds and don't need
electric guitars to feel masculine then you can surely enjoy this one as
well. A good song, that wraps up an excellent album without any reason
for complaint.
Rating : 9-
Final Words :
I have been listening to eurobeat for quite a few years now, yet I can't
exactly recall such brilliance in all my time on very many occasions.
The last time I remember liking every song on a SEB must have been
SEB155 or such, so it's definitely about time to feature an album with
similar strength. The difference this time around though is that the
opening by Dave isn't exactly in the right place, but after that
the album is just a rollercoaster of emotions. With so many amazing
songs it ain't easy to pick out the best ones out of the bunch. But this
just shows there really is a lot of potential and inspiration in the
eurobeat producers. This album does work out exceptionally well for me
due to my love for speedy eurobeat, but I can imagine others loving it
just as much. Quite a good example of how every SEB should be like.
While the actual average for the album wouldn't be close to a 10, I
still feel the level is just so high that it does deserve it's status as
a true Super Eurobeat classic. Something for the future albums to aim
for.
Final Score : 10-
The Best 3 songs
- De Leo - Save Another Day For Me
- David Dima - King Of The World
- Mari-San - Don't Belong
The Worst 3 Songs
- Dave Rodgers Feat. Alex De Rosso - Burning Like A Fire
- Mister Max - Shine
- Gold-Rake - Hurricane Man
Honorable Mention
- Scream Team - Kooky Spooky
Labels present on the album:
A-Beat C: 1
Delta: 1
Dima Music: 1
Eurogrooves: 1
Go Go's Music: 3
HI-NRG Attack: 1
Saifam: 1
SCP: 2
Sinclaire Style: 1
Time: 1
Reviewed by Bore
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