Super Eurobeat 183

1.Dusty - The Lovebite (SCP)
The 180s have started off well with the previous albums so naturally one expects to keep getting such a high level with this album as well. The Lovebite starts 183 with a bang. The track is a solid continue to the previous Dusty highlights with a catchy chorus, aggressive sounds and effective vocals as always by Ennio. What was slightly confusing with this song is that the initial reaction was pure bliss, but by time I had repeated the song a lot I started to feel that some part of the song just wasn't right or maybe at the right time. After a lot of selfspeculation I noticed how I kept feeling the song would fit Ace a lot better, the song just has this distinct Codenotti feel to it, at least my brains seem to be determined on it.
Rating: 9-

2.Garcon - Crazy Race On The Street (HI-NRG Attack)
The first thing I thought when I heard this song kick in was utter shock. The track itself sounds really catchy and nicely produced, but it features some of the worst vocals I've heard in a while. The chorus itself sounds really distorted and like there was just a tad too much of vocal manipulation involved, the rest of the song isn't quite as bad fortunately. Due to the vocalwork I had a hard time listening to the song for multiple times in a row, which is a real shame since the song has good promise. The electric guitar bits sound well thought and the track itself is a solid HRG production, but this time around something just was lacking.
Rating : 7½

3.Lolita - Goodnight Kiss (Go Go's Music)
Well, it really is about time. Having nearly a year in between of new Elena Gobbi releases is simply blasphemy. After the spectacular Stop The Time Tonight she comes back with a similar feel good song to make the fans' days brighter. I've probably been listening to this song the most out of all of the tracks on the album, but it doesn't quite speak for itself in terms of quality sadly. The song has a really nice mood to it and the vocals are as good as they get in the eurobeat world, but it still can't quite catch the level of usual Lolita. May it be the soothing chorus, fun sounds or effective c-melody, they all work nicely but the puzzle pieces just don't click together for some reason. The song is by no means bad, I do like it, but I was expecting so much more from her comeback. The productions values work, but maybe the expectations just were too high.
Rating : 8+

4.Jacky 'O - Night Fighter (Time)
Horrible horrible intro, and I want to emphasize HORRIBLE. Well I got that out of my system. If we ignore the Jackson impersination, we have a very effective Time production at our hands. If I leave every horrible screech or yell out, I do think the song features some of the betst vocals by Time in quite a while. The macho-egoistic tone of the vocals in the chorus is what strikes as something very special and unique about the song. The track works nicely on all levels and it leaves an unique impression once you're done with it, but this is mostly due to the horrible impersination.
Rating : 8-

5.Pamsy - I Feel Emotions (SCP)
The tranquil and calming eurobeat tracks are slowly becoming a Pamsy speciality. I Feel Emotions has a very strong Me, Myself & I-vibe to it, the song has this similar soothing athmosphere that made the Christine SEB-debut a hit. But due to this very fact it doesn't quite feel as unique, but then again there isn't exactly anything wrong with it either. The nice saxophone bits in the song are very well thought out and give that nice extra spice many songs seem to lack these days. A very strong performance that could have been slightly faster and it might have been a true jackpot alongside the other faster Pamsy tracks.
Rating : 8½

6.Renoir - Because I Need U (Delta)
I'll skip all the conversation this song has sprung due to it's difference to most of the SEB material, because I feel it quite fits on the album. The song does have a distinctively different sound and it doesn't feature the basic SEB elements which might be a good basis for not including it on the series, but I don't quite see why it shouldn't get the same shot at SEB as the other new experiements have had. We've had songs influenced by dancepop, trancepop, disco, pop, rap, you name it. I occasionally do criticize the new tracks that stand out, but there's also importance on the quality of the song currently in question. Because I Need U is a pretty simple track that draws influences from various european light genres, but it isn't that far off from the usual eurobeat material. This won't probably be the most memorable track off 183, but it does get credit for standing out and showing what else SEB could be.
Rating : 8+

