Super Eurobeat 226

[drnrg]

I don't like Domino's hyped vocals on "Bad Girl" and that ruins the song for me. Why doesn't she just use her tone of Euro Boy and stop trying to sound chip- munkee?

[the_ditz]

Got my copy finally thanks to a little cash injection from my lovely parents!

Will listen to it more over the next couple of weeks (on holiday in Lanzarote!!) and then I'll have a better-rounded opinion.

But one quick word - regarding my current fave "Hurry Hurry Hurry"... it suddenly clicked for me this morning one of the reasons why I love it so much!! It reminds me MAJORLY of the chorus of Amy Diamond's "It's My Life" which took part in Melodifestivalen 2009. The chord progression is the same and the ending of the fourth line in the chorus seems to take on the same minor feel that Hurry Hurry Hurry does.

Check it out yourself and see you agree

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq7dupK-loY

[Tiger]

This album is pretty bad. The only song I listen to on repeat is Bad Girl. But even then, it could be improved. I just don't think the lyrics fit for a Domino song.

[Bonkers]

I don't like Domino's hyped vocals on "Bad Girl" and that ruins the song for me. Why doesn't she just use her tone of Euro Boy and stop trying to sound chip- munkee?

That's the main thing I miss from Eurobeat: The chipmunky vocals. Bazooka Girl needs to come back!

[drnrg]

Bonkers

That's the main thing I miss from Eurobeat: The chipmunky vocals. Bazooka Girl needs to come back!

That's kinda my point. I don't mind the artists that are known for chipmunky vocal work. Bazooka Girl works just fine, but an established artist like Domino shouldn't have to change her vocals. They are fine at thier natural tone.

The style of the song aslo has a lot to do with it. HRG Attack songs work well with Chipmunks because at TIMEs the song itself was "Chipmunky", but it seems that SCP is trying to turn Domino into Kiki & Fancy or Kiki & Kika and it just doesn't sound right for a more serious and agressive style song like "Bad Girl". It just doesn't.

[#Infinity]

I received my copy yesterday, and my overall impression of this album is fairly positive. Though it's not quite up to par with SEB 221 or 224, it's a step up from the slightly disappointing SEB 225.

I'm pleasantly surprised by Hi-NRG Attack's level of musical originality on this album. With the often safe route they had taken in recent years with tracks like Born To Be Wild In My Car and Kool Kitten, and especially since Roberto Festari just departed the label, I would have expected their subsequent work to exacerbate this trend. Thankfully, this is not the case on SEB 226. Lady Speed Racer is excellent, easily one of my favorite tracks on this album. The synth section makes intuitive of interchange between quiet hits and melodic syncopation, and the overall musical form is quite dynamic. The crafty chorus works off of the well-defined verse fantastically and transitions smoothly back into the verse. Cactus Girl isn't quite a masterpiece, but its offbeat structure and use of syncopation make it fairly memorable and a very nice change from the otherwise predictable framework through which HRG produces its male-led tracks.

The rest of this album is pretty solid, too. I strongly prefer everything from track 7 to the end, but there are highlights around the beginning, too. I've finally caught on to Hurry Hurry Hurry, as I had misjudged as bland post-2006 Saifam before, but it's actually quite well-rounded in just about every factor, even the production and vocal style that I had previously criticized. The tune itself is also actually a step in the right direction, and arguably closer to the label's glory years than other recent, safer productions. Dream Away is far from Irene's best song, but it has a certain appeal. It retains all of the Gobbi-esque sprightliness that anyone can expect from the title, but it's slightly darker and more somber at the same time.

