Super Eurobeat 115

1.Matt Land - Captain Fantastic (A-Beat C)
Night night, right right. Another song by Matt Land and another hit. Most people haven't even recovered from the impact Fever The Night had, as it was clearly one of the best eurobeat songs released in some time, and Matt just follows the path of great hits with this track that is unbelievebly catchy and pretty queer. If you've heard any of Matt's songs before then you also know that the songs are rather simple and standard eurobeat but still very well produced and rather irresistible. This track is just that: the chorus will get stuck in your head 99% surely and the song also really leaves a mark as the queer-ish vocals are so silly at some points. A great great way to kick off the album.
Rating : 10

2.Susan Bell - Just Another Day (A-Beat C)
The vocalist from A-Beat C that has remained very mediocore thorough her career finally revs it up a bit and releases a rather good song. Susan Bell hasn't really done a lot of memorable songs and this song also really would need something special to make it more memorable. But well whining aside, considering it's a girl artist on A-Beat C the song is rather energetic and it's also a style that hasn't really been the key-factor for Susan Bell and it works surprisingly well, the chorus is really catchy and the c-melody is clearly the highlight for the song. The lyrics are easy and simple to learn so they'll get stuck in your head rather quickly, and the best thing with this song is that the more you listen to it, the better it sounds like. Hopefully we'll hear more materials like this from Susan in the future.
Rating : 9

3.Mad Max - Dance In The Fire (Delta)
A very un-Deltaish intro turns out into an energy-packed song which represents Delta at their best. The oldish synth in the backgrounds work plain marvellously and it's also one of the key-factors making this song sound so unique. The vocals combine female and male vocals really well and they sound terrific, but for some reason the chorus of the song isn't as catchy as the verses and therefore the song sort of left me feeling slightly unsatisfied. With Dance In The Fire you can surely experience flashbacks to early 90's synth-pop like The Pet Shop Boys as there are clear similarities, but it's nothing disturbive it just gives the song a nice boost.
Rating : 9-

4.Vanessa - Running In The Dark (Time)
The album takes the typical turn as we're treated to general Time girl-eurobeat. The song is very general sounding and again I can just say that I could probably pick 10 other songs from Time and put these songs next to each other and nobody would notice the difference with them. The song reminds me a lot of Norma Sheffield's style, so if people like her then this song might also please the ear. But I just can't think of a lot of positive to say about the song, but on the other hand I couldn't really think of very many negative ideas either as the song is just so neutral sounding.
Rating : 6

5.Virginia Toy - Never Say Goodbye (Delta)
Delta meets Time, what next!? We've very rarely heard Delta produce songs that remind Time's materials so songs like these are rather surprising, and well not all that welcome in my opinion. This song has a rather calm tempo and the whole song suffers from the lack of punch, the vocals are decent, the sounds are decent actually pretty much everything about this song is decent, the song is therefore very much like many of the productions Time does. Shame on you Delta.
Rating : 6+

6.Overload - Shock The Rock (Time)
For some reason I always associate Overload with A-Beat C, I am not sure if it's because Dave Rodgers had an album titled Overload under the title Aleph. Well it's probably not the only reason, as Overload is a name on Time that sounds pretty much like the male-artists on A-Beat C. This song is really energetic and pretty catchy as well, the first few plays sound great but it starts to suffer from devalvation pretty quickly and the song doesn't really work in the long end that well, the problem is that the song doesn't have any real highlights or lowpoints, so it sounds similar thorough it, and therefore you could skip to a random spot and wouldn't know if it was the chorus or a verse.
Rating : 7+

7.Mako - Rebel Heart (Delta)
Again Mako manages to release song that sounds very distinctive and it's really good to know that we still have artists who dare to break out from the standard patterns. The song is naturally general eurobeat but the special backgrounds and editing make the song sound fresh and different. Mako's vocals sound kind of muffled which disturbed me at first but after a while I began liking it and it's yet another aspect about the song that makes it different. A great melody combined with great sounds and great vocals, so we have a great song in our hands.
Rating : 9

8.Dave & Domino - Nothing's Gonna Change My World (A-Beat C)
I can't comprehend why do they release these duets when they're all really boring? Both of the vocalist have a lot of great songs but when they work together they just suck. This time we get a song that is again very calm and sounds like a left-over track from Eurobeat Disney where the couple actually had a few decent songs. The song really needs the right kind of athmosphere when it can be respected, the song might work for a romantic dinner with a Domino-crazy boyfriend. But for general listening this song isn't meant for, blaah.
Rating : 7-

9.Rose - Especially For You (Time)
This album carries on with the rather calm pace that grade by grade is going for the worse. This time Rose presents a rather speedy song (for her that is), but for other artists this would be a slow song. The melody is pretty speedy and unlike with most of her songs the vocals are also sung pretty swiftly. The song uses violins in the background which adds a nice plus for the song, but even a load of acoustic instruments can't save a boring melody.
Rating : 6½

