I listened to some fuller versions of the songs from SEB 199 and I'm a bit more dissapointed from my initial review. The main problem for me is these erratic speeds used on nonstops. The majoraty of the female vocals are too pitched and heard on my ears. I'll go ahaead and give my official review, but i'm not in the least satisfied with this leatest effort.
01 -
Domino & Virginelle feat. Mega NRG Man - Super Eurobeat (GoGo's Music)
Like I said before this one doesn't reflect the good old Eurobeat sound I grew up with. The Riff is still pretty cool, but that's it. The rest sounds to chaotic. Not in an HRG Attack way, but more like every sound world is emphasized to a point of sounding annoying. I couldn't even withstand the vocals of Domino nor Lollita. The meoldy in the chorus builds up to a weird almost eastern souding beat and as a whole the song is just too much. The lyrics them selves just throw in words that appear under the Parapara dictionary of Eurobeat Dancing.
6/10
02 -
Eurogrooves All Stars - Super Eurobeat (EuroGrooves)
this is a great song! It really is, but the only part that really blows me away was the chorus. The structure of the verse and Bridge is also a bit off, especially the bridge ,which really doesn't strike me as an Italo falvoured melody. The chorus comes along and blows me away each TIME, but than that last Super Eru Beat part gets old fast. The best part is the stripped down Chorus. The song also gets extra points for amazing vocalwork, but my initial 10 might have been a bit too hasty, especially seeing that the lyrical content is just another macho influenced song.(I LOVE THOSE), but I expected more for a Eurobeat themed song. Thunder, Flash, Extacy. Even the word Shock appears just like in 150. I never thought I'd say that a Sergio Dall Ora production has too much umph, but this one is also just too much of every soundworld.
8/10
04 -
Andrea feat. Sergio - Barbie Girl (EuroGrooves)
This one still sounds fun. And still a 10. The groovy vocals of Sergio Dall Ora really remind me of that quircky male from Aqua. Andrea seems to be a nice force to be reckoned with in the female Eurobeat vocals land. The original from Aqua allready had an acceptable Euro vibe for me to begin with, so now with Eurobeat Soundworlds it just sounds all the better.
10/10
05 -
Krystal & Dima - Let The Music Play (Dima)
here is another song that at first hearing the sample sounded great, but now loses it's initial punch, especially when I compared it to "One Week". Krystal almost sounds too pitched. I can't tell if Dima wants to sound more like his style or SCP? The riff is still the best part; wich is the problem with most of these new songs. While the riff is fast and catchy; the rest of the song's structure seems to be trying too hard to connect and just sounds inferior to Dima's previous works like Save A Drayer, Stormbringer, and Speed Demon. I think this new song would have sounded better for SCP and a slower bpm and sung by Jay Lehr?
8-/10
07 -
Aleky - Eternity (Dima)
Here is another Dima song that I wasn't too thrilled about. It sounds more like SCP material than Dima. This was some kinda Trance song before? That probobly doesn't help the fact either. I would have rather had another song at this legnth. This one just sounds too much in the "heavenly" dept for me.
6-/10
16 -
Norma Sheffield - Here It Comes The Sun (A-Beat C)
This is new Norma huh? First off an aishu song doen't need that much amount of bass. That is just wrong. I hjave always liked Norma, but this sounds weird, especially the speed it's at. If you speed this one up a few bpm's; it actually sounds pretty decent, but right here it just fall flat...and it's not her vocals.
6+/10
17 -
Nuage - Before Tomorrow (SinclaireStyle)
This Sinclaire entry has got to be one of the worst songs in his catalog. It's just weird. I'm not feeling that riff at all and Nuage should go back to ABeatC. Like the rest of the music on this cd; the songs emphasizes too much on the bass. I'm not sure if this is AVEX request to give the songs a more "Tuffer" vibe for the youth of today, but it just sounds to erratic for me. That break again kinda sounds like something middle Eastern. I don't know...Maybe I'm losing it ,but if I compare this style to Boom Boom Fire or Music Go Wild; it's easy to sas that there is something missing in way of Passion ?
