Overall Impressions of the 210's
Posted: 19 Sep 2011, 05:05
Well, since SEB 219 is just going to be a nonstop, I guess we've come to the end of the "normal" part of the decade. Following with the usual tradition, I'll start off this thread by listing my top/bottom 10 and general impressions of the 210's decade...
Top 10:
1. Power Two / Hotblade – A true staple in SCP’s catalogue of power-packed, energetic male-led productions. Hotblade gives a full and thorough performance over a track that harkens back to everything that made eurobeat popular in the first place.
2. Forget My Heart / Marika – For most, this seemed to be more or less of a sophomore slump for Marika, but to me, it’s even better than her impressive debut on SEB 207. It may be a little laid-back, but slick vocals and well-balanced, steady-flowing production make it a bull’s-eye for me.
3. Fallin’ In Love Again (Fashion Version) / Jay Lehr – I originally dismissed this as one of Jay Lehr’s more forgettable entries, but having given it some time has caused it to grow on me tremendously. The tune itself is beautifully crafted, and the 80’s-italo backdrops compliment it perfectly. Personally, I strongly prefer the Fashion Version from SEB 211, although the upbeat, eurobeat version isn’t bad.
4. Crazy on Emotion / Ace – Though I quickly got tired of the melodically-lackluster Set Me Free, Crazy On Emotion is an outstanding performance and easily Ace’s best song for me since Futureland. It marvelously articulates his roots from the Euromach era, yet sounds up-to-date at the same time.
5. Because of You / Jager – Jager has become one of the most innovative and exciting titles in the eurobeat scene since his infectious debut on SEB 204. Like his other two tracks to date, Because of You achieves the nearly impossible by integrating lots of mainstream-friendly elements and still sounding genuinely eurobeat at the same time. The result, as usual, is quite stellar.
6. The Top / Ken Blast – Travis has a broad base of inspiration in his tracks that very few other eurobeat writers possess. His tracks are musically dynamic, and his creative lyrics top it off even further. Up with Marika, Travis is clearly one of the current driving forces of the Delta label.
7. I Dream of You / Yo Shine – One of the very few great songs on an otherwise poor SEB album. The story here is pretty much the same as it was on SEB’s 201 and 202 – Linda Ongarelli suits this sort of house-leaned, italo-structured style like magic.
8. Flying Over the Sky / Jungle Bill – Federico Rimonti is back with a vengeance. This song is quite an energy rush – more of an energy rush than anything I’ve seen from Hi-NRG Attack in a long time, especially since they’ve been taking a more experimental route over the past couple of years. This is definitely echoing HRG’s Euromach years, ensuring us that the label’s classic roots are still present and as strong as ever.
9. The Magic I Feel / April – A bizarrely beautiful and danceable production, not unlike April’s previous track, but clearly a substantial improvement. This style sounds a LOT like the group Perfume, which also loves to use vocoders and other futuristic elements into their tracks.
10. Rocket Man / Mega NRG Man – Though this isn’t really the most coherent song Tomas Marin has ever done, it still represents everything best about him to its fullest. Slamming synths, punchy vocals, and dynamic chord progressions make this a welcome addition to his large catalogue of hits.
HM:
- Take My Life / Rich Hard – Rich Hard is pretty much the only title from A-Beat C that I still really look forward, and he continues to shine as usual here. I still can’t get pirate images out of my head whenever I hear his stuff, since his songs all have an oceanic quality to them, and even his raspy voice sounds pirate-like to me. But that’s part of what makes his songs unique and interesting to hear.
Bottom 10:
1. Skylight / Dave Rodgers – The worst eurobeat songs for me tend to be the ones that sound dull and poorly produced. Well, this track kind of goes beyond that for me. Besides being sludgy and unmelodic, this track doesn’t even have a very coherent structure. The result is a dreary mess that’s pretty good for putting you to sleep and not much else.
2. A New Day / Digital Planet – Not much of an improvement over the wreck above, this track is so wispy and transparent that I don’t even remember (or care about) how most of it goes.
3. No Turning Back / Tora – This is an improvement over previous female-led SinclaireStyle productions? To me, it’s just sloppy and forgettable.
4. Jailhouse Rock / Speedogang – Elvis and eurobeat (or speed) are like oil and water, in my opinion.
5. Movin’ & Lovin’ / Melissa White – Melissa White has been pretty quiet as of late, but I would’ve hoped that her “comeback” (Promised Discoland was already old at the time of its release) would be better than this. This is just elevator eurobeat, totally out-of-style and out-of-inspiration.
6. Touch Me / Nikita Jr. – This would be the result if you took Nuage’s STELLAR You’ll Never Stop Me Lovin’ You and sucked out everything good about it. The hook has pretty much the same premise, but the track just isn’t pulled off very effectively.
