Super Eurobeat 189

[drnrg]

DJ Mike TJG

Everyone in the Eurobeat world is guilty of this, though - and it's usually the fault of the SEB engineers more than anyone. SEB 179 in particular suffered from loudness-war volume levels.

SEB 179 showcased songs with very powerful instruments. More so than other previous volumes. The settings were set accordingly to the out put those soundworlds would give out. That was part of it's charm. You couldn't expect 179 to sound the same as say 142, not with those songs. You just couldn't.

DJ Mike TJG

Queen 26 / Don't Let Me Be The First

I do hear the difference in that song. It's like I say all along. these are the 2000's you can't expect that subtlety any longer. Even the soundworlds DELTA uses require higher settings, because of there power. Listen to Morena's - Open Up Your Heart. That's has the Queen 26 melody. If you listen to them back to back, you will find yourself turning UP the volume when Morena's song starts. I still really attribute much of it to the higher BPM's as well. I will say that if these versions were released on vinyl with those settings, they would sound like utter shit. I remember the distortion of Kevein Jonson's- Adorable vinyl as opposed to the much clearer sound on EM vol. 13, so they must be doing something right.

,but I still don't get any distotrtion from cds as opposed to some of you, so for the TIME being the sound is just fine with me.

[Jion]

By factory settings I don't mean the individual companies but actual audio setups (think having Firedog use their tools to set the equipment at the optimal level except I don't use Firedog. I have the tools myself.) To me, if I have to adjust the volume from song to song to prevent distortion (as also mentioned by several other audio setup tools and companies) its a problem. If you enjoy what I feel makes the songs sound unlistenable to a certain extent, then that's probably what your ears have become adjusted to. To me its like hearing the overturned up bass modules (aka subwoofers) in the cars of people while listening to rap music and hearing the entire car buzz loudly. An example I would use is listen to Time Records songs from 130s down to 80's (which I thought was the second golden age for Time Records with songs like Go Godzilla Go, Take Me Now, Supersonic Lover, River Of My Heart, Stay, Music Fever (yeah I realize it's SEB 67 but I would go a little bit more to include this gem) and I Need Your Love) with little to no distortion and compare it to tracks now (like the aformentioned Pride, Idol, Heartbreaker 2007 and I would even put in Fever & Music) with their overwhelming bass. As much as I like those tracks, it's really hard to trully enjoy it when I have to turn my set system down in volume when the other songs were just fine as is. I even look at a meter which clearly shows the song has distortion in it. I have a few tools I use to measure this.

[DJ Mike TJG]

SEB 179 showcased songs with very powerful instruments. More so than other previous volumes. The settings were set accordingly to the out put those soundworlds would give out. That was part of it's charm. You couldn't expect 179 to sound the same as say 142, not with those songs. You just couldn't.

That may be true to some extent, but comparing Magika's Dancing To The Moon on SEB 179, to Planet Love on SEB 182 - there's more compression at work in the former. That may be a choice on the part of TIME, but given that every song on 179 sounds blazingly loud, it seems like, for that album in particular, the sound engineers at Avex were pushing the volume envelope moreso than usual.

[drnrg]

DJ Mike TJG

That may be true to some extent, but comparing Magika's Dancing To The Moon on SEB 179, to Planet Love on SEB 182 - there's more compression at work in the former. That may be a choice on the part of TIME, but given that every song on 179 sounds blazingly loud, it seems like, for that album in particular, the sound engineers at Avex were pushing the volume envelope moreso than usual.

There is actually a world of difference between those two Magika tracks, but also speed and stronger soundworlds has a lot to do with it.

[Bore]

Gotta say I'm slightly disappointed this time around that 189 hasn't been shipped yet ;/ usually they are fast and get them off and away earlier than release date. Could use some extra light into the mostly rainy summer.

[Jay]

Well, CDJapan says they usually ship on the release date. It's not the release date yet and I presume the same principle applies for all other sites. I know they've been shipping the past few albums ridiculously early, but we shouldn't always expect to receive them early.

Having said that, mine only entered the shipping process yesterday so I'll probably get it next week...

[DJ Mike TJG]

CD Japan just e-mailed to say they've shipped - hopefully it'll get here before the end of the week!

[zoupzuop2]

Um, on Mu-Mo's page, it says that Momo's tune (Sinclairestyle) is remixed by Mark Farina.

...WTF? How did that happen? Are SinclaireStyle and Saifam suddenly in cahoots? I don't MIND it, per se, but... is it different from the original release or something?