As for the rest of the labels, although I don't like Angel due to its poor vocal melody, Xmas Love is quite good, even though the SinclaireStyle songs from SEB 221 and 224 are still better. The two Dima songs aren't great, but they're both decent enough that they're worth listening to. Bad Love is a tad closer to reclaiming the sharp edge of Dima's older material, and Love is All Around Me has a Disney-like musical structure that I kind of enjoy. The two Delta songs are both strong, although I'm a little repulsed by the 'glitch' effect in Mayday's intro. Domino and Rich Hard both disappointed me heavily, but the Norma Sheffield and Futura duet is surprisingly strong. It has a definite lean towards late 90's eurodance while still retaining Sunfire's sophisticatedly atmospheric production flavor. Bliss' second outing is just as strong as her/their first (the intro disuse of the vocoder suggests Linda Ongarelli is behind the title, but I'm still uncertain whether or not there's a second vocalist, as well), with a delicious verse and and unconventionally joyful melodic structure. I still don't care much for the vocalwork in Dance Into the Fire's chorus, but it doesn't ruin the rest of the song for me, as it's pretty solid otherwise.

Song ratings:

1. Bad Girl / Domino: 5.5/10
2. Dream Away / Irene: 7.5/10
3. Dance Into the Fire / J. Storm: 8/10
4. Hurry Hurry Hurry / Mela: 9.5/10
5. Angel / Nathatlie & Roberta: 4.5/10
6. Fight / Rich Hard: 5/10
7. The Jungle is On Fire / J-Stark: 8.5/10
8. Love is All Around Me / Ultraviolet: 8/10
9. Cactus Girl / Jeff Driller: 7.5/10
10. Lady Speed Racer / Mara Nell: 9.5/10
11. Take a Chance on Me / Norma Sheffield feat. Futura: 9/10
12. Mayday / Luke: 9/10
13. An Angel Right to Me / Bliss: 9.5/10
14. Bad Love / David Dima: 7/10
15. Xmas Love / SinclaireStyle All Stars: 8.5/10

Top 3:

1. An Angel Right to Me / Bliss
2. Hurry Hurry Hurry / Mela
3. Lady Speed Racer / Mara Nell

Bottom 3:

1. Angel / Nathalie & Roberta
2. Fight / Rich Hard
3. Bad Girl / Domino

Honorable Mention:
- Take a Chance on Me / Norma Sheffield feat. Futura

[the_ditz]

Yaaaayy! So glad that you can finally hear what I do in Hurry Hurry Hurry #Infinity - was beginning to think I must be going crazy or something!!

Bliss is definitely a male and female vocalist - you can hear the different tone in the verse and bridge suggesting a deeper male voice compared to the higher tones that join back in during the chorus.

Full review coming from me in the coming days, but overall I think this is easily the most well-rounded and enjoyable album since 223

[eXtaticus]

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[taQ]

i think you can definitely hear in an angel right to me the female is irene, not the same in higher higher more and more

[drnrg]

My favoutite track is definately "Xmas Love". I can't get enough of it and it's allready on cel phone as the tune of my wake up alarm. It has a little bit of evrything I like. A great acapella intro, catchy sing a long chorus, catchy synth riff, Great vocal work and even a little hint of agressive melos here and there. Iether its one hell of a xmas track, or I've definately been bit by the Sinclaire Style bug. Gotta love the "Whowa!"

I don't knoe if Sinclaire posted cover art for the song, but I had to make my own ala Dr. NRG style. We'll call this one the limited edition xmas vinyl art cover. BTW, read the names on the gifts

Sinclaire Style All Stars - X Mas Love

[Lebon14]

I rode through (in Audiosurf, that is) the compilation, what... 3 days ago? And, to be perfectly honest, this compilation is not as bad as I thought it would be. The highlights were definitely "Bad Girl", "Lady Speed Racer" and "Bad Love". Those songs are probably my top favorite. "Dance Into The Fire", "Fight" and "Love Is All Around Me" are pretty good too. However, "Dream Away", "Angel", "Mayday", "Angel Right To Me" and "Xmas Love" give me some mixed feelings: they are "okay" but nothing spectacular. "Hurry Hurry Hurry" would be pretty good if the chorus wouldn't be that screwed up. "The Jungle Is On Fire", "Cactus Girl" and "Take A Chance On Me" are the songs to forget on this album, imo.

