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Reviews: Back to Index
The albums have been graded on the most common grading system used in
Finnish schools. Where 4 is the worst, and 10 is the best. The final score
for the album is most of the times the average for all of the tracks, though it can also change if the reviewer wishes so. The Super Eurobeat Non-Stop albums will be reviewed as full collections, and the individual songs won't be reviewed, unless they are completely new. Though Euromach and JGTC albums for example will have complete song by song reviews.
The grading system simply goes as ie. 4- (3,75), 4 (4), 4+ (4,25) and 4½ (4,5) and the next one again would be 5-. A simple system we have over here in Finland.
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Super Eurobeat 152
1.Maio & Co. - Dark In The Night 2004 (Time)
One of the biggest eurobeat classics got the honor to be the first remake
song, to appear on a SEB (well Niko's performance of Night Of
Fire 2004 aside on 150 DVD). The good old song is all there, and the
real differences are only in the backgrounds that are more guitar-based
and aren't quite as catchy as the original was. The original Dark In
The Night has lasted well to these days, but I can't really see this
one surviving for a long time, as there's just something missing from a
perfect hit: We have Mako's vocals, the great melody and nice
sounds, but perhaps the amount of play that the original got that this
song just doesn't sound as good.
Rating : 8+
2.Marcus - Man On Fire (A-Beat C)
A-Beat C has been refreshing their image quite a lot lately as we've been
getting many new titles instead of the good old classics. Marcus is
yet an another new male vocalists for the label, the vocalist reminds me a
bit of Matt Land, and the style of the song is also similar to Matt.
The tempo of the song is rather fast and especially the c-melo speeds up
the general tempo. The real strength of the song is the energetic chorus
which has similarities to Matt Land's Rock My Heart. A nice
song, though it won't probably become a huge hit.
Rating : 9-
3.Fastway - Make Or Brake (SCP)
The differences between Fastway and Dusty have lately been a
bit blurry, as the songs that were more rockish and more like Dusty
were given to Fastway instead. Make Or Brake is also pretty
similar to Run in many ways, but just many times better. The song
starts off with a rather calm verse which gathers energy for the catchy
chorus that pretty much sums up the best parts of Fastway's
energetic style. What I loved especially with the song is how the vocals
flow with the music perfectly and when Fastway sings (almost raps) quickly the
verses it sounds really pleasant.
Rating : 10
4.Dave & Meri - Are We Gonna Be Together (A-Beat C)
I was browsing my older reviews and noticed that when Meri made her
debut I sarcastically said that now we'll just wait for a duet with
Dave, and now it actually happened. I wasn't really having high
expectations for this song as I was expecting a song in the lines of most
of the Dave & X duets: Mellow, not too speedy or very memorable,
but I was slightly surprised. The song is indeed rather calm and nothing
like the best A-Beat C productions, but there's still some sort of edge to
it. The sounds have a feeling as if the song could've been made a while
ago as it sounds like a rather generic A-Beat C 'ballad'. The chorus and
the verses work pretty nicely, but the limitations of this song just make
it rather one dimensional, and you won't wanna come back to it very
quickly.
Rating : 7½
5.Pamsy - Livin' In The Night (SCP)
The phenomenal Pamsy makes a comeback since SEB148, with a song
that follows the steps of the previous hit. The trance-elements are still
present, but the song is mostly more typical eurobeat and it reminds me of
the best Lucya songs as Pamsy's vocals remind me of Lucya
a lot in this song. The verses sound rather boring in the beginning but
once the b-melo begins and the chorus begins you'll be swept away, and
after a few replays the whole song starts to sound all around magnficent.
Not much to say, but this is just eurobeat at it's best.
Rating : 10+
6.Delta Queens - Goodbye My Love (Delta)
I can't from off hand mention any Delta Queens song that I would've
loved a whole lot, and this song pretty much falls in the same crowd. The
song kicks off with a very good intro that sounds unique and nothing like
the general Delta intros. Unfortunately after the intro is over and the
verses begin the song turns into a rather basic eurobeat song in the
classic Delta-style. Clara Moroni throws in her best, but it's just
not quite enough this time as the real highlights for the song are the
c-melody and the intro. With a bit more of punch this song would've been a
lot better.