7.Susy Time - On Fire 2007 (Time)
With the remake trend it's nice to get some of the more unknown tracks from Time catalogue as I do feel these tracks work mostly better than the all around overplayed songs. Sally Rendell's original song featured some of the strong beats of the era it was released on, this time around we get a modernized version which brings life into yet an another "forgotten classic". The basic melody works as effectively as it did back in 1995 and to back that up the new sounds and vocals give a lot of credit to the original. The only problem with the song is that it's very easily forgettable, the sounds no matter how nice, just don't bring anything new into the mix when compared to the other remakes. The song keeps the steady level of the album going on, nothing extraordinary, nor bad.
Rating : 8-

8.Norma Sheffield - I'll Be Waiting (A-Beat)
Well, I'm quite speechless. The speculations in the past about Norma retiring from A-Beat C seem to have been incorrect, and she's back to sing us an another lullaby. No matter how many times I repeat it, I just can't get over how she sounds. Her vocals are unique that's for sure, but my ears just prefer something with more edge. The previous claims about Norma songs sounding transparent, calm, unsurprising all can be applied to this song as well. No, just no.
Rating : 5

9.Louise - You Kiss My Lover (HI-NRG Attack)
Female vocalist songs have been the strong point of HI-NRG Attack lately as these tracks seem to be bringing something different and unique to the label's sound. You Kiss My Lover has a strong Eurobeat Flash-feel to it for some reason. The track kept giving me flashbacks to some other HRG tracks from the golden days which is a nice nostalgy trip during these years when eurobeat is going through so many changes. The vocals sound nice, the chorus works well and the sounds are also simple, yet effective.
Rating : 8-

10.Brian Ice - Save Your Voice To Sing A Song (A-Beat C)
It has been quite a while since we heard Brian the last time, it's really good to get some of the older generation vocalists every once in a while to show the younger generation how it's done. I'm feeling quite satisfied how A-Beat C seems to be getting their groove back as the 180s have so far showed. Save Your Voice To Sing A Song is a very purifying experience. The simple lyrics sound heartwarming and especially when they're sung by such a strong vocalist they have a much more effective meaning to them. The sounds are simple, but they don't suffer from repetition at all and the new different kind of A-Beat C synth line fits this song perfectly. This song does rise above the rest and it became my favorite Brian Ice song by far.
Rating : 10

11.Matt Land - Bad Boys (A-Beat C)
Matteo is back to save the world, hooray. It's performances like this that give new life to the label. The song has a rather odd composition since the vocals are obviously taking the frontstage and the sounds are left at the background to give room for the vocalist. If you listen closely to the sounds you'll notice that they are very simplified and don't really offer much variation, which usually is a bad thing but when they're hidden so well behind the strong vocals it doesn't feel all that bad. The song at first sounded really hollow, but after some heavy repetition I came to the conclusion that this Annalise-esque style that A-Beat C has been bringing out lately is still evolving and it's slowly getting better. This is definitely not the highlight for the style, but it's neither wasted potential, it might give room for a better future.
Rating : 8

12.Helena - Spanish Affairs (Time)
The spanish theme has been repeated quite a few times in various Time female songs. Occasionally the songs have worked really well á la This Is My Song (For You) and occasionally not that well. Spanish Affairs features a very typical soundworld for a Helena song so don't expect much of a difference. The small bits of spanish mood in the sounds of course distinct this from the various other tracks, but the production otherwise sounds exactly like a Dall'Ora & Maiolini track you can expect to be hearing. You either love it or you just don't care.
Rating : 6

13.Annalise - Kiss Me (A-Beat C)
Annerley sure has made sure nobody missed her comeback. There's been a high number of tracks sung by her lately, which seems to have replaced Elena Gobbi as their strong and recurring vocalist, which itself is a controversial situation and just a matter of taste. I'm not exactly sure what brought in the change, but when Annerley came back the sound of A-Beat C started to evolve as well as the amount of positive and simple dancetracks started to go down. It has been quite a while since we got such basic feel good songs like Viva The Night from the label and instead we've gotten lots of this thick & phat sorta materials. Kiss Me lacks potential, it lacks imagination and it just doesn't manage to sparkle any kind of light in me.
Rating : 5½

