Super Eurobeat 221 (News in page 1!)

[WNight]

Full reviews aren't my forte, so I'll just leave a couple of my thoughts around.

SCP was okay. SEB 4 U was a fitting and explosive start to the beginning of a comeback of eurobeat, it unfortunately wasn't as memorable as I hoped for it be though. An-G's track has a J-Pop flavour to it while still retaining eurobeat elements to it, and is sort of what you'd get if you let loose a bunch of girl groups and started asking them to make eurobeat, I like it. Bamboo Bimbo's track was the most mindless track on the album, speedy, catchy and a great sounding post-chorus highlight the track. Fastway's track was Ennio pretty much being Ennio, heard it once, heard it all. Love the sirens, not the “Gos!”. Scream Team's song was a bit of a surprise, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought and it had some great sounding parts such as the operatic vocals and the vocal melody – especially on the chorus, but still not my kind of song though.

The biggest surprise on the album came from Sinclaire this time round, and I was never one of his label's biggest fan boy except occasionally. Never mind the dated sounding technical details, both of his presentations on this album were real treats for the ear – with “Loving Eurobeat” being the superior track of the two courtesy of it's meatier instrumentation. Dejo's track is a more traditional sounding effect laden yet very danceable and a great track to hum or sing along to.

Don't think I need to say much about the sole Saifam track. They are very much like eating McDs, sure they have new menus all the time, but at the end of the day, it's all the same crap anyways.

Sun Fire pretty much stuck to what they do best, exotic flavours that push boundaries, and as usual, their own brand of perfect ten intros that will sweep you off your feet in the first thirty seconds. Dave's track is probably one of the least edgy sounding one he released so far, only above the pseudo ballad Skylight. My only gripe is that the guitar solo could use a bit more meat and length to it but other than that, it's a great song in every aspect. Rich Hard's song has a great beat to it, and though his vocals sound somewhat in the down at times, I still like the dark and brooding feel that his songs seem to have. Tiranti's song was a letdown, but it shouldn't be a surprise at all, not when it wasn't too long ago that he released his best track ever.

Festari's track was Hi-NRG staying true to what they are known for, wild melodies with vocal melodies that sound drunk at times. The breakdown is something new sounding for the label and I liked that. Nothing else is particularly new but it works nonetheless. Daniel's track was push and pull, the song sounds great for the most part but I am slightly put off by the verses and bridges, it was pulling some Festari level of oddities. Not a bad intro too might I add.

Dima on the other hand, was a real let-down. Both of his presentations left no memorable impression whatsoever, even after repeated listens. “Power & Love” once again shows that Stefania seems to be slowing and watering down with each subsequent release, and is gradually losing the “oomph” that once made her earlier songs on the label such as “Fever Of Love” the perfect fusion of epic, energy and aishu. “Dance Eurobeat” was by and by, nothing but a 5 minute run of mediocrity. I really hope the label comes back with a bang on 222, because this sort of level just doesn't cut it.

I think that's pretty much it. Here are my scores for each individual track:

1. SEB 4 U / SEB All Stars (4/5)
2. Different Girl / An-G (4/5)
3. Loving Eurobeat / Dejo & Bon (5/5) - 3rd
4. Power & Love / Stephy (2/5)
5. Kiss / Bamboo Bimbo (2.5/5)
6. 1 Fire / Dave Rodgers (5/5) – Top track of the album
7. Down Down Down / Tipsy & Tipsy (1/5)
8. Born To Be Wild In My Car / Cy-Ro (3/5)
9. Kelly / Powerful T (2/5)
10. Wacky-Wacky-O / Scream Team (3/5)
11. Wild Boys / Rich Hard (5/5) - 2nd
12. Dance Eurobeat / Heather feat David Dima (2/5)
13. Super Driver / Daniel (3.5/5)
14. Hyper Super Powers / Fastway (3.5/5)
15. Boys Gone Wild (4.5/5)

Average Grade : 3.5/5 (Decent but not great)

[Lebon14]

@ Lebon.

The megamix was good. I like the transitions. I hear alot of the oldschool turntable magic in some mixes. Don't know how you did that on the p.c, but very good effects. My one gripe was how warped the vocals sound. Especially Dave and Rich who sounded aweful, but Cy-Ro felt right at home. The BPMs would have worked better with one of those programs that retains true vocals.

Thanks!
Of course the vocals for Dave & Rich will be the most warped... they were the slowest songs of the bunch. The Rich Hard song is NOT 150BPM like the back cover says but more exactly 138.82 BPM exactly. I've explained the warped thing several times now. The only way around is to re-record the vocals at that BPM and I'm in no position to ask for that.

[Bonkers]

@ Lebon.

The megamix was good. I like the transitions. I hear alot of the oldschool turntable magic in some mixes. Don't know how you did that on the p.c, but very good effects. My one gripe was how warped the vocals sound. Especially Dave and Rich who sounded aweful, but Cy-Ro felt right at home. The BPMs would have worked better with one of those programs that retains true vocals.

Thanks!
Of course the vocals for Dave & Rich will be the most warped... they were the slowest songs of the bunch. The Rich Hard song is NOT 150BPM like the back cover says but more exactly 138.82 BPM exactly. I've explained the warped thing several times now. The only way around is to re-record the vocals at that BPM and I'm in no position to ask for that.

