TIME for a review. First off is
Bazooka Girls Are Back. One of the two newest Juno cd compilation releases from HRG Attack. Let's get right to it.
1.
Baby Bazooka. Caballero With Sombrero.
It's only fair that Baby Bazooka herself starts of this batch of songs , since the cd is named after her,,,kinda. Anyway. It's a fun song, no doubt about that, but has been done to death. I'm talink about the melody. The one that immediatly shot out at me was Moto Moto Ina Motto. I think the main rason for this song was to get the listeners attention. Wheather you love it or hate it, it's the staple sound of HRG Attack songs. I find it cute and fast, but not too original. I love the Bondolaro Camanchero parts in the last mini break. At almost 6 mins, it is worthy of being called a proper extended.
7/10
2.
Black Eva- Doctor Love
Allready one of my top songs on the compliation. Miss Eva is really making a name for herself now adays. putting out some of the strongest material for HRG Attack. The intro wastes no TIME introducing all the kind of Energy & Power this song is gonna have. It's kinda a mix between Aishu and faster style female HRG Attack material. The melody itself sounds like kinda something DELTA would have released in the early days. The lyrics range from Theme related to just random rhyming. All the Eurobeat romantic cliches are present and Underwater soundworlds like in the old days are making a nice appearence. Remeber Anika songs like Little Submarine? Anyway, this one really gets the blood pumping to that soft spot in your heart for old style Hrg Attack , just a bit faster in the bpms.
10/10
3.
Cindy- Baila Americana.
Cindy alweays knows how to put a smile on your face with her happy themed songs. She is sounding pretty hyped, but very befitting to the song's structure. here is another example of what HRG Attack can do with thier intros. It's very original sounding and immediatly gets you ready for a fun filled rollacoaster ride. The chorus is the most addictive part of the song and I don't see how this song didn't make it onto SEB. It would have been perfect for Euromach era. Last but not least, the riff. Imagine a Franz Tornado Madcow , style and you get the picture. Another hit to add to Cindy's allready impressive list of songs....and this one easily surpasses the 6:00 min extended line
8/10
4.
Dolly Pop- Hey Dee Jay
The intro is perfect for any Eurobeat club. It's short ,but right to the point. This another of my favs of this collection. The Riff; wich sounds like something right out of Cyro's favourite race car's muffler, is what got my attention at first, but with each listen I realized that the chorus had a distint Russian vibe in it as well. What I like is that only the chorus has that vibe, while the rest has a more traditional Eurobeat style. There goes that intro again. This TIME used as the mini break. At the end the whole package kinda sounds more like a racing themed song than a dee jay one, but why complain when you can add to your HRG collection another bomba from miss Dolly Pop herself.
9-/10
5.
Black Eva- Black Jack
First P.Stone gave us the Black kack Fever now it looks like it's catching on again. This TIME to Miss Eva. Could the reason her entries are so spectacular nowadays? Undoubtably the best HRG Attack song since(fill in the blank, since we all have different tastes) Just the intro itself sounds like somthing completely diiferent for the Live Music Team. This one has heavy heavy Italo vibes in the melody in the verses and chorus. Here is another example of geting an aishu style riff and speeding it up a bit to give it some extra umph. The song is really amazing on all counts. It's sing along addictive, foot stomping Eurobeat at it's finest. During the bridge the team uses some what of Asian sounding keys. Saifam is known for using these, but sound great when combined onto an HRG song. I saved the best fro last. Yes the break. It kinda starts off as she delivers that 3rd chorus. The music is dropped and they gradually add in some feirce sounding guitar bass. In the style of old TIME songs that Gino caria would sing like Love For Money. After the break Nick breaks into n awesome Guitar solo. Short, but essential to give the outro that last anticipated exit.
10+/10
6.
Alison Batton- Steppin To The Clock
and right into the next bomba. Intros are so essential to Eurobeat song and HRG doesn't miss a trick. This one sounds a bit like Goddesss Of Love- from Sophie De la Vie. Trust me I know these things. Mrs Batton always adds a nice Italo vibe to her songs and it shines in those Riffs. It kinda has a slight Echo just like they used to have in the golden era days. The chorus is pure Eurobeat and goes perfectly with miss Batton's voacls, which always seem to have a normal tint to them. I'm loving that 3rd verse. The accompanying guitars are really giving the song so much more potential as they are used in exactly the precise places. I think the song deserves another brak or another minute added inthere. 4 mins is still to short for me to call it a proper extended.
