Super Eurobeat 222

[#Infinity]

Well, I've listened through this album once, and like the majority of folks here, I was quite under-impressed. Dance in the Starlight and Sunlight are really the only tracks here worth the purchase (Last of Eurobeat is pretty good too, but I already bought it on Juno a few months ago), but even those tracks have their rough edges. The former benefits from a great chorus, but the overall progression is a little jerky, and those Go 2 shouts really could've been left behind. It's clearly an experimental track of some sorts, with mostly good results, but still not perfect. Sunlight is stronger, and my favorite of this CD. Again, however, the melody during the verses could have been a little more interesting. It's really the explosive synth and aggressive chorus that make the song for me.

The two Dima songs are both fairly good, but neither offers enough to stick out from previous tracks by the same label. Strangers in the Night is all-around good, but it could use a more remarkable hook, and the synth sounds an awful lot like the superior Shock the Night by Jimmy Bravo / Joe Tempest. You Could Be Mind is also generally solid material, but I have to say the chorus drags the track badly. The 9th-12th measures sound like a good interlude back into the synth, but instead the chorus keeps on going another four measures. This 16-measure structure doesn't work because the chorus uses a lot of held notes, and they become boring upon repetition.

Unlike most people here, I'm not terribly critical of Lovely, although considering Linda Ongarelli's record, it's easily one of her worst songs to date. It experiments with an italo-esque galloping baseline, as well as futuristic vocal enhancers, echoing of April's work, but these elements are far removed from the melodic grandeur that turned Ongarelli into the modern queen of eurobeat in the first place.

It may surprise you to know that Lucky Lucky is actually in my upper half for this compilation. Structurally and melodically, it's a vast step up from the borefest from two months ago. I love the chimes used in tandem with Festari's vocals during the bridge, as well as the prevalent galloping synths in the backdrop. Although I still would've preferred less reverb in the instrumentation and perhaps a few improvements to the chorus, the song really isn't that bad. It's certainly one of Nick's better excursions over the past few months, at least. The track by Cy-Ro also isn't as terrible as BTBWIMC either, but it's still disposable by general standards.

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Tonight is notable in that it suspiciously sounds like it was produced by Roby Adruini, even though he isn't credited anywhere in the booklet. Most likely, the similar instrumentation is just a coincidence. Putting that aside though, the track is an abominable snooze-fest, with a haphazard melody and dull vocals. The production is decent enough, but it's still one of the poorest tunes I've heard in a long time, nearly as amateurish as Do with Me from SEB 203. The track sounds like it was written by an 8-year old kid. Norma Sheffield's comeback is nearly just as boring as Annalise's disaster, and Into the Moon is merely so-so. That song follows in the footsteps of Dance in the Starlight and Sunlight in that the synth and chorus are both significantly stronger than the verse, which jerkily meanders without properly leading into the next phrase.

Reborn My Fire is a serious disappointment, especially since I would have expected Delta, of all labels, to produce one of this album's few gems. A great synthline is put to waste by an indecisive vocal tune, marred by a disjointed transition into the chorus, which itself sounds desperately uninspired.

Roberta Grana is great under most circumstances, but she just doesn't have the strength to carry a song like Bad Joy, at least with the vocal enhancers used there. Actually, she hasn't come out with a particularly great song since the 200's, and this song is no exception to that pattern. Leonardi's improving instrumentation techniques can't save the track from its repetitive melodic structure.

I'm not a huge fan of Boys Do Fall in Love. The source tune itself sounds quite nice, but it does not work as an upper-tempo eurobeat production. This remix moves too quickly for me to appreciate its numerous melodic tidbits, and it leaves me wishing I was just listening to the original version instead.

The remix of SEB 4 U near the end of the CD is a serious downgrade from the 221 version, due to poor mastering. It feels like the track was HRG-ified in that the backdrop layers overpower the main tune and too little strength is lent to the more critical layers. I did not have this issue with the Power Mix. And as for the alternate version of Wild Boys? Why, I may as well have just taken my copy of the song from SEB 221 and sped it up using GarageBand. The previous version was already pretty weak to begin with, and we certainly don't need this embarrassment to further its legacy of breaking Rich Hard's streak of hits.

All in all, although this isn't the worst SEB album ever (that title belongs to either 112 or 114), it's nonetheless quite sophomoric and certainly not going to blast from my car speakers very much in the near future.

Ratings:

1. Dance in the Starlight / Ace: 8/10
2. Lovely / Irene: 6/10
3. Sunlight / Kaioh: 9.5/10
4. Strangers in the Night / David Dima: 6/10
5. Gimme Love / Norma Sheffield: 2.5/10
6. Dance On The Top Of The Fire / Cy-Ro: 5/10
7. Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Tonight / Annalise: 2/10
8. Last of Eurobeat / Mark Farina: 8/10
9. Reborn My Fire / Cherry: 4/10
10. Into The Moon / Dave & Futura: 5.5/10
11. You Could Be Mine / Dream Fighters: 6.5/10
12. Lucky Lucky / Garçon: 7.5/10
13. Boys Do Fall In Love / Lou Master: 6/10
14. Bad Joy / Tora: 4/10
15. SEB 4 U (Wild Mix) / SEB All-Stars feat. Andrea Montongelli: 4.5/10
16. Wild Boys (Original Version) / Rich Hard: 2/10

Top 3:

1. Sunlight / Kaioh
2. Last of Eurobeat / Mark Farina
3. Dance in the Starlight / Ace

Bottom 3:

1. Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Tonight / Annalise
2. Wild Boys (Original Version) / Rich Hard
3. Gimme Love / Norma Sheffield

Honorable Mention:
- Lucky Lucky / Garçon

Overall Rating: 5.5/10

[EurothunderNL]

Let's just give my six favorite tracks:

1-ACE/Dance in the starlight
2-DAVE & FUTURA/into the moon
3-GARCON/lucky lucky
4-KAIOH/sun light
5-NORMA SHEFFIELD/gimme love
6-TORA/bad joy

[drnrg]

@ that was a good review. I actually enjoyed reading that one

It shows you really listened to the tracks and all the different styles the labels incorporated onto the songs.

Not saying you and I are Eye to Eye on every grade, but did notice a lot of similiarites like the galloping bassline in Lovely the chimes in

Lucky Lucky

even what you said about the overpowering sounds in the new SEB 4 U mix. Try making a mix of the two versions and you find humongouse change of sound from one to the other.

I still think Reborn my Fire carries a certain charm in the that echoing of the word "Fire" at the end of the chorus, It could easily be that I'm enchanted too much by that effect too much to notice it's other flaws. In short I like the song, but if Newfield was still on board; it would have turned out to be a complately different song. A much better song.

[EurothunderNL]

if Newfield was still on board; it would have turned out to be a complately different song. A much better song.

Yes I guess so... I prefer the older Delta sound which sounds (even now) more fresh than productions like these. At least to me.
But: still happy new songs appear!!

[eXtaticus]

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