I know Virtual DJ has pitch-lock so the vocals stay at their intended sounds when pitch-matching tracks.

[thejti]

@ Lebon.

The megamix was good. I like the transitions. I hear alot of the oldschool turntable magic in some mixes. Don't know how you did that on the p.c, but very good effects. My one gripe was how warped the vocals sound. Especially Dave and Rich who sounded aweful, but Cy-Ro felt right at home. The BPMs would have worked better with one of those programs that retains true vocals.

Thanks!
Of course the vocals for Dave & Rich will be the most warped... they were the slowest songs of the bunch. The Rich Hard song is NOT 150BPM like the back cover says but more exactly 138.82 BPM exactly. I've explained the warped thing several times now. The only way around is to re-record the vocals at that BPM and I'm in no position to ask for that.

I know Virtual DJ has pitch-lock so the vocals stay at their intended sounds when pitch-matching tracks.

Amazing Slow Downer also is a great product to use to save a file to a certain bpm and then use that to make whatever speed you need.

[Lebon14]

I still use Adobe Audition as do-it-all musical editing software. It can take VST and DirectX plugins but I never really use those functions.

I might try "Amazing Slow Downer" because I know Virtual DJ is paid software and... I don't mix "live".

EDIT

ASD wasn't even freeware and, I can only accelerate by percent which is incredibly ANNOYING and there was this reverb added to the track sometimes. I kinda don't want to try VDJ because it's a huge software as far aas I Know and I'm using a 90GB SSD here for software.

[SuperEuroJimmy]

Virtual DJ is only a few megabytes. ;) Sadly, the pitch control with pitch lock isn't all that great. It has to resample the song and the quality goes down immensly. The same happens if you use MixMeister, by the way.

[Lebon14]

Virtual DJ is only a few megabytes. Sadly, the pitch control with pitch lock isn't all that great. It has to resample the song and the quality goes down immensly. The same happens if you use MixMeister, by the way.

I only use MixMeister BPM Analyser. From there, I use the Pitch Bender to change the BPM in Audition.

If you have a better tool that can be added to Audition 1.5 to do this, be my guess.

EDIT

I'm stupOid. Audition can do it too but it sounds... horrible compared to the pitched version.

EDIT 2

If there's a huge difference in BPM between the target and the original, I guess that's a solution to keep the voice the same...

[drnrg]

Super Eurobeat 221

Am I the only one that thinks that SEB 4U song wasn't all that great? I feel it's overhyped, overrated and a shamless plug at video games NES(Nintendo Entertainment System) I hate when my friends say I listen to video game music and that song doesn't help matters at all. Plus I feel it has one of the most annoying intros I've ever heard in Eurobeat. Is that D.J. Boss? He bites!

Now thjat I've gotten that out of my system, I have to say the rest of the cd is quite great. Even found myself enjoying the Fastway and Scream Team songs a lot more than I initially thought. Even Typsy and Typsy to a certain extent. Anyway, my review in a few days, for now as tradition grants; here are my top 5 showcased in my own classic way. Enjoy

1. Cy-Ro- Born To Be Wild In My Car (HRG Attack)


2. Dave Rodgers - 1 Fire (Sun Fire)


3. Stephy - Power & Love (Dima Music)


4. Bamboo Bimbo - Kiss (SCP)


5. Daniel - SUper Driver (Delta)

[Darkholme]

1. Cy-Ro- Born To Be Wild In My Car (HRG Attack)


2. Dave Rodgers - 1 Fire (Sun Fire)


3. Stephy - Power & Love (Dima Music)


4. Bamboo Bimbo - Kiss (SCP)


5. Daniel - SUper Driver (Delta)

Haha, awesome stuff. They're all deliciously cheesy!

[zoupzuop2]

I might try "Amazing Slow Downer" because I know Virtual DJ is paid software and... I don't mix "live".

Try "Mixx". It's free as in "actually free", it's cross-platform and it supports VSTs.

[the_ditz]

Super Eurobeat 221

Am I the only one that thinks that SEB 4U song wasn't all that great? I feel it's overhyped, overrated and a shamless plug at video games NES(Nintendo Entertainment System) I hate when my friends say I listen to video game music and that song doesn't help matters at all.

Erm, you do realise that the song doesn't actually mention NES? This is just a misheard lyric. The actual lyrics are "SEB for you maniacs", i.e. the crazy fans that stick by the genre through thick and thin.

I wasn't as impressed by the track as I thought I would be originally, but it's still a very catchy melody. But I hear exactly where you're coming from with the DJ Boss intro - it's soooo irritating!

Glad you digged my review too - I was surprised at your reaction to the Rich Hard track as for me it's a clear tribute to mid-90's Eurodance/house using the same kicks, percussions and bass stylings.

[Lebon14]

So, I'm the only one to LOVE DJ Boss in SEB 4 U's intro?

[Darkholme]

So, I'm the only one to LOVE DJ Boss in SEB 4 U's intro?

I can't listen to the intro without being reminded of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6OCnvvkSLM#t=0m36s

The Japanese accent is just too crazy

[the_ditz]

So, I'm the only one to LOVE DJ Boss in SEB 4 U's intro?

Yes.

[Lebon14]

So, I'm the only one to LOVE DJ Boss in SEB 4 U's intro?

Yes.

Then, I must be the only one to chill on this line

"Respect to the man in the ice cream van!"