10.Norma Sheffield - You Know My Way (A-Beat C)
This was like the 2nd eurobeat song that right away reminded me of Twin Peaks the intro sounds very much like the beginning of the TV-serie's theme and that is a plus, as Twin Peaks is a classic (as well of course know, right?). The song is pretty calm and features typical Norma sounds and her rather whisper-y vocals are again the key-element for the song. The song suffers from the same problem as most of her songs do, which is unoriginality. We've heard the same thing over and over again so I am not even going to explain, read any of my other album-reviews with Norma on them.
Rating : 6+

11.Arena 69 - Vamos A La Playa (Time)
This doesn't happen often, so I am not going to spare on the praises. This is another title that I thought would be a cover, but again they just liked to play around with a famous song-title to mess up the viewers. The song starts off with a magnificent intro that does justice to the whole genre and as the song starts off we're treated to a simple but unbelievebly catchy song. The vocals are awesome and when the chorus kicks in you'll be swept away, the c-melody itself is something special as it's much speedier than 99% of Time materials and it also sounds great. Arena 69 have really done a great job as they sound so good and they also manage to give Time some edge on the album.
Rating : 9½

12.Nathalie - Love In The Forthcoming (Delta)
We all know Heartbeat for sure, so we were expecting something good from Nathalie again, but did we get what we ordered? Her vocals have took a strange turn as she sounds really high-pitched and even annoying in this song and the cool soothing vocals are no where to be found. Also the song sounds like a left-over song without a proper melody, so the Delta producers decided to add a beat to a random clip and produce it into a full-blooded song. The chorus works decently as there's a melody heart during it, but the rest of the song could also do with one as well.
Rating : 7

13.Susan Key - Night To Night (Time)
Susan Key is also one of the few names on Time that I've liked quite a lot. Most of us remember Choo Choo Lovetrain from Euromachs as it's a solid hit in the good old fast-paced fashion. This song is also speedier than most of the female names on Time, and it works well for me. The verses on the song are nothing to praise but fortunately the chorus and the c-melody are energetic and catchy. Susan's vocals sound great and they give the song a nice boost.
Rating : 8+

14.J. Storm - The Power Of Dance (A-Beat C)
Finally some more energy for the album, and in the good old A-Beat C way. The guitars open up the song and they're also one of the key-elements in the backgrounds alongside with the synthesizer. The energy-packed intro slows down a bit with the verses and rather surprisingly the chorus isn't either very energetic and my initial reaction suffered a lot. The c-melody reminds me of Initial D for some reason and I began combining this song with the series at some point. A good song that should've kept the energy of the intro and the c-melody so it would've really rocked.
Rating : 8-

15.Kasanova - Tragedy (Time)
The vocalist on Kasanova is one of the male vocalist I can't stand at all, I can't really explain why I don't like the vocals but they just sound really lame and boring, which isn't meant for eurobeat, we need vocalist that can light up the worse songs with energy. This song doesn't have a whole lot of energy or catchiness and as the vocals suck I had a hard time trying to think of something positive to say, and in the end I couldn't even come up with anything. A crap song that doesn't deserve a place on a SEB.
Rating : 5+

16.Lolita - Light Your Fire (A-Beat C)
A-Beat C provides 2 more big names in the end, the first one is the lovely Elena Gobbi under the title that nobody in the eurobeat scene can avoid. Her irresistible songs and awesome vocals are always a peak with the SEBs. Light Your Fire is another energic song that reminded me of some male vocalist song which I just can't point out. The song is your solid high-level production that is good, but this time the song isn't very special and it doesn't have the punch like her best songs do, a good song but not the best one on the album. High points for the great c-melody.
Rating : 8½

17.Dave Rodgers - Wheels Of Fire (A-Beat C)
So the good old Dave is here, and with a song I've heard so much good about, but have ignored it myself pretty well. The song starts off with an intro that I right away combined to the ParaPara Allstars, and of course then realized which song we were talking about. I have pretty much ignored his songs in the past and I don't really know why, as this is also a really great the song. The track is everything we can ask from a good eurobeat song: Energetic, catchy, distinctive and the most important a great melody. Nothing new on Dave standards but pure great eurobeat as it is.
Rating : 9½

18.Dream - My Will (Sweet Dream Mix)
And the album is finished off with another J-Euro artist and again the song offers a lot of edge. Pretty much always when we hear japanese vocals in the eurobeat scene we get quality, and that applies here as well. My Will is a rather calm song that isn't even meant to be a fast-paced hyper song to get you doing parapara, but it represents the other end that Norma, Vanessa & Rose for example present, but Dream just does it with class and with a good song. The song has a really beautiful background and the melody is pretty, a good way to end the album after the energic pace of the previous song.
Rating : 9

Final Words :
This album had a lot crappy songs and I thought about the final grade for a long time, the reason is that even though we did get a lot of slower Time-stylish songs I still liked the album in general. It doesn't have the highest level or very many real jewels but for some reason I still was happy with the results. Dave Rodgers, Arena 69 and Matt Land present really great songs that are the clear highlights for the album and it's always nice to hear great materials from Time which was one of the reasons the album got a slight upgrade in the final grade. Not the best SEB out there, but still a good one for us fans.

Final Score : 8-

Reviewed by Bore