Numbers you want to see (on 10)
1. Bad Girl / Domino: 9½
2. Dream Away / Irene: 7½
3. Dance Into the Fire / J. Storm: 8
4. Hurry Hurry Hurry / Mela: 7½
5. Angel / Nathatlie & Roberta: 7½
6. Fight / Rich Hard: 8½
7. The Jungle is On Fire / J-Stark: 5½
8. Love is All Around Me / Ultraviolet: 8½
9. Cactus Girl / Jeff Driller: 5
10. Lady Speed Racer / Mara Nell: 9½
11. Take a Chance on Me / Norma Sheffield feat. Futura: 4
12. Mayday / Luke: 7½
13. An Angel Right to Me / Bliss: 7
14. Bad Love / David Dima: 9
15. Xmas Love / SinclaireStyle All Stars: 7

[WNight]

Not a strong album compared to 223 or 225 thus, I'll skip on doing "normal" reviews this time

‘Bad Girl’ is one of the most mature sounding tracks from Gatti in a very long while; the last I can recall was her phenomenal ‘The Game Of My Name’. Unfortunately, while the track has a super strong bridge and chorus, the track is generally marred by childish vocals that shouldn’t belong on a track like this and should have been reserved for her other more fun tracks. Normal vocals would have made this one of the more epic Domino tracks in a while. ‘Dream Away’ carries a slight melancholic tone and has powerful vocals and chorus, but really that’s all that it has going for it. ‘Dance Into The Fire’ earns brownie points just for nostalgia’s sake, but the track itself was melodically predictable and generic for a J.Storm track as compared to some of his other works. I myself am not a fan of the way he sings ‘looonnngg’. Other than that, it was generally an okay track.

‘Hurry Hurry Hurry’ surprisingly has a rather strong introduction that admittedly got me hooked a little, but then the synth riff hits and it all came crashing down. Certainly not a song I plan on keeping for long. ‘Angel’ is also an okay song for the most part, but after the past few female tracks; I am convinced that songs like ‘Beat Around’ or ‘Tearful Eyes’ is definitely the way to go for Sinclaire’s female tracks. One could say it’s good to change gears once in a while, but as far as I am concerned, I’d highly prefer hearing his wilder songs as compared to tamer ones like this. ‘Fight’ certainly did not disappoint as it has every element a Rich Hard song should have which makes it enjoyable, a very original sounding melody, small little elements such as the female vocals and also this time round, speed. It should come as no surprise that this is definitely one of the top tracks of the album for me. ‘The Jungle Is On Fire’ has a vocalist that sounds somewhat like Daniel, which is great, but while the synth riff is great, the vocal melody wasn’t doing it much justice. In true ‘Don’t Forget’ fashion, I was only looking forward to hearing the synth riff, which does not make a whole song.

‘Love Is All Around Me’ is an okay comeback track for Ms Ultraviolet. I love hearing her voice, but songs built around a heavy love theme like this has never been my cup of tea but certainly there is an audience who could fully appreciate this track in all its glory. ‘Cactus Girl’ is another dud of the album for me; the ‘nonsensical’ nature of this track is a bit too overbearing to me. ‘Lady Speed Racer’ fortunately isn’t anywhere near that insanity. In fact, it’s one of the best tracks on the album for me. It retains a strong level from beginning to end, the use of appropriate sound effects, and the background synth during the verses are some of the many things about this track which makes it highly enjoyable. It’s hard to believe that this was the same alias which made the epic masterpiece of a track called ‘Pagal’.

