Best Year for Eurobeat?

[#Infinity]

My personal contenders, in no particular order:

1999 - This is one of my least favorite years for mainstream music, but it's easily one of the greatest overall years for eurobeat. The first half contained the majority of the 090's SEB decade, each album full of standouts. Eurobeat Flash also finished excellently with its last two volumes, and Euromach went off with a bang with its first two installments, both of which represented the fantastic transitional period between the classic 90s era of eurobeat into the 21st century era. The Hyper Star Energy compilation also contained some of the finest eurobeat anthems of the millennial era, such as Station to Station, Lover Boy, and I'm Looking for Your Love.

2006 - Delta made a triumphant creative comeback with the introduction of Morris Capaldi and Roby Adruini into the label's fold of producers, while Asia Records continued its peak from the year before, releasing instant classics like Dream of You, Alamo, and Like a Speedy Car. A-Beat C and SCP also made excellent showings. The former during this year churned out Ring of Fire, I Wanna Take You Up, Disco Fire, and Black Devil, while the latter produced several memorable Go 2 anthems, as well as Shock Out, Switch!, and Wanna Be with You. Meanwhile, Blast! Records got their start on the Farm compilations, producing excellent tracks like Magic Ring of Fire and Ready to Start. Just like 1999, 2006 is one of my least favorite years for mainstream music, but it was a definite peak year for eurobeat. I began listening to the genre regularly this year, and it was a serious breath of fresh air amidst all of the abysmal snap rap on the radio at the time.

2005 - Asia Records made a thunderous comeback after a year-long hiatus and entered the greatest period of its existence, during which it created some of the best eurobeat songs of all time on a consistent basis. Hurri Hurricane, Hi Hi Mazinga, Bandolero, Like a Fire, My Angel Heart, Gun Boy, China, Domino, Disco Energy, the list goes on and on. A-Beat C hit two home runs with Neo's first two songs, and also made incredible showings with My Heart Burns Like a Fire, On My Wings, and Like a Virgin 2005. SCP unleashed two excellent Go 2 floor-fillers, So Fragile, Take Another Chance, and Make Your Move, while Vibration excelled with its last crop of leftover productions from the early 2000s. Hi-NRG Attack released its first wave of independent compilations, a trend that would eventually make its entire catalogue purchasable. Super Eurobeat 162 is one of the very best in the series. 2005 was, once again, a poor year for popular music but a great year in eurobeat. Seems to be quite a peculiar trend, at least for me!

1998 - A particularly strong time for just about every label. Hi-NRG Attack created several of its definitive tunes (some of which would not be released until later years), while Bratt Sinclaire put out groundbreaking classics like Too Fast for Love, Boom Boom Fire, and No One Sleep in Tokyo. A-Beat C enjoyed its best year ever, second only to 1999, thanks to instant hits like You Set My Heart on Fire, Revolution, Upside Down, Rebel Rebel, Beat of the Rising Sun, and Dave Rodgers' signature tune, Space Boy. Time Records continued its creative peak that began in late 1996, thanks to its vast array of writers and producers (similar to Delta in the late 2000s), and saw the release of Big in Japan, Go Godzilla Go, Everybody's Warming, and Don't Stop the Music. SCP was introduced to Eurobeat Flash, where they showcased incredible songs like Number One, Because the Night, Into the Light, and Rock Me to the Top. 1998 also saw the debut of both the Initial D anime and Dance Dance Revolution, both of which became vital forces in the promotion of eurobeat to broader audiences.

1997 - Arguably the beginning of the classic, late 90s era of eurobeat, during which the slow, hollow, percussion-dominated sound leftover from the italo era was finally completely ditched across all labels to pave way for the speedy, cutting, direct, and juicily synthesized style that has signified the eurobeat genre since. Thanks largely to this, A-Beat C and Hi-NRG Attack both had their first consistently excellent year in 1997. Meanwhile, Time Records entered one of its greatest eras, becoming exactly what Delta would briefly turn into a decade later - that is, a bastion of fresh and memorable tracks thanks largely to the presence of multiple writers and producers. Delta also released some of its greatest classics, such as Save Me and Burning Up for You, as well as plenty of overlooked gems like I Don't Wanna Break Your Sweet Heart and Music Over. Sinclaire, then at Delta, released some of his signature classics, including Thank You-Arigato, Heartbeat, and Night of Fire. SCP made its first album appearance with one of the greatest eurobeat songs of all time, Story of My Life, and promptly followed it up with the also-great Runaway and Love is Magic. Unlike the first three years I listed, 1997 and 1998 were pretty decent years for music outside of eurobeat, in my opinion, but both years stand as a critical turning point in the solidification of eurobeat's modern identity.

[WNight]

I am by no means a technical guy so I won't be describing things in musical jargon and instead, I go by how I feel instinctively when listening to a particular time period so if anything sounds "off", I apologize.

