Super Eurobeat 155

1.Kevin Johnson - Don't Say Goodbye (Delta)
Kevin Johnson is a name that most people either love or hate, most of the reactions I've heard have been negative and I have a feeling that this song will only boost the opinion that some people have. For once, this song is rather slow and very pop-py like many of the recent Delta songs have been, but now don't get me wrong... this song kicks ass. Don't Say Goodbye reminds me of 80's pop songs and also has similar features to it. Pretty and fun to hum to, but not by any means the best performance by Kevin.
Rating : 9

2.D-Team - Speed Car (Time)
As this album presents a few old titles like this one, it's kind of hard to do the review, but let's get down to the point. I myself am not at any level interested about Initial D, but I of course heard this song when it debuted on the ID OST, and my opinion from those times hasn't changed. Generic Time material at all levels, but still on the generic level it's from the better end. Something I might listen when doing the dishes or something like that, but not as mainly for the pleasure of listening. Energetic and aggressive, which is always good, just a bit neutral.
Rating : 7+

3.Digital Planet - Call Me Tonight (A-Beat C)
I am not the first one to state this, but is Digital Planet coming up with anything new? This song is like a re-visit to Fly Away and I could just imagine more songs on the lines of these songs coming out in the future. I loved Fly Away a lot, and this song suffers mostly from repetition as I partly was ready to start singing the chorus of Fly Away myself, but it never came and I was always disappointed. Reminds me of what Dave and others did before, how they made a good formula for an eurobeat song and then repeated it until they ran out of ideas. But somebody could also point out that Lolita, Virginelle & Go Go Girls do the same thing a lot of the times, but I still praise them to the skies, why? Personal preferences.
Rating : 8

4.Cherry - Euroheat (Delta)
Clara Moroni returns back to the good fast-paced Cherry style many us adore. The previous Cherry song was slow and poppy and this song fortunately changes the pace totally with energetic backgrounds and fast vocals. Nothing phenomal to break the good eurobeat pattern, but well produced and extremely fun to sing along, and that's what I value in eurobeat.
Rating : 9+

5.Giacomo Caria - Light My Fire (A-Beat C)
When I first saw this title, my initial thought was that this is probably some tribute by Time for the already deceased Gino Caria, but I have to say I was really surprised when it was revelead that this is the son of Gino and on A-Beat C! The 17-year-old chap follows the footpaths of his father with a similar energetic style and a killer song. It's really a pleasure to see new talents spring up these days and especially as the talents have had great songs like Baby Bazooka  and Freddy Rodgers did. This track is all around aggressive and reminds me of the typical A-Beat C male tracks, just better. Love it!
Rating : 10

6.Dee Dee & Regina - Beautiful Day (Vibration)
On the previous album I was kind of dissing Vibration and HI-NRG Attack about their lack of originality, and this time both of the labels get back at me by presenting awesome songs. Davide Di Marcantonio and the anonymous female vocalist make a duet naturally here, and they present us with a very energetic song along the typical Vibration lines. The chorus is absolutely brilliant and it won't take long before you'll be sucked in totally and you'll try to sing along the lyrics. Great to hear a duet in these days when solo names do most of the work.
Rating : 9½

7.Go Go Girls - Baby Boy (A-Beat C)
I have honestly no idea why, but when I saw this title revealed I got a feeling that this song would suck, and I was prepared for a GGG song I wouldn't like, I was wrong. From the first times the song started playing I was sold. Nuage and Lolita handle the vocals here and I have to say I'm pretty pleased how they sound here (unlike in the King & Queen song Boogie Boogie). The track is very energetic and everytime I heard the brilliant c-melody I got chills going down my spine. Excellent chorus and Elena Gobbi does a magnificent job here.
Rating : 10

8.Tam Arrow - Rambo Demolition (HI-NRG Attack)
I am not the biggest friend of HI-NRG Attack's male performers and I'm still bitter how the label has only gotten like 3 songs with female vocalists on SEB so far (Nikita Jr., Baby Gold & Baby Bazooka). Tam Arrow is one of the names that I've loved more from their league of extra ordinary eurobeaters and this song shows just why. Energy is what HI-NRG Attack still can offer us and while sometimes the energy is not everything to a song, this time it boosts Rambo Demolition to the top. The chorus and the c-melody are irresistible and I can already imagine hearing this even a bit more sped up on a JGTC album in the future.
Rating : 9+

9.Lolita - Hot & Crazy Love (A-Beat C)
I've been wondering for a short while now, that am I really the only person who values Elena Gobbi's eurobeat songs more than anything else. I've slowly grown to love about every song she's made during her career and I can't really anymore help it how I love every song she's in. Lolita is the title most people recognize her as, and also probably her most succesfull title alongside Virginelle and for a good reason. The people at A-Beat C are wise when they know to not release bad songs under their most effective titles, and Hot & Crazy Love is a trip back to the more energetic times (unlike Set Your Heart On Fire). The track sounds magnificent and it's irresistible to sing along to, a definite song for my favorite list for a long time from now.
Rating : 10

10.Pretty Woman - Sweet Heart (Delta)
At this point of the album I was already in a weird happy daze, and I just kept on happier how the songs just keep on being brilliant. Pretty Woman really hit the bull's eye on SEB125 with Drive Me Faster Now! and after that song she hasn't been as magnificent not once, but this song gets really close. The track starts off with a beautiful intro that uses a lot of pretty chimes and the vocals sound absolutely dazzling. I haven't been as impressed by a Delta song in a while, and it's also great to hear different female vocalists than Clara for a change. Absolutely brilliant!
Rating : 10

