First day impressions for me - a winner all-round by the sounds of things!!
01 JAGER / BECAUSE OF YOU (SEB version)
I still reckon this is the best Jager song of the three that have been released at SCP, and it's great to see this one having the honour of opening this awesome SEB! The SEB version tag concerns me again - the intro is fine Avex, don't screw around with it needlessly!!
02 LESLIE PARRISH / SKYLINE
I stand by my conviction that the Leslie Parrish alias is generally a bit "flatter" than the Cherry tracks, but this one has promise. A nice guitar counter-melody playing through the chorus is a nice touch.
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03 APRIL / THE MAGIC I FEEL
Awesome synth melody in the main hook - SCP have really hit their stride again in recent releases. The soft synthesised vocals are back singing a fairly sweet tune. I'm looking forward to this one more than when Hanami was due for release...
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04 LOLITA / RHYTHMYSTICALICIOUS
More epic, over-the-top vocal acrobatics from Elena Gobbi, which is just fine by me. The very start of this clip sounds really odd, but it's probably just a bad place to put the intro to the sample. I am extremely excited about the melody in the verse - more pure awesomeness from Elena! Bizarrely, at the very end, she sounds a bit like Lea Michele (Rachel from Glee) - all "musical theatre".
05 EURODUDES / PASSPORT TO DANCE
I'm not afraid to say that this is by far the best Sinclaire track since he re-joined the series. That old-school synth sound in the hook has been so missed from his productions, and the shout-outs combined with the vocals give off a real classic "Night of Fire" feel. A sure fire hit with the fans.
06 DOMINO & SCREAM TEAM / BOOM BOOM SCREAM
Scream Team has really lost its old identity in my eyes (and not just because Pamsy no longer does the lead vocals). Really, this is a Domino track with some back-up from Scream Team's males. Still, this is a return to the true Hallowe'en style that Kooky Spooky seemed to lack for me. The xylophone trills during the hook are class!
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07 THE FRISBEES / BABY GO
I can't for the life of me work out who these vocalists are! I'd find it surprising if it was two new Dima vocalists, since they seem to have new vocalists popping up every couple of release at the moment. This one has the undeniable Dima sound in the production, and actually comes off sounding like an Aqua tribute. I need to hear more, but this one isn't at the top of the pile for me right now.
08 NINE9NINE / BLACKOUT
This is like a ready odd fusion of country, rock & roll and Eurobeat. I'm not really sure about it if I'm honest - it's all very well pushing the boundaries but when it comes off sounding a bit cliched and cheesy I wonder whether it's been worth the while. More is needed to form an opinion...
09 SPEEDMASTER feat. CINDY / PRETTY GIRL ROCK
I can't make up my mind whether it's the song or the production of this one that makes me turn my nose up everytime I hear it. It's probably a bit of both to be honest - the hook is very insipid and uninspiring (a trend with recent Saifam tracks chosen for SEB) and the vocals just wash over me.
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10 CIAO CIAO / TOGETHER
WOW!! I'm sooo happy to hear this sample. It's taken all of the very best elements from Hi-NRG Attack's slower style but then increase the BPM by about 25%. The synth hook has a really killer melody to it, and the whole production sound is just excellent. I'm going to love this one!
11 MC BOY / JUST A DREAM
This one isn't as bad as Pretty Girl Rock, but it's still fairly repetitive and still doesn't have a true Eurobeat sound at its core. I'd just love to hear Saifam put together a new original song in the vein of Like A Fire or Black UFO, but I guess if cover versions is all we're going to get, at least this one has a bit of energy to it!
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12 MICHELLE ROSE / YOU ARE IN LOVE
A bit of a strange melody going on in this one for me. The intro has a strong hyper-techno overtone going on, and the hook is jaunty enough, but it seems to lack the real finesse and style of Together. Hard To Say I'm Sorry may just have been a one-hit wonder after all...
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13 RICH HARD / TAKE MY LIFE
TURN THE BASS DOWN!! It can definitely hear some unashamed auto-tuning going on as well, which is the first time I've really noticed this in a Eurobeat song. The vocal melody has a bit of style to it, and ignoring the over-compressed bass, the production has a bit of a spark that makes me interested in hearing more.
14 CHERRY / NO MORE LOVE
This is going to be a fairly standard sounding Cherry song, but a few nice melodic touches in the vocals peak my interest, such as the 4th measure and the subtle change key change into the bridge. I'm pretty sure it's not going to reinvent the Delta wheel but it'll be a nice addition to Clara's bulging catalogue.
15 JILLY / DING A LING (Healing Eurogrooves Remix)
Hmmm, I still can't really hear why this song could ever work in this slower, acoustic set-up. I needs some spunk and synth explosions. I'll probably never listen to this one, much like every Healing version...
Overall, I can safely say that this is the strongest sounding overall album that I have heard in a very, very long time and I think the fact that a lot of the samples haven't followed the standard "chorus only" structure means we still have a sense of expectation on the release day as the heart of the song is still an elusive secret.