2013-2015: Yes, as much as I talk about how most things just "went to shit" after SEB 221, fortunately, the tracks remain strong, and these albums are the only ones in which I can listen to around 3/4 of the album without wanting a refund. Prior to these albums, the major "dickcheese" of each albums usually belong to Hi-NRG Attack and Saifam. I still don't particularly care for Saifam's tracks but the replacement of Festari with Malvicino proved to be a major game changer for Hi-NRG Attack and songs like "Piston Go" showed me what the "new" Hi-NRG Attack is capable of. Sun Fire, SCP and GGM continues to do what they are best at. Labels that are very vulnerable to being generic like Delta and Dima have also showed signs of vitality with the recent albums so it's proof that our dear producers are still very capable of putting out monstrous tracks and that, my friends, is definitely something I think needs to be celebrated.

1997-2002 : Alot of things were good during this period of time and not just music but I digress. I was still a kid during this time but for some reason, this period of eurobeat seems to resonate with me very strongly when I first got into eurobeat in 2008 and subsequently decided to visit the old tracks. IMHO, there is a "passion" and "innocence" to the eurobeat of this time that cannot be put into words. There were plenty of new names and voices. You could tell that the creative juices were high and that the producers were really having fun creating every single track, even if not all of them were "good". The biggest offender of bad songs of this time period for me was TIME, but even then, they weren't "god awful", I just didn't resonate with their "style", which is a testament to how good I think this period is. Incidentally, this was also when para para, clubbing, dance music and Initial D started to boom in Japan, and it gave many tracks of this time period a classic status not just in the eurobeat circle, but around the world (Read : Night Of Fire, technically 1997 but heck with it). and quite honestly, I think this time of eurobeat should be in itself a classic and not just a select few tracks. Ever notice how many pictures of producers working with the japanese and their musings about the "classic era" belong in this period? For that I say : Viva la 90s!

2007-2009 : Good for the sole reason that it picked up from 2003-2005, which is in my opinion, the worst eurobeat period ever (I could count the number of songs I truly like during the 3 years with my 2 hands). This period also gave birth to a number of "pseudo-classics" such as 'Gas Gas Gas' and 'Yes I Will'. It was also the time when SEB came back with many tidbits from the SEB team such as a DVD of live performances, 2nd disc remix or artist messages. It was also a rather experimental period for most labels to find out what worked and what didn't. Unfortunately, I personally consider this time period to be the last of "eurobeat stardom" before we're faced with frequent long breaks, loss of communication, wanton release date changes and would take 5 years before a true comeback with a stable release date and even worse management than it already is. Even then, they just don't do it like the old days anymore.

[KoolKool]

anything...above 95-96..sound instrument is much richer

[eXtaticus]

-redacted-

[Bonkers]

1994: Great disco sounds from A-Beat C (Hurricane, Xtasy, Highway Star)...It's just a sound you never hear in any of the other decades as much. Also, the characteristic synthesizers started to become more hectic in this era.

1995: Tempo began being pushed and great speedy tracks came out. That disco sound was still prevalent, and the vocalists had those strong italo accents.

1996: Now that the tempo had been pushed, cheesier tracks started coming out (Eurobeat Flash tracks from Hi-NRG Attack & A-Beat C). Delta also was created.

1999: I would say this is when the genre morphed into what would carry it on through the millennium. Suzy Lazy's "I Believe in Music" is all the proof you need.

2000-2001: Eurobeat made an image for itself in sound. Pretty strong years.

2003: A stand-out year for Delta's tracks!

2005-2009: Amazing era with great tracks, with 2009 beginning the descent of what happened in the 2010 volumes.

2002 & 2004 are just kind of bland years.

[drnrg]

I have too many favs from every year, but as I always say: for me the Vinyl era was the best. 88-98. The long intros and mid breaks made for mixing was what I loved most. The music was so much more original. and thier was so much of it being released, that I had no TIME to slow down. I figuered nothing this great can last forever, so I just bought them all. I never really cared for SEB edits until vinyl stopped being pressed. Then I gradually learned to accept the edits. I really didn't have a choice. I wanted the songs I hadda get Eurobeat Flash, and SEB. In the edit's defense. Some lables like DELTA and HRG Attack were pretty good at edits. TIME sucked, but I had thier extended vinyls, so I really didn't care. Speakinhk of HRG Attack: if I hadda pick an era it would be the marriage of TIME and HRG Attack. "Hot Girl" "Out Of Control" "Bang bang For Your Love" "Little Submarine" "Change". That would be 93-95.

Nowadyas 4-5 songs really blow me away off each album. The departure of of some of my fav Eurobeat vocalists and producres plays a big factor in that.

[Mindsweeper]

Every year was fantastic in it's own way up until around 2011 or 2012. Things have been generally lackluster since , IMHO

[M2-EB]

Early 90's (1990~1996)
Pretty much because of my two favorite eurobeat series by Avex and some other more "obscure" works, mainly from King Records.

I also liked the 00's because all the hype from parapara, eurobeat songs were pretty wild. Then, that j-euro comeback in the 10's mostly because of doujin scene, that was cool.

my eurobeat comfort zone goes until around 2009… after that, things get a little twisted hahaha