Rating : 8-
7.Ricky M. - Jane (A-Beat C)
An another new vocalist on A-Beat C? Probably not, the vocals sound a lot
like Manuel with a bit of editing. I'm not totally sure about the
real deal, but at least I could hear Manuel's pronunciation and
style from the song. This songtitle was rather predictable, or well I
thought it would've been but it had A-Beat C written all over it. The song
has a lot of similar elements as what we've heard in the previous
Manuel productions which partly is the reason why it's easy to hear
him in this song as well. The song isn't as aggressive or energetic as the
Manuel songtitles, so this might be a different side for the guy in
the future as well. A good song all around mainly due to the great vocals
and a killer chorus.
Rating : 9+
8.Cody - Back To You (Delta)
Before hearing this songtitle I was hoping to get a new male vocalists on
Delta for a change, but that doesn't seem to happen too often and it's
easy to recognize the good old Kevin Johnson in this song, but this
might be the more aggressive side of him if Ricky M. was the calmer
side of Manuel. The song uses quite a lot of vocal-editing so it's
sometimes hard to recognize if it's really Kevin as it sounds like
Niko as well in some parts, but the identity of the vocalist isn't
the most important thing here. A speedy high quality song that reminds of
us of the talent that Delta has: very different from most of the eurobeat
around, due to the massive use of modern and classic dancesounds that
aren't frequently used in eurobeat.
Rating : 9+
9.Betty Blue - Lollipop Banana (Vibration)
I was pretty disappointed when this song wasn't Baby Bazooka as it
had her name written all over it. This is without doubt the happiest song
on a SEB for a while, the track has a rather hyper feeling and it reminds
me of the Dancemania Happy Paradises in many ways. This song would've been
perfectly at home in the Euromach era, but here it feels a bit out of
place, but if you just pick this song out and place it with something as
hyper this song works really well, now it just breaks the general flow of
the album a bit. A good song over all, mainly due to the effective chorus
that will easily start playing in your head.
Rating : 9
10.Marko Polo - I Want To Believe (Delta)
I have to say right away that I was rather disappointed when I heard this
song for the first time, what have they done to my Marko Polo! This
song is missing out the typical energy that we've gotten used to hear from
him and the song just left me feeling really cold at first, but I have to
say that the first impression isn't always what it seems. The song indeed
was a bit slow to open up and I had to listen to it a lot before it
actually started to open up for me. The vocals are typical Maurizio
and his vocals are the key element in the song, as the backgrounds are
mostly just backing up the vocals that mostly flow the melody forward. On
one hand the song has a good chorus, but if you are expecting for an
another Hai Hai Hai you'll be disappointed, on the other, if you
take the song with a different kind of attitude you might just love it.
Rating : 8½
11.Rose - Supernatural (Time)
Wow, this song does a bit of a surprise turn as it has one of the fastest
BPM's on the whole album and we are talking about Rose here. The
few previous Rose productions have pleased many eurobeat fans even
though they might not have been the biggest fans of Time productions in
general. This song has a few similar elements as the previous hits and the
fast pace of the song will slowly start sounding really pleasant. It's not
as much of a novelty hit like This Is My Song (For You), but we've
heard so much worse as well. A good chorus, a good c-melody and overall
nice lyrical work from Elena.
Rating : 9-
12.Morris - Destination Unknown (Delta)
It's been a while since we heard from Morris, and he makes a
comeback with a bang, a rather strange bang, but still. Maurizio is
again at large when he is more at his own element with this song that is
faster and more energetic than the Marko Polo song. The song starts
off with energetic verses but it slows down in the chorus and there the
song goes weird. The sounds, the vocals, everything makes an u-turn and
the song goes weird and reminds me of the b-side eurobeat productions from
the past. The weird elements are kind of hard to handle as they partly
sound really unique and different but partly really annoying and primitive.
In the end I was left with a puzzled feeling about this song and I wasn't
sure if I loved it or if I hated it, but one thing is for sure, Bad
Tonight was much better.