6-/10
21 -
Black Eva & Nick Turbo - Running To My Car (Hi-NRG Attack)
I allready mentioned that HRG has toned down the chaotic effect a bit and thank GOD ,the female vocals. As of lately they have had hit after hit. The current Juno downloads and SEB showings show a new direction for Live Music Studios that I'm definately loving. This new song is very near the edge of Aishu Eurobeat and now that I hear it ; the riff is easily the same one from Mara Nell's Sweet Love & Passion. This song easily becomes my favourit on the cd. The melody in the verse and Bridge sound more like Eurogrooves than Eurogrooves does now adays. Both Nick and Black Eva are singing in normal tome and sound absolutley amazing together. I would love to hear more collaborations like these in HRG's future. Last , but not least the lyrics , if you really take the TIME to hear them are very unlike HRG, but tell a story that probly at one TIME or another have lived through. The old" I love You , but I want my freedom, cuz I feel like a prisoner" How many of us havn't heard that one before
anyway, this song gets a solid 10 with extra pluses for one of the best Eurobeat duets I have ever heard.
10+++/10
23 -
Dave & Futura - Dance In My Town (A-Beat C)
This is also another great song1 I would probobly like it better at SEB bpms and not the faster ones they use for nonstops. Both Dave and Futura sound good on this one. Futura seems to be finding her direction and actually sounds acceptable at her high vocals, kinda when Elena Ferreti does Barbi Girl or Apple. The song has a nice 90's style melody just faster and the riff ; as everyone has allready mantioned is fantastic. I actually hear Dave stepping back and giving Futura the most mic TIME.
9-/10
24 -
Franz Tornado & The Tri-Star Girls - Super Eurobeat (Hi-NRG Attack)
I originally gave it an 8 or somthing along those lines, but upon hearing the combination of the verses, bridge and chorus, I really gotta add someore points to it. The lyrics are also one of my favourite aspects of the song. They really capture the SuperEurobeat dance feel, while at the TIME Franze is proclaiming himself the King Of Eurobeat. They are pretty much the same lyrical content Live Music Studio uses, but combined to give a feeling of a parapara danathon. I just feel the Euorbeat theme much more with this song than the other two. As always, we have another wicked sounding riff and Franze4 sounds betta than eva.
10/10
27 -
Delta Queens - Summer Boy, Summer Girl (Delta)
Delta finds themselves onto this compilation as well. I get a weird feeling they are now the underdogs of the series, but none the less,thier offering is still one of the better songs. I feel the label wants to stay in a safe zone now adays. DElta queens do define the sound of Delta , but are they getting overkill. Also the melody is threading on safer ground. Nothing ground breaking, just another good song from Clara and I think I hear a bit of Queen 26 in there as well?. The best part are the way the Summer Boy ,Summer Girl lines are used in the lyrics. The melody in those parts gives me a good Summer feel and that riff is perfect for the song! All these quirks shoots this song to an almost 10 level, if it wasn't for that compression. A bit too much ,don't you think?
9/10
28 -
Go2 & DJ Boss - Superstar (SCP)
This song is a real let down in every sense of the word. It's a carbon copy of almost all Go2's songs. It's another pertfect example of when too much is too much. All the explosions and zip zaps inbetween lines are just for power effect, but instead turn me off completely.That horrenzous rapping or shout outs(whatever you wanna call them) are way off. DJ Boss should never be aloud to take the mic again. To me it's a complete chaotic mess and should be wiped off the face of the Earth. It's amazing how much I loved SCPs showings on 197. Love Countdown and Don't Turn It Off were examples of SCP at thier shining best. This was a terrible way for them to exit.
6-/10
This cd was a complete flop for me, maybe even more so than for infinty. It's just too loud and those labels that usually sound great at loud levels(Eurogrooves, DELTA) were evn louder than usual and just turned me off completely. The bpms of some of the songs were too fast for thier own good and just about everything else was too much. Remeber 6s for me are almost like bottom of the barrel. 8s are passable and 9s and 10 are winners. I think Eurobeat needs a drastic change before it implodes from to much testoserome(I suck at spelling) , but you get my drift. I ofetn ask myself if I would like these better in extended, but probly not.I havn't been this harsh on a Eurobeat cd since the abysmal 187.