11.Priscilla - The Beat Goes On (Delta)
This phase at the moment where the labels are experiementing with new styles and different sounds it's always interesting to hear a new song as you don't know what to expect. The title The Beat Goes On sounded really aggressive, and I was expecting something alongside her speedy Euromach songs. Yet they again surprised us, this song sounds a lot like the happy and bubbly Cherry songs in the 130s and early 140s, and I got flashbacks to Sha La La. Not as catchy, but still fun to listen to and the backgrounds in this song work extra nicely.
Rating : 8-

12.Bad Gang - Body Guard (Time)
Time has lately gotten better from the slump they had in the few decades earlier on, and it seems that they're finally getting a hold of their true talents again. The Deja Vu-feeling is most certainly gonna happen when you listen to this song and it'll be there for a long time, but this time it doesn't bug me. The piano and the guitars are similar to a dozen other songs and it took me a while before I started to grasp the song's attitude. The few extra female vocals add a nice touch to it and the c-melody sounds absolutely brilliant.
Rating : 8+

13.Leila - When I Look At You (Delta)
The way this album reminds of older SEBs by its structure is interesting as A-Beat C, Delta and Time have 14 songs out of 18, and yet these labels do a magnificent job for the most part. Leila is back after not being away and I was having high expectations as Burning Lover rocked the block. This song is a tad bit slower and not as catchy. The track uses a lot of interesting effects in the background that aren't very noticable but when you start paying attention to them you start to notice more and more of them. A fun song which will probably still be forgotten rather quickly.
Rating : 7½

14.Virginelle - Love Is... (A-Beat C)
In my opinion Virginelle is probably the only long-time title in the whole eurobeat business that hasn't released a single bad song, and I think that A-Beat C also knows that well. This song starts totally unlike the previous Virginelle song as this track sounds more disco-like and has a totally different mood, but just as impressive. The verses don't sound probably as good as they could but everytime the chorus starts and I hear the vocals go: "Everybody... Love is!" I get chills going down my spine and at that moment the backgrounds have these amazing hooks that are just irresistible. The chorus is simply awesome and if only the whole song would've been as magnificent I would've given the song a perfect grade.
Rating : 10-

15.Pamsy - Hello (SCP)
The sky's open for Pamsy, we've heard her only a few times but she's stood out every single time with magnificent production and irresistible vocals. Everytime I've heard a new Pamsy song I've thought that "This is the best one she's released" and this song did the same again. This song is not as trancey as her previous songs and is much more typical eurobeat with a killer chorus. The simple lyrics in the chorus are easy to remember and you'll be hooked on them for sure. SCP did it again, and I really hope Pamsy will be doing more music in the future! Thank you SCP!
Rating : 10+

16.Nuage Feat. Sonia - I'm Never Gonna Let You Down And Forget You (A-Beat C)
I'm going to be harsh and join the ranks of many people... This song is totally not in the right place. Why do we have to get Nuage on every damn album, and on top of that with old songs! We heard these already on her solo-album and Avex could at least release new songs instead of replaying the old ones. This track is the necessary re-make song on the album (as every SEB for a long time now has had one each), and it also sounds like it. Sonia's original in the 80's was a hit, and I could see this making it also big in certain circles as the song is actually quite good. I'm not sure what to give it, as I like the song and it's actually quite different from the version that appeared on Sunday, but still it's the same old song...
Rating : 8+

17.Big Town Guy - John 'N' Mary Dance (Time)
I've been dissing Time for such a long time that it was about time they really blew me away. And my god they did it with style! A totally new title from the label with Simone Valeo's vocals, which will hopefully be a new longrunning title as I'd appreciate some changes to the constant oldies. John 'N' Mary Dance is an exceptional eurobeat for various reasons... A) In this time of slow eurobeat, it's fast pace is really noticable and irresistible. B) The lyrics are really interesting and actually sound much more deep than 99% of what you hear in eurobeat (well technically somebody might point out that the chorus isn't excatly anything brilliant, but hey! Go read some of the more typical lyrics. And finally C) The song is really the first Time song in ages that I'm going to give a perfect grade, as it's just too good, especially the beginning of the chorus where the vocals go: "Jumping on the moon"...
Rating : 10

18.Fastway - 777 (SCP)
Well what do you know, it was after all true and we got 777 on the album after all. Most of the eurobeat fans already know this song, and most also agree that this is possibly the best song he has done during his career. The track is irresistible and also Euromach at its best. The song shows perfectly how well songs from that series fit SEB and also that mixing a tad slower songs with faster songs like this isn't a bad thing after all. A good way to end the album, although again I would've liked to get new songs instead of old ones circled.
Rating : 10

Final Words :
When I originally saw the tracklisting for this album I was gasping breath with all of the great titles and the presence of most of my favorites (Lolita, Virginelle, Go Go Girls, Pamsy, Fastway) but I wasn't still expecting this much of a joyride (mostly because of how the 150s have been before this album). This album pretty much makes up for the previous 4 albums for their slowness, badness and everything negative about them. The album hasn't got a single bad song along, and it's packed full of absolutely irresistible songs that you'll certainly be hooked on. My personal favorites are definitely Giacomo Caria, Virginelle, Pamsy & Big Town Guy (you may wonder why I included Virginelle in the favorites and not some of the songs that got a better grade, but it's simply because I loved the happy mood of the song so much that I kept on going back to it and replaying it over and over). The album is all around similar to the best albums in the 140s and I think any eurobeat fan will love it. Get this one, now!

Final Score : 9½

Reviewed by Bore