Posted: 25 Apr 2010, 05:00
As much as I hate to say it, I think this album has worn out on me a bit. The only major standout for me is New Technological World, otherwise the album ranges from kind of eh to good-but-not-the-best. In general, I think that SEB 201 was much a more long-lasting and stronger release than this. It's unfortunately kind of a common trend for me that newer SEB's will sound great in the first couple weeks, but quickly become rather disposable after that.
Here's a quick review for the album:
1. CooLoveR / Irene: (8+) - This song is okay, but definitely nowhere near the level of Linda Ongarelli's best. The verse of this has kind of an iffy flow to it, and the chorus is fairly different but nothing particularly memorable. I kinda agree with Panu on this one.
2. Ready Forever / Christ Stanton: (9+) - This lost some of its impact on me, but after giving it a little more of a chance, I decided to bump it up a bit. The vocal melody may not be anything that interesting, but the overall presentation of this is really rock solid, making it a really effective track. I love the catchy synth and the cheesy opening sample.
3. Dreamlover / Paul Harris: (7) - Wow, this really starts to sound stale after you're used to hearing it. What bugs me most about this track is that the vocals are way too quiet and therefore you have to listen too closely to notice the melody behind the production that shrouds it out. Despite its interesting concept, this song is poorly executed in a way that makes it sound a bit flat and lifeless. I like the production, but the smaller elements of this definitely need some work.
4. Hanky Panky / Bubbles: (8) - I feel like I should like this song more, since it has a lot of cute, cheesy elements that you'd find right out of a bubblegum eurodance song. The problem for me is that the non-melodic, tongue-and-cheek moments don't really mesh together all that effectively, and so the song is just a semi-chaotic mess that has a few hooks but overall not a whole lot to offer.
5. Go Shinkansen! / Luke & Cherry: (8+) - This sounds like it should be the "awesome" track on the CD. Both vocalists sound pretty hyped up and the tune itself is pretty catchy. Unfortunately, I feel like something is missing, as if it doesn't have that finishing touch to make it a perfect track. To be honest, I think the production is the greatest thing to blame. I certainly never thought I would be criticizing a song because it was produced by Morris Capaldi, but to be truthful, I don't think his style fits this kind of in-your-face, anthemic approach. He does a lot better when he sticks to a more laid-back, serious formula, and that ends up working against this type of song, making it sound unnecessarily tired when it could've be a groundbreaking epic.
6. My Hot Guitar / Go Go Girls: (9+) - Here's finally one of the truly better picks from this album. It may be a few years old, but I'm kind of into it. I'm not crazy about all the sexual metaphors present in the lyrics (one of the most annoying music cliches, in my opinion), but that rocky theme works pretty effectively, even with a cutesy Go Go Girls song. Production is good as usual, but it's everything else that makes this really work.
7. I Can't Stop Lovin' You / Dream Fighters: (7-) - I already expressed that I found this to be boring. I actually bought Stephy Matini's Fever Of Love in addition to this on Musico, and that song pretty much represents everything I love about aishu eurobeat, whereas this showcases what I don't. Sure, it's not an absolutely terrible track - the production is too good for me to rate it that low - but it sure still doesn't really go anywhere at all. There aren't any true hooks throughout the whole piece, just a bunch of incoherent ideas that try to be beautiful but instead just wash over me.
8. Internet Kills The Eurobeat Stars / Princess F.: (6-) - I actually almost kind of liked this song at one point, but now it's just bleh. It's pretty much everything plain about HRG: Incohenently flailing synths, repetitive melodies, and unrefined presentation. I take pretty much everything here for granted, as it doesn't standout in any way and even irritates me somewhat, particularly during the b-melody.
9. Playboy / Apple: (9) - A slightly better-rounded track than Hey Boy. The lyrics are everything old, and so are the vocals, but I like the way it's produced. The synthline has kind of a messy structure to it, but in a good way that gets me going. The rest is pretty predictable, but it flows really tightly, so overall I'd say this is another one of the better tracks the album has to offer.
10. New Technological World / F.C.F.: (10+) - In a big line of generic, uninspired Asia tracks, this one really stands out like a gem. Most people seem to much prefer the original version of this, but while the first carnation is definitely still the best to me, I don't mind renewing the track a bit for its slightly-late SEB release. This track stands out just as much as the numerous classics Saifam was capaple of churning out years before, but in a far more unique, modernized style. Most of Farina's latest stuff just sounds plain, but here it actually sounds like he's integrating a lot of feeling into the song. I find myself singing along with the hooky lyrics all the time. Actually, the "sabi" section of this track inspired the a-melody of Brainwash - that really indicates how much I love this song!