14.Mr. M - Big In Japan 2007 (Time)
The hopes of getting a King & Queen remake were rather minimal even in my highest hopes, so naturally it's Time that's pushing forward remake after remake. Strong vocals, good sounds and a classic ID-esque melody make this a sure hit among many people surely. I myself can't really relate to this on the other hand, the hyped synth sounds too cheery when it's paired with the strong manly man Gambogi vocals. It creates this contradictional situation as if Go 2 were to sing a Kiki & Fancy song.
Rating : 7+

15.Dave & Nuage - Tell Me (A-Beat C)
Is Dave getting old or what's the problem with his vocal work lately? In the past he used to sing with a fiery passion that brought life into all of his songs, but the songs in the recent past have sounded like he was depressed or just didn't feel like he was singing with his whole heart. Tell Me is amusing since Denise's vocals also sound forced and like they were two people who hated eachother with all their guts. In a love song such as this one it just doesn't feel right at all. Elevator eurobeat, period.
Rating : 6

16.Jimmy Diamond - Sexy Crazy Girl (Delta)
Lately I've been falling more and more in love with Delta's productions and while some labels seem to be lacking inspiration it feels like Delta is full of it. The productions seem to offer something new time after time, and if they don't they just bring effective and catchy eurobeat at its best. Sexy Crazy Girl is a song which finally brings life to the album in the form of pure raw eurobeat energy. Absolutely stunning vocal work paired with an effective melody and great sounds make this one of the album's highlights. The intro and outro were the only parts about the song that were slightly lacky and could've been more effective and given the album an even firmer start & end.
Rating : 10-

17.Nick Mansell - Burn Into The Beat (SCP)
This is it! This really is what I've been waiting for the whole album: Electric guitars, speed, energy, action and one of the best vocal performances by Nicola Mansueto. I'm quite certain that people who enjoy masculine eurobeat have already in the past found out that Nick Mansell is one of the strongest titles the whole genre has to offer. Songs like Burn Into The Beat are what define his status as true eurobeat star. Declaring him the king of aggressive eurobeat wouldn't be an understatement even though he hasn't had as many tracks released as some of the other artists under the similar style. This song just tops everything else with such high class style it's hard to criticize it about anything else than the fading end. Thank you SCP for this piece of eurobeat art.
Rating : 10+++++

18.Paul Dickenson - Time For A Miracle (Delta)
As the album is closing the end the level finally seems to notch up a bit. Strong male performances were really what defined this album all around so it's good to kick it off with quality and end it with even more class. Delta's aggressive edge has made a come back and I hope it's here to stay. Time For A Miracle puts the simple eurobeat ingredients in a blender and splits out a nice mixture of basic ingredients spiced up with small yet noticable tricks. The contradictional parts with light synth lines paired up with electric guitars doesn't work well most of the time, but with this song they just blend in perfectly and define the various parts of the song nicely.
Rating : 10

Final Words :
A rather interesting album all around I guess, most of the album suffers from a mediocore-level, but the eurobeat men really bring out the energy and big guns this time. Not one of the female sung songs can reach the level of the masculine energy this time. It's a shame really since I do love hearing both men & female vocalists performing classic eurobeat pieces, but what can you do. The comeback of Lolita is what warmed my heart the most, even though she didn't perform her best this time around, I felt it was mandatory to not leave her out in the dark with her colorful and long history on SEB. 183 doesn't fortunately fall too down into the dumps, but it should probably featured more colorful performances and some girly girl energy to make me feel more at home, maybe 184 will fix this situation who knows. Either way 183 carries on the rather nice level of the 180s, was just hoping for more. Oh and the bonus disc... One word: EW.

Final Score : 7½

The Best 3 songs

- Nick Mansell - Burn Into The Beat
- Brian Ice - Save Your Voice To Sing A Song
- Paul Dickenson - Time For A Miracle

The Worst 3 Songs

- Norma Sheffield - I'll Be Waiting
- Annalise - Kiss Me
- Helena - Spanish Affairs

Honorable Mention

- Jimmy Diamond - Sexy Crazy Girl

Labels present on the album:

A-Beat C: 5
Delta: 3
Go Go's Music: 1
HI-NRG Attack: 2
SCP: 3
Time: 4

Reviewed by Bore