9/10
7.
Dee Dee Wonder- Lady Cartoon
You have to love HRG Attack for the concept of putting together all it's best female artists under one collection. Dee Dee is next and has a sweet Eurobeat number to showcase. It has a bit of Italo in the riff, but what HRG Attack song doesn't. The bridge kinda sounds like Cindy's Russian Gangsters. Infact she may very well be the same singer. Let's rewind to that intro. More new & original ideas from The Team. This TIME trying to capture a sort of Cartoonish vibe. It's one of those songs that inserts other words before the actual Lady cartoon line in the chorus. Ex: Dancing To The Moonlight,
Lady Cartoon into the sunlight. I wish more Eurobeat songs would use this structure in thier choruses. I kinda get the feel that bazooka girlon the cover was created with this song in mind? Anyway, 7 songs and no misses yet. Amazing!
9/10
8.
Baby Gold- Take Me Into Fire
When you first hear this song ,you will say to yourself, "I know That melody" haha! it's closely resembles Boom Boom Fire and the goes are kinda done in the style of Denises old hit "Emotional Fire" The intro is using some really cool effects. I already mentioned the similiarities to DELTA's "Emotional Fire", but there is also some male robotic chanting going on. I can't make out what he's saying? maybe "Bang"?As usual Baby Gold is pretty hyped. Her vocals go hand in hand with the bpms of the song. Thje third couplet has a few accapela effects thrown in there as well and they sound very effective esp to make those Festari guitars shine through. If you are a sucker for nostalgic sounding HRG Attack tunes, then this is the song for you.
8+/10
9.
Kara Mell- Run Away
this is truly amazing. I think they got confused with Mara Nell on this one. She is the title HRG Attack usually uses when showcasing hard core aishu style songs. As you can guess this is one of my favourites on this new compilation. First reason is that intro. very original. You hear her normal vocals, then some kinda Radaio excerpt. It sounds like you have just tuned into HRG Attcak 105 or somthing.LOL! When it finally breraks into that heavebly riff, you will quickly be reminded of wonderful Hrg Aishu songs gone by. The song is really flawless. The team chooses exactly the melodies called for in each of the verse, bridge and chorus couplets. The part were she sings ABC my love is free- 12345 & 6 will just give you the kind of chills only a beautiful melocholoy Italo song can provide, bit done HRg Attack style. Fans of Starkly Ice's Stargate will immediatley fall in love with this song, but for those who can't get into the aishu groove; there are plenty of tasty fast numbers as well.
10+/10
10.
Alison Batton- You Are The Reason For My Happiness
Miss Batton is back with another Aishu style number lines with some nice Nick Festari guitars. The intro is cute. I can't explain it , but you get the feel you are about to embark in a nice smooth carpet ride. maybe it's just me, but the song gots me floating to the wonderful melody in the riff. This could be one of the first songs that I hear from Miss batton that doesn't have a Italo vibe, but's it's all good, mainly cuz she always sounds in top form, vocally. BTW one of the shortest songs in the cd at 4:07 hmm...
8-/10
11.
Bazooka Girl- Paraoki
And making her second appearence is Bazooka Girl herself. She returns to close out yet another amazing compliation from the geniouses at Live Music Studio. This is a nice song. Cute and full of fun melody. Normally not my style, but this song has something of a feirce riff inserted so it's really just a matter of getting into that riiff and letting the rest of the song fall into place. I think they could have come up with more original intro using some kinda Karaoki effects. Like them singing with thier normal voices. something a bit more attention catching than the usual HRG intros. There were some really original ideas used in the intros of some of the other songs. Ironiacly enough I think the next cd should have Black Eva's name in the title.
7-/10
Final words:
An excellent compilation. A little of everything for all styles of HRG Attack. You got Aishu, Parapara, Racing,even a little mix of Aishu/aggressive. Anyway. I know how we are all anticiapating the return of SEB, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that these HRG Attack cds are actually a bit better than SEB. The ratio of songs I'm liking is way higher than the standard SEB cd. This one has no throwaway material at all. I imagine I would feel exactly the same if some Eurogrooves or Dima cd compilation was released.
Next up will be HRG 's Boostbusters review. Stay tuned
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