11. I Wanna Run To You / Mickey B.: (8-) - The best part of this was, as I already pointed out, the synth that reminded me of Lolita's Ready Tonight. The song is otherwise on the softer side of things, and overall, it works pretty decently, but it sure isn't something that I'd wow over. The verse starts to actually draw me back to Fly To Me To The Moon And Back for a few notes, but quickly turns into something that just sounds rather disposable. An okay track to listen to every once in a while, but certainly not something that I can listen to several times and stay interested.
12. All Around The World / Dave Rodgers feat. M. Landau: (7) - I don't sourly hate this like most people here do, it's just that it kind of drags. I give it a bit of credit for not following the standard eurobeat formula and going for a different style, it's just that it doesn't function all that well in a eurobeat context. The synths are kind of watery, and the length of 6:28 causes it to just go on and on.
13. Hide & Seek -SCP Revamp Mix- / AAA: (8+) - I haven't actually listened to this song very much. I'm not that big a fan of j-euro because the melody and production has to pull the entire track for me to compensate for the lyrics being incomprehensible to me (I can't wait to study Japanese in college). Anyway, I do actually like the chorus of this - the Go 2 shouts are a cute addition as well - but otherwise this is pretty standard, not bad, but not great. I'm a little disappointed by this, actually, since AAA are the same group who originally performed the awesome Blood On Fire, but this is definitely not an exciting rock-out anthem like that was; it's just a very average, indistinguishable j-pop song that doesn't stand out that much. Climbers High was a catchier, quirkier production to me.
14. Don't Turn It Off (Headrush Version) / Go 2: (9-) - I actually kind of like these rock mixes from SCP. I also downloaded Diamond Light and Thunderbolt Blackout from Musico, and both of those tracks are amazing. This isn't as good as those tracks, but it at least makes the original track a little more interesting than just the very standard Go 2 faire that it was before.
TOP 3 SONGS:
1. New Technological World / F.C.F.
2. My Hot Guitar / Go Go Girls
3. Ready Forever / Chris Stanton
BOTTOM 3 SONGS:
1. Internet Kills The Eurobeat Stars / Princess F.
2. I Can't Stop Lovin' You / Dream Fighters
3. All Around The World / Dave Rodgers feat. M. Landau
HONORABLE MENTION:
- Playboy / Apple
FINAL SCORE: (8-)
Here's a quick review for the album:
1. CooLoveR / Irene: (8+) - This song is okay, but definitely nowhere near the level of Linda Ongarelli's best. The verse of this has kind of an iffy flow to it, and the chorus is fairly different but nothing particularly memorable. I kinda agree with Panu on this one.
2. Ready Forever / Christ Stanton: (9+) - This lost some of its impact on me, but after giving it a little more of a chance, I decided to bump it up a bit. The vocal melody may not be anything that interesting, but the overall presentation of this is really rock solid, making it a really effective track. I love the catchy synth and the cheesy opening sample.
3. Dreamlover / Paul Harris: (7) - Wow, this really starts to sound stale after you're used to hearing it. What bugs me most about this track is that the vocals are way too quiet and therefore you have to listen too closely to notice the melody behind the production that shrouds it out. Despite its interesting concept, this song is poorly executed in a way that makes it sound a bit flat and lifeless. I like the production, but the smaller elements of this definitely need some work.
4. Hanky Panky / Bubbles: (8) - I feel like I should like this song more, since it has a lot of cute, cheesy elements that you'd find right out of a bubblegum eurodance song. The problem for me is that the non-melodic, tongue-and-cheek moments don't really mesh together all that effectively, and so the song is just a semi-chaotic mess that has a few hooks but overall not a whole lot to offer.
5. Go Shinkansen! / Luke & Cherry: (8+) - This sounds like it should be the "awesome" track on the CD. Both vocalists sound pretty hyped up and the tune itself is pretty catchy. Unfortunately, I feel like something is missing, as if it doesn't have that finishing touch to make it a perfect track. To be honest, I think the production is the greatest thing to blame. I certainly never thought I would be criticizing a song because it was produced by Morris Capaldi, but to be truthful, I don't think his style fits this kind of in-your-face, anthemic approach. He does a lot better when he sticks to a more laid-back, serious formula, and that ends up working against this type of song, making it sound unnecessarily tired when it could've be a groundbreaking epic.
6. My Hot Guitar / Go Go Girls: (9+) - Here's finally one of the truly better picks from this album. It may be a few years old, but I'm kind of into it. I'm not crazy about all the sexual metaphors present in the lyrics (one of the most annoying music cliches, in my opinion), but that rocky theme works pretty effectively, even with a cutesy Go Go Girls song. Production is good as usual, but it's everything else that makes this really work.