[zoupzuop2]

Reviews of the songs I just bought: <UPDATED>

BALALAIKA, VODKA & ROCK'N ROLL by Mad Cow & the Tverskaya Street Girls-- heehee! It's a return to that sense of humor I really like in HRG songs. And it's really much better than I thought from the clip. Synth line is quite awesome, too. Not their best, but it's a nice step up. Why do I keep getting this image of Garcon singing instead, though? Perhaps that opera-like voice in the B-Melo/Bridge? A-

BAD BOY by Rick Castle-- Man, Rick has really impressed me lately! Can this man write a mediocre song in the last ten albums? I mean, seriously! Not too fond of the sabi, but this is a reinvention of Rick that I approve of. His smooth voice has nice applications in speedier songs just as well as slower ones. B+

SPIRIT GO WILD by The Snake-- The Snake kicks ass. I love the guitar work, the flavor, the vocals... it's everything I could like, Eurobeat or no. A

STORMBRINGER by Dream Fighters-- The vocalist sounds a great deal like Davide himself... even so, I like the intro, and it really has that Dima energy, which has yet to leave him after, what, 10 years now? A-

YOU GIVE ME MORE by Phil & Linda-- Wow. Stronger and more amazing than I imagined. This has a flavor I like, and Phil and Linda really sound great together! Fast, energetic... and SOPHISTICATED, oddly enough. A

FLAME AND FIRE (Mark Farina Remix) by Tora-- My negative review of the clip does not immediately apply to this song; the vocals are nice, bubbly, even cute, and Mark Farina adds actually a VERY nice touch, that doesn't sound overly SAIFAM-ish or overly Sinclairestyle-ish-- it actually sounds like a VERY well-done fan-mix. EVEN SO, soundworld is still a bit weak, though Mr. Farina did make a nice change with what sounds like a changeup of the riff sound. B

BABY TAKE ME HIGH by Nuage-- Intro is a step up in energy for ABeatC, even if a bit bizarre... don't like the intro. Sabi's a bit slow, but the verses are nice. It's not a GREAT song, but it's not "bad" enough to be any sort of "bad" song. It's... good. Forgetable at worst; pleasant at best. B-

[Jay]

Um, on Mu-Mo's page, it says that Momo's tune (Sinclairestyle) is remixed by Mark Farina.

...WTF? How did that happen? Are SinclaireStyle and Saifam suddenly in cahoots? I don't MIND it, per se, but... is it different from the original release or something?

Tora is SinclaireStyle, not Momo.

And possibly, yes.

[the_ditz]

Yeah, Momo is SCP - not sure why more people can't hear this considering the chorus in particular is a direct rip-off of Love Is A Pretender from 187

[Nine]

I bought People Of The World from Mu-mo seeing my copy of 189 will be coming with 190. It's a pretty good track.

[zoupzuop2]

Um, on Mu-Mo's page, it says that Momo's tune (Sinclairestyle) is remixed by Mark Farina.

...WTF? How did that happen? Are SinclaireStyle and Saifam suddenly in cahoots? I don't MIND it, per se, but... is it different from the original release or something?

Tora is SinclaireStyle, not Momo.

And possibly, yes.

Sorry, got it mixed up. It was Tora's track remixed.

Still... why? How would that even go down???

[Jion]

It was an error on Mu-mo's part. The Saifam (Boom Boom Beat) song is the (Mark Farina Remix) not Momo's

[drnrg]

What A world of difference those momu clips make compared to the crap ones we got some days ago from Avex. These contain the riff as well as chorus.

zoupzuop2

STORMBRINGER by Dream Fighters-- The vocalist sounds a great deal like Davide himself... even so, I like the intro, and it really has that Dima energy, which has yet to leave him after, what, 10 years now? A-

This is Dima singing, No Doubt about it. He is just usung his vocals a bit like he did back at TIME, which sound amazing to me.

zoupzuop2

FLAME AND FIRE (Mark Farina Remix) by Tora-- My negative review of the clip does not immediately apply to this song; the vocals are nice, bubbly, even cute, and Mark Farina adds actually a VERY nice touch, that doesn't sound overly SAIFAM-ish or overly Sinclairestyle-ish-- it actually sounds like a VERY well-done fan-mix. EVEN SO, soundworld is still a bit weak, though Mr. Farina did make a nice change with what sounds like a changeup of the riff sound. B

There is nothing Farina about this track. Sounds a little better on Momu, but still low volume, but I did hear a snippet of the verse in this clip and it doesn't sound all that bad.

Phil & Linda sound even more Glorious. Can't wait to hear this one in full.