‘Take A Chance On Me’ is a less impactful track than ‘Fight’ was, but is certainly a much more danceable tune. I don’t know what else to say about this track other than it’s pretty good. ‘Mayday’ is the stronger track of the two Delta presentations but it wasn’t the bulls eye I expected, for one thing, if the introduction to the song is explosive, I can certainly expect the rest of the track to follow in the same vein, but the synth riff was kind of an anti climax as it was just a little too ‘Delta’, fortunately, the rest of the song were on a higher level, especially the strong chorus. Not a bad song, but a little more meat and this would have been a top track of the album. ‘Angel Right To Me’ has a very dreamy melody that sounds downright heavenly. Just the atmosphere alone was enough for me to like the track, but the vocalists themselves (Irene + ?) really did a great job of putting in the right touches. One of the album’s strongest tracks as well.

‘Bad Love’ begins with a very atmospheric build up that has synths and guitars all over that sets the stage for one of Davide’s finest tracks ever. The song then hits like a thousand volts with a sick guitar riff that will definitely see hearts melting. . I also liked the clapping sounds in the verses; it’s what the whip in Dancing On The Streets is to this track. The vocal parts on the other hand are a bit more familiar to Dima-ish, but tracks like this and Dancing On The Streets I feel, really showcase Davide’s fervent vocal work, instantly letting the listener feel that his passion for singing eurobeat is nowhere near dead and is still as glowing as ever. With Bad Love, the man himself proved that while his music hasn’t evolved a whole lot since his debut back on SEB 188, he can certainly push out catchy materials in his own form. ‘Xmas Love’ is a track that I don’t really care much for. I disliked the melody in general, but the strong vocal casts is a definite standout, but not enough to save the general blandness of the track.

My scores:
1. Bad Girl (2.5/5)
2. Dream Away (3.5/5)
3. Dance Into The Fire (2.5/5)
4. Hurry Hurry Hurry (1.5/5)
5. Angel (2.5/5)
6. Fight (5/5)
7. The Jungle Is On Fire (2.5/5)
8. Love Is All Around Me (3/5)
9. Cactus Girl (1/5)
10. Lady Speed Racer (5/5)
11. Take A Chance On Me (3/5)
12. Mayday (4/5)
13. Angel Right To Me (4.5/5)
14. Bad Love (5/5)
15. X’Mas Love (2/5)

Top 3:
1. Bad Love / David Dima
2. Fight / Rich Hard
3. Lady Speed Racer / Mara Nell

Bottom 3:
1. Cactus Girl / Jeff Driller
2. Hurry Hurry Hurry / Mela
3. X’Mas Love / Sinclaire Style All Stars

[the_ditz]

Ummm... I think my ears must be mega-confused with this album since I hear everyone's top tracks as being ugly, bland or downright boring as sin, while the ones that I would come running back to again and again are generally being panned and dismissed out of hand.

My three most listened to tracks so far are The Jungle Is On Fire, Hurry Hurry Hurry and Cactus Girl (Love Is All Around Me and Dream Away are knocking on the door too).

The three tracks that I will instantly skip without hesitation are Xmas Love, Mayday and Lady Speed Racer (generic as hell to my ears, with one of the wateriest and most pathetic synth hooks I've heard in ages!)

Full review later, but just wanted to share how my initial thoughts were panning out...

[drnrg]

well everyone has there favs. What I like about these new SEBs; is that ,they are not as predictable to me, when it comes to choosing my favs. Not like in the past ;where they were almost always, TIME, HRG Attack and DELTA tracks.

Now a days; for instance Sinclaire Style has taken front seat when it comes to choosing my favs.

I too have a BIG review in the works, but for now the favs are

X Mas Love- Sinclaire Style All Stars
The Jungle Is On Fire- J. Stark
Fight- Rich Hard
Mayday- Luke(love that chaotic intro)

I wanna love "Bad Girl", but Domino's "kiddie" vocals kill it everyTIME.


As of now, the only song that I can't get into is "Hurry Hurry Hurry"(sorry Ditz, but I don't hear that many "Special effects"), but every other song has some really ear catching elements and strong playback factor for me.

[eXtaticus]

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