7. I Can't Stop Lovin' You / Dream Fighters: (7-) - I already expressed that I found this to be boring. I actually bought Stephy Matini's Fever Of Love in addition to this on Musico, and that song pretty much represents everything I love about aishu eurobeat, whereas this showcases what I don't. Sure, it's not an absolutely terrible track - the production is too good for me to rate it that low - but it sure still doesn't really go anywhere at all. There aren't any true hooks throughout the whole piece, just a bunch of incoherent ideas that try to be beautiful but instead just wash over me.
8. Internet Kills The Eurobeat Stars / Princess F.: (6-) - I actually almost kind of liked this song at one point, but now it's just bleh. It's pretty much everything plain about HRG: Incohenently flailing synths, repetitive melodies, and unrefined presentation. I take pretty much everything here for granted, as it doesn't standout in any way and even irritates me somewhat, particularly during the b-melody.
9. Playboy / Apple: (9) - A slightly better-rounded track than Hey Boy. The lyrics are everything old, and so are the vocals, but I like the way it's produced. The synthline has kind of a messy structure to it, but in a good way that gets me going. The rest is pretty predictable, but it flows really tightly, so overall I'd say this is another one of the better tracks the album has to offer.
10. New Technological World / F.C.F.: (10+) - In a big line of generic, uninspired Asia tracks, this one really stands out like a gem. Most people seem to much prefer the original version of this, but while the first carnation is definitely still the best to me, I don't mind renewing the track a bit for its slightly-late SEB release. This track stands out just as much as the numerous classics Saifam was capaple of churning out years before, but in a far more unique, modernized style. Most of Farina's latest stuff just sounds plain, but here it actually sounds like he's integrating a lot of feeling into the song. I find myself singing along with the hooky lyrics all the time. Actually, the "sabi" section of this track inspired the a-melody of Brainwash - that really indicates how much I love this song!
11. I Wanna Run To You / Mickey B.: (8-) - The best part of this was, as I already pointed out, the synth that reminded me of Lolita's Ready Tonight. The song is otherwise on the softer side of things, and overall, it works pretty decently, but it sure isn't something that I'd wow over. The verse starts to actually draw me back to Fly To Me To The Moon And Back for a few notes, but quickly turns into something that just sounds rather disposable. An okay track to listen to every once in a while, but certainly not something that I can listen to several times and stay interested.
12. All Around The World / Dave Rodgers feat. M. Landau: (7) - I don't sourly hate this like most people here do, it's just that it kind of drags. I give it a bit of credit for not following the standard eurobeat formula and going for a different style, it's just that it doesn't function all that well in a eurobeat context. The synths are kind of watery, and the length of 6:28 causes it to just go on and on.
13. Hide & Seek -SCP Revamp Mix- / AAA: (8+) - I haven't actually listened to this song very much. I'm not that big a fan of j-euro because the melody and production has to pull the entire track for me to compensate for the lyrics being incomprehensible to me (I can't wait to study Japanese in college). Anyway, I do actually like the chorus of this - the Go 2 shouts are a cute addition as well - but otherwise this is pretty standard, not bad, but not great. I'm a little disappointed by this, actually, since AAA are the same group who originally performed the awesome Blood On Fire, but this is definitely not an exciting rock-out anthem like that was; it's just a very average, indistinguishable j-pop song that doesn't stand out that much. Climbers High was a catchier, quirkier production to me.
14. Don't Turn It Off (Headrush Version) / Go 2: (9-) - I actually kind of like these rock mixes from SCP. I also downloaded Diamond Light and Thunderbolt Blackout from Musico, and both of those tracks are amazing. This isn't as good as those tracks, but it at least makes the original track a little more interesting than just the very standard Go 2 faire that it was before.
TOP 3 SONGS:
1. New Technological World / F.C.F.
2. My Hot Guitar / Go Go Girls
3. Ready Forever / Chris Stanton
BOTTOM 3 SONGS:
1. Internet Kills The Eurobeat Stars / Princess F.
2. I Can't Stop Lovin' You / Dream Fighters
3. All Around The World / Dave Rodgers feat. M. Landau
HONORABLE MENTION:
- Playboy / Apple
FINAL SCORE: (8-)
It's a shame how much my impressions can fade after enough time. I guess I had to just be flat-out honest about this album, since there had to be reason I haven't been in the mood to listen to it all that much; instead I've mainly been blasting Supercar, Super Megastars, What You Need, and a handful of the extensions from Best Of Euromach 100.