Rating : 8
13.Leila - Burning Lover (Delta)
Clara Moroni is yet again here with an another title, a title that
we haven't heard in ages, actually the last Leila song appeared on
Euromach 8, which was back in 2001. When you listen to this song
for the first time I bet your feelings will be that it's just an another
basic eurobeat song, and that it pretty much is, but at the same time it's
a basic eurobeat song that has been done very well. The song has a
smoothly flowing background which steals the glory from the vocals at many
parts due to the simply irresistible hooks and the great c-melo. A great
basic eurobeat song, and it's great to get one older title back after a
while as I've enjoyed the Leila productions a lot.
Rating : 9
14.Rick Castle - Fly To The Star (HI-NRG Attack)
I enjoyed the previous Rick Castle song at first a lot, but by time
it got a bit repetitive and I was hoping that this song would speed up a
bit, yet that didn't really happen. This song is yet an another mellow
HI-NRG Attack song and if even they are slowing down this bad I am fearing
that the worst is happening slowly and the albums are going to get even
slower. This album had a general BPM of around 151, which is not that much
slower than the general 155, but it's still a notable difference. This
song on the other hand carries on with the similar path that Rick
Castle took on the SEBs, but this song just doesn't stand a chance
with Ride In The Night, it could've been much better and I at least
feel that when HI-NRG Attack gets only one spot per album, the results
could've been better. Oh well it's Avex who chooses the songs in the end.
Rating : 8-
15.Norma Sheffield - Feel Like Dreamin' (A-Beat C)
When this song started playing I got a flashback and though that this song
would perfectly fit Nuage. The song has a feeling of serenity and
you can just imagine listening to this while going to sleep, or when doing
something sensual. I haven't noticed these good parts about Norma
in the past, but somehow this song just clicked and I loved it from the
first time I listened to it. The best elements in this song are the
backgrounds that are very much like normal Norma, but the piano
just this time around works, perhaps it's the melody.
Rating : 8½
16.Mega NRG Man - Body To Body (A-Beat C)
Tomas Martin makes a comeback after a lot of speculation if he'd be
even working on A-Beat C anymore, but he is here and shows us that he
still can produce a killer rock-style eurobeat song. This song has a
different feel to it than his previous song, and it's nice to get a song
that is pretty different from his general productions. The energy that is
typical for his song is present to the maximum and it's funny how at some
parts his vocals go so high that it sounds like Matt Land was
backing him up. An excellent song that I can already imagine seeing on a
next JGTC just because the general feel of the song has this race-like
athmosphere to it.
Rating : 9½
17.Stylophones - Hold On To Love (Time)
Time has presented rather cool productions in the past, it seems as
they've found their inspiration and we've heard that clearly in the songs.
This song is a really different one from anything we've heard in ages, and
in many ways it's not even eurobeat, it sounds more like instrumental pop
with the beat in there just to make it remind of us what album this was
again. The chorus sounds great as the vocals range from high to low and
you can hear the calm backgrounds really well from time to time. A very
different song from the majority, and it would've been probably more at
place on the calm general mood of 151.
Rating : 9-
18.Lolita & Mickey B. - Dancing Around The World (A-Beat
C)
I know for sure that I wasn't the only one really looking forward to
this song, and I am probably not the first one to say that it was really
worth the wait. The contrast of the low vocals of
Mickey B. and the high vocals of
Lolita are very evident and it's awesome to hear them sing together
as the vocals create this irresistible edge to the song, but over all it's
unavoidable that the higher voice of
Lolita rises above
Mickey B.. The verses are divided pretty evenly to both of the
girls and it's awesome when the chorus begins and the vocals mend together.
The definite highlight for this album together with the Pamsy and
Fastway songs.
Rating : 10+
Final Words :
The slow pace of 151 made me fear for the worst, but fortunately this
album picks up the pace a bit and we can hear the speed getting slightly
faster on this album. The songtitles for this album at first didn't seem
too interesting and I was expecting that this album would be much worse
than it actually turned out to be, so I'm definitely positively surprised.
The general level is pretty high, yet not as high as on 151, but what made
me like this album a bit more is that it's faster and closer to the
typical eurobeat what I want when I import the CDs from Japan. Fastway,
Pamsy, Mega NRG Man and Lolita & Mickey B. make the definite
highlights for this album and in the end I really loved the general feel
of the album. SCP and A-Beat C made the best presentations for this album,
and in contrast HI-NRG Attack and Delta were slightly
disappointing.
Final Score : 8½
Reviewed by Bore
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