7. Tower of Love / Cindy & Cy-Ro – Elisabetta and Nick are usually quite solid on their performances, but this lovey-dovey approach kind of falls flat with them, unfortunately.
8. Are You Ready to Fly / Dream Fighters – Oh, how the mighty have fallen. This track tries very hard to follow in the shadows of previous David Dima outings like King of the World and Mind Game, but somehow just doesn’t have that magic something that brought those songs to life.
9. Sunday Morning / Vicky Vale – The synth hook is pretty nice, but the vocal melody honestly leaves me quite cold. I just don’t like this song for some reason, perhaps because it’s so dull and sporadic. Simply not the type of Capaldi production that I like.
10. Let’s Get It Done Tonight / Ken Lazlo feat. Domino – Never have been much of a fan of this song. To me, it just sounds like a dragged-out, uninteresting house track completely out of place on Super Eurobeat.
DHM:
- Eurogrooves and Asia for releasing absolutely no original material the entire year. (Exception: Just A Dream / MC Boy was actually one of my favorites from SEB 214 and even has original lyrics during the rap verses)
Overall, I’m fairly disappointed by this decade. Aside from there being few tracks overall, there aren't very many truly strong volumes on-whole. 214 and 217 are fairly good albums, but even they lag behind my favorites in the series like 208, 195, and 173. SEB 212, in particular, is one of the weakest entries the series has seen in a very long time for me, despite the decent level of the first few tracks. 211, 215, and 218 are okay, but still relatively mediocre by general SEB standards.
Probably the only label that lived up to my hopes this year was SCP, and even then, I thought they were way stronger in the 160’s and 170’s, not to mention their early years as well. The rest were, for the most part, a mixed bag. I was especially let down by Dima this year. They were a juggernaut of amazing productions in the 190’s and 200’s, but that same spark was not at all present for me this year. The fact that they have no tracks in my top 10 is just a hint as to how little they had to offer in the 210’s.
I’ve stated it several times before, but for this, I’ll state it again: I desperately miss TIME/Eurogrooves and Asia. If they were still truly here, cranking out melodically masterful energy anthems, then my outlook of this decade would’ve most likely been radically different than it is here.
While the 210’s are still stronger overall than the 110’s, which had no albums that I found even remotely strong, they still clearly fall short of the general level for me. They’re about as good as the 180’s, which, looking back, I’ve honestly come to not care for that much.
Top 10:
1. Power Two / Hotblade – A true staple in SCP’s catalogue of power-packed, energetic male-led productions. Hotblade gives a full and thorough performance over a track that harkens back to everything that made eurobeat popular in the first place.
2. Forget My Heart / Marika – For most, this seemed to be more or less of a sophomore slump for Marika, but to me, it’s even better than her impressive debut on SEB 207. It may be a little laid-back, but slick vocals and well-balanced, steady-flowing production make it a bull’s-eye for me.
3. Fallin’ In Love Again (Fashion Version) / Jay Lehr – I originally dismissed this as one of Jay Lehr’s more forgettable entries, but having given it some time has caused it to grow on me tremendously. The tune itself is beautifully crafted, and the 80’s-italo backdrops compliment it perfectly. Personally, I strongly prefer the Fashion Version from SEB 211, although the upbeat, eurobeat version isn’t bad.
4. Crazy on Emotion / Ace – Though I quickly got tired of the melodically-lackluster Set Me Free, Crazy On Emotion is an outstanding performance and easily Ace’s best song for me since Futureland. It marvelously articulates his roots from the Euromach era, yet sounds up-to-date at the same time.
5. Because of You / Jager – Jager has become one of the most innovative and exciting titles in the eurobeat scene since his infectious debut on SEB 204. Like his other two tracks to date, Because of You achieves the nearly impossible by integrating lots of mainstream-friendly elements and still sounding genuinely eurobeat at the same time. The result, as usual, is quite stellar.
6. The Top / Ken Blast – Travis has a broad base of inspiration in his tracks that very few other eurobeat writers possess. His tracks are musically dynamic, and his creative lyrics top it off even further. Up with Marika, Travis is clearly one of the current driving forces of the Delta label.
7. I Dream of You / Yo Shine – One of the very few great songs on an otherwise poor SEB album. The story here is pretty much the same as it was on SEB’s 201 and 202 – Linda Ongarelli suits this sort of house-leaned, italo-structured style like magic.
8. Flying Over the Sky / Jungle Bill – Federico Rimonti is back with a vengeance. This song is quite an energy rush – more of an energy rush than anything I’ve seen from Hi-NRG Attack in a long time, especially since they’ve been taking a more experimental route over the past couple of years. This is definitely echoing HRG’s Euromach years, ensuring us that the label’s classic roots are still present and as strong as ever.