Top 3
Black Eva & Nick Turbo - Running To My Car (Hi-NRG Attack)
Franz Tornado & The Tri-Star Girls - Super Eurobeat (Hi-NRG Attack)
Andrea feat. Sergio - Barbie Girl (EuroGrooves)
Bottom 3
everything under 7/10
I'll go ahead and mention the actual mixes of the songs in short fasion.
GGMs and
Eurogrooves mixes pretty well since both songs overload in compression level.
150 doesn't mix well with
track 2. No imagination at all.
Barbi Girl is one of the worst transitions on the cd as the song just starts with no introduction. Total amaeture hour here.
Barbi Girl and
Dima's #5 track have nothing to do with each other and don't mix worth a dime.
Dima and
Elvis. Funny how the music style of SCP fits with Dima's song, but the mix is just another starting as one ends.
Viva La Noche and
Eternity isn't a mix at all. Just Eternity inserted in as the last explosion sound off.
Big heart actaully sounds nice being introduced in the
Eternity break. That sound like a good transition since both songs have the same vibe.
SCP and
Dave isn't the best mix around , but I applaud how the DJ inserted the song in a quick matter during the last beat. The bpms also combined together.
Dave &
Spread Your Wings= Awesome mixing ability. Both songs resemble each other and the transition is longer with the
Don't make me Cries bassline introducing
Spread your Wings. Wonderful!
another Great transition is heard on
Spread Your Wings and
Hot Fire.
Hot Fire doesn't sound bad at all at a slightly faster BPMs. This is due to the fact that older Eurobeat had appropriate breaks to mix with.
Crazy For You sounds a bit forced with
Hot Fire, but still acceptable.
The HRG Attack sounding riff on
Annerly's song doesn't mix well with
Crazy For you.
Wanted is a song I never liked despite Gino vocals and it's appearsnce here just makes me cringe. The Want You Want me parts sound like sneezes and it didn't mix all that well with
Can't Stop The Music.
Now That same funky style of
Wanted works hand in hand with
Nothing Changed. The drum roll was excecuted at the prcise moent to make it seem like an extension of the song. Another great example of the cutting from one track to another effect.
The Chanting of
Here comes the sun sounds beautiful in the last part from
Nothing Changed, but I think this is due to the song's slower bpm, wich after a while seems off.
I don't know hoe they mixed
Here Comes.. with
Tommorow but I think they slowed down Nuage's song than gradually sped it up ti it's normal bpms? Either way it worked out pretty smooth.
Delta Dance.com is way to fast and didn't even mix. Terrible for both the song and mixer.
GoGos songs and
DELTA don't mix smoothly and once again .the song is faster than usual. That is not a good thing.
Now you can hear
Go Say Goal chant in the backround, wich makes this one of the better mixes.
Running To My Car somehow transitioned pretty smoothly into
Go say Goal. Funny thing is that it sounds like both
Go Say and
Running have the same BPMs, but
Running sounds slower for some reason.
Towards the end of
Running you hear a chanting of
Radio, but it's not from the same song. It mixes nicely and introduces
Mad Max's Radio smothly and on TIME.
The last outro of
Radio perfectly introduces
Dance In My Town and when followed by such a great song will alwyas help your showing in a nonstop.
The superfast riff of
Dance In My Town sounds great sampled into mixing with
Franz
I can't say the same for
Bailaika. The Russian vibe doesn't fit well into the Super Eurobeat song. The DJ should have used a smooth transitiopn during HRG Attack's song. They always provide a good legnthy break.
Halleluya Tokyo sounds really good at this speed, but it didn't mix for a prayer.
I see the rerason for the insertion of
DELTA Queens with
TIME Force since the break actually intruduces Delta's song nicely.
Both
Delta and
SCP mix well on this mix
Someone just decided to add in
Phil's piano version of the TIME classic. It acually sounds like somthing from the 80's ala Luther vandrose style. Sounds very nice, but completely breaks away from the hi Energy feel of the cd.
The awsome thing about
Melodies of Love is that is sounds perfect with
Only For Love since Elena was allready getting her share on the previous song. Another TIME classic to close out this mix.
Sorry.