Super Eurobeat 024

1.Mike Skanner - Honestly (A-Beat C)
This era of SEB is imho the worst one, the songs are somewhere in the middle of a changing process. The old 80's elements are there, but trying to adjust to the 90's sounds makes the songs sound a bit out of place. This track has exactly the problem I am speaking of... It's so 80's in most senses but the few 'modern' elements that have been added to the background seem totally out of place. A rather boring album opener.
Rating : 7

2.Helena - Just An Illusion (Time)
The good old slow rhythm and pretty vocals are here again. The song starts out with a beautiful intro and the song slowly builds a really catchy athmosphere and Helena's vocals sound really beautiful from the beginning to the end. The chimes in the c-melody really fit the song perfectly.
Rating : 8+

3.Jean Corraine - Dancing In The Street (A-Beat C)
Now we're talking, the beginning of this album has been rather neutral, but at least the album has some kick in it, like this song proves. The track is pretty general eurobeat from this time, but the vocals backed up with a plain, but very effective backgounds manage to function very well. Good male vocals by A-Beat C for a change.
Rating : 9-

4.Linda Ross - Loving Honey (Time)
An excellent mechanic intro, with a lot of nostalgic dance-sounds in it, reveals yet another great song. The previous song just sounded good, but this track sounds marvellous. The backgrounds have adapted old 80's simple sounds to a slightly more modern sound world making it sound really cool. The vocals by Clara Moroni are naturally awesome and this song really leaves you crawing for more something like this.
Rating : 9½
 
5.Dave Hammond - Sound Of My Heart (Time)
This song falls in the category of strange experiements. It has the classic 80's synth sound with a load of old dance sounds in the mix, for some reason the result is a confusing mixture that doesn't really impress me. There isn't a whole lot of positive things to say about this song, unfortunately.
Rating : 6+

6.K.L. Jones - Can You Hear Me (The Mix) (A-Beat C)
The rather boring level continues with this song. The male vocals sound really dull, and the vocalist seems like he was forced to sing the song. A quite hideous song if you ask me (OK well metal and such tracks are what I would call hideous, but this track in eurobeat standards is just... boring).
Rating : 5½

7.Rodgers, Contini & Sinclaire - Hot Fire (Saturday Night Version) (A-Beat C)
An interesting intro with cool instruments and dance sounds in a mix, the vocals are your normal Rodgers material that doesn't really light me up, though it could be worse. The song relies on the strong chorus that has some nice hooks due to the vocals but the backgrounds are way too plain to have a real impact.
Rating : 7+

8.Mike Freeman - Take Your Time (Time)
A nice piano sequence in the beginning sounds promising, and when some chimes are added to the backgrounds the song starts sounding really good. The classical synth shines with it's absence and makes this song sound really different, just short sequences with a bit of synth remind you that this is eurobeat after all. The song is very calm, and leaves a nice feeling after it's over. The male vocals could've been gotten rid of though.
Rating : 8+

9.Macho Gang - Shoot Me Bang Bang (Time)
Wow well I've enjoyed Macho Gang a lot before and they are here again with a cool song. The song has a very un-eurobeat like feel to it, the song sounds more like 80's general pop with a faster beat. A great chorus with very catchy and simple lyrics and the c-melody works marvellously.
Rating : 9-

10.Simon Westley - Hot Stuff (A-Beat C)
What's up with the ancient mood with the songs on this album? There's just something that makes me feel they'd all be republished songs from the 80's (perhaps they are?), and while the 80's music can be good, these songs seem quite mediocore. This track is quite simple and the backgrounds nor vocals can offer the listener anything very special.
Rating : 7-

11.The Big Brother - Soul Gasoline (A-Beat C)
At these standards this song features a whole lot more energy than the other songs, the vocals have a lot of hooks in them (and even if I don't know for sure I could bet that it's Mr. Rodgers screaming in this song as well), but this time the vocals work really well, and the song is good in other levels as well, the chorus in particular has a lot of edge to it.
Rating : 8½

12.Rodgers, Contini & Sinclaire - Get Away (A-Beat C)
This song has later on earned a sort of a classic-status for some reason. The track isn't bad by any means and it actually has a lot of really cool and effective jigs to it, but like many times before the vocals spoil this one. The song would be a cool accepalla version without vocals, as now they just screw up the whole athmosphere.
Rating : 7½

Final Words :
At this part of the Super Eurobeat history the albums were in my opinion way too similar to each other and this album has the same problem as well, the songs sound a lot like many previous songs and only a couple of the songs offer real variety. The excellent Linda Ross song is probably the most memorable from this album, and if you like Dave Rodgers then you might also fall in love with the last song that is good, but I just don't appreciate him spoiling a good song by opening his mouth.

Final Score : 8-

Reviewed by Bore