9. The Magic I Feel / April – A bizarrely beautiful and danceable production, not unlike April’s previous track, but clearly a substantial improvement. This style sounds a LOT like the group Perfume, which also loves to use vocoders and other futuristic elements into their tracks.
10. Rocket Man / Mega NRG Man – Though this isn’t really the most coherent song Tomas Marin has ever done, it still represents everything best about him to its fullest. Slamming synths, punchy vocals, and dynamic chord progressions make this a welcome addition to his large catalogue of hits.
HM:
- Take My Life / Rich Hard – Rich Hard is pretty much the only title from A-Beat C that I still really look forward, and he continues to shine as usual here. I still can’t get pirate images out of my head whenever I hear his stuff, since his songs all have an oceanic quality to them, and even his raspy voice sounds pirate-like to me. But that’s part of what makes his songs unique and interesting to hear.
Bottom 10:
1. Skylight / Dave Rodgers – The worst eurobeat songs for me tend to be the ones that sound dull and poorly produced. Well, this track kind of goes beyond that for me. Besides being sludgy and unmelodic, this track doesn’t even have a very coherent structure. The result is a dreary mess that’s pretty good for putting you to sleep and not much else.
2. A New Day / Digital Planet – Not much of an improvement over the wreck above, this track is so wispy and transparent that I don’t even remember (or care about) how most of it goes.
3. No Turning Back / Tora – This is an improvement over previous female-led SinclaireStyle productions? To me, it’s just sloppy and forgettable.
4. Jailhouse Rock / Speedogang – Elvis and eurobeat (or speed) are like oil and water, in my opinion.
5. Movin’ & Lovin’ / Melissa White – Melissa White has been pretty quiet as of late, but I would’ve hoped that her “comeback” (Promised Discoland was already old at the time of its release) would be better than this. This is just elevator eurobeat, totally out-of-style and out-of-inspiration.
6. Touch Me / Nikita Jr. – This would be the result if you took Nuage’s STELLAR You’ll Never Stop Me Lovin’ You and sucked out everything good about it. The hook has pretty much the same premise, but the track just isn’t pulled off very effectively.
7. Tower of Love / Cindy & Cy-Ro – Elisabetta and Nick are usually quite solid on their performances, but this lovey-dovey approach kind of falls flat with them, unfortunately.
8. Are You Ready to Fly / Dream Fighters – Oh, how the mighty have fallen. This track tries very hard to follow in the shadows of previous David Dima outings like King of the World and Mind Game, but somehow just doesn’t have that magic something that brought those songs to life.
9. Sunday Morning / Vicky Vale – The synth hook is pretty nice, but the vocal melody honestly leaves me quite cold. I just don’t like this song for some reason, perhaps because it’s so dull and sporadic. Simply not the type of Capaldi production that I like.
10. Let’s Get It Done Tonight / Ken Lazlo feat. Domino – Never have been much of a fan of this song. To me, it just sounds like a dragged-out, uninteresting house track completely out of place on Super Eurobeat.
DHM:
- Eurogrooves and Asia for releasing absolutely no original material the entire year. (Exception: Just A Dream / MC Boy was actually one of my favorites from SEB 214 and even has original lyrics during the rap verses)
Overall, I’m fairly disappointed by this decade. Aside from there being few tracks overall, there aren't very many truly strong volumes on-whole. 214 and 217 are fairly good albums, but even they lag behind my favorites in the series like 208, 195, and 173. SEB 212, in particular, is one of the weakest entries the series has seen in a very long time for me, despite the decent level of the first few tracks. 211, 215, and 218 are okay, but still relatively mediocre by general SEB standards.
Probably the only label that lived up to my hopes this year was SCP, and even then, I thought they were way stronger in the 160’s and 170’s, not to mention their early years as well. The rest were, for the most part, a mixed bag. I was especially let down by Dima this year. They were a juggernaut of amazing productions in the 190’s and 200’s, but that same spark was not at all present for me this year. The fact that they have no tracks in my top 10 is just a hint as to how little they had to offer in the 210’s.
I’ve stated it several times before, but for this, I’ll state it again: I desperately miss TIME/Eurogrooves and Asia. If they were still truly here, cranking out melodically masterful energy anthems, then my outlook of this decade would’ve most likely been radically different than it is here.
While the 210’s are still stronger overall than the 110’s, which had no albums that I found even remotely strong, they still clearly fall short of the general level for me. They’re about as good as the 180’s, which, looking back, I’ve honestly come to not care for that much.