Super Eurobeat 188

1.The Snake - Queen Of Mean (SCP)
The first impression a new SEB gives out is often tied along with the initial song, so starting it with a bang is always a good idea. The Snake started off well with his debut track as there's never too many rock-esque eurobeat artists who bring energy and action into the scene with electric guitars and strong vocalwork. Powerful guitars, check, majestic vocals, doublecheck, catchy melody, check, awesome chorus, check and last but not the least the beat, check. This track just keeps pushing the male type of SCP eurobeat to the limits with such attitude that not too many other songs can even compete. Initially when I heard this song I was reminded of the Go 2 debut since it had a similar vibe with a very unique and strong presentation that was just plain unforgettable. An excellent way to start off the album with, plus the new vocalist earns points for a very memorable performance.
Rating : 10

2.Mark & Roby - Tokyo Tonight (Asia/Saifam)
Variety is often what I appreciate more than anything else from a label, so what do Asia have to offer for that? Give a song with clips loaned from an even older Saifam song, swell! Well truth be spoken, Divine is such a classic that borrowing a bit of it's used and blue is not a bad idea especially since it does give a nice nostalgic feel to this track.  Tokyo Tonight is a bit of a double-edged sword for me; at one hand I do enjoy the chorus and c-melody a ton since they really bring out the best parts of Asia productions with sheer energy and action, but at the other hand the verses just lack originality and sound washed out as if they hadn't really been thoroughly thought. But in the end I do admit that I like the song quite a bit, but there have been fairly many tracks in the past with bad verses that get compromised with excellent choruses, this song is one of them.
Rating : 8+

3.Daniel - Spirit Of The Night (Delta)
Some artists get more praise than others for various reasons, Daniel's masculine vocals have earned a few honey-coated drops from me in the past so looking forward to a new performance is always interesting. The first few times I kept listening to this song I felt a strange feeling of discontent, the song felt boring, non-exiting and the chorus just doesn't bring much improvement. So fast forward a few weeks and heavy airplay for the album, I suddenly feel the song is actually even worse than I initially thought... The track just sounds like one fast streak with very little variety, the vocals sound good but for some reason oh so lifeless. I'm not sure if the extended nature of the song has a thing or two to do with it, but the song just feels like it never ends and I always feel pressing forward with this song.
Rating : 7

4.Giorgia V. - Race Queen (Go Go's Music)
The past topic on the forum about Giorgia V. has proven to be interesting, especially since the good Giorgia herself was kind enough to let us know in advance when she was about to start recording this specific song. This song could be considered her debut, but the fact is that her performance of a different song through YouTube has gained quite a bit of publicity as well. If you haven't yet heard Go Gosplay! I recommend you to check it out from YouTube. Comparing songs is a natural reaction and when I initially heard Go Cosplay! I was totally blown away, therefore my excpectations for Race Queen were rather high. This time Domino brings some life to the song as the track just oozes of Alessandra in all possible ways. The song is a mental follow up to many of the Domino tracks from the past, which in a way is really nice as I've always loved her style, but sadly this track lacks the final touch that made most of the Domino hits so memorable. The chorus is catchy, sounds are efficient and the track works all around, but it's not quite the bull's eye I was hoping.
Rating : 8½

5.Chris Stanton - A Perfect Hero (Time)
It's somewhat funny really, I notice how I myself value different vocalists a whole lot more than others. While the masculine and macho vocals from a few of the eurobeat artists sound very good to my ear every time, there's always that other side of the coin and with that I present Cristian De Leo... His sound is easily recognizable and it comes to down to the ear of the beholder to actually figure out the level of it. I just can't get over the fact how he sounds very egoistic and just simply too proud for his own good. Now I do understand that when singing about being a super hero you gotta have attitude, but this cup's just too full. A Perfect Hero sounds refreshingly energetic and the extra female vocals add a nice edge to the otherwise so and so vocals, the thing that bugs me about the song is that it just sounds too full of everything. The vocals, background sounds and beat all sound so in your face the whole time. It's like the producers couldn't decide what to make stand out from the song so they decided to make them all sound loud and aggressive. Which leads to the track sounding too butch for my liking. The melody is rather nice and the song is definitely somewhat memorable and out of the normal form, but still it ain't the hit I would have expected after the initial hype.
Rating : 7½

6.Irene - Nothing About Me Baby (SCP)
Irene is slowly becoming the new doll of eurobeat for me since it seems that Elena Gobbi's absence just keeps getting worse and worse every year. Having fun filled songs that aren't totally off the wall á la Kiki & Fancy is great and at the moment it feels as if Irene is alone presenting that sort of feel-good eurobeat anymore. Nothing About Me Baby is a very simple structured song that either makes you fall in love with the chirpy sounds or just want to skip it. Light and fun sounds make the song feel rather easy to pick, but also easy to dump so already after a few weeks I noticed starting to sway away a bit. The song suffers from the usual syndrome of deja vu. At first it all sounds really good and fun, but after a while it somehow just becomes an old faire and you feel like skipping it. For throw and away eurobeat this song is a masterpiece, but it just can't become a longlasting favorite sadly. Either way it does make me feel good and I won't skip it just yet when it comes on my playlist.
Rating : 8+

7.Norma Sheffield - Do You Really Wanna Love Me (A-Beat C)
I was listening to some older eurobeat the other day and It's For Your Eyes came on, for some reason I had to listen to this track right after and it felt oddly disturbing to see how much she hasn't changed in all of these years. The songs Norma presents are easily categorizable after you've heard a few of her songs, which also makes it easier for people to figure out whether to actually bother listening to her or not. I wasn't exactly going to pay much attention to her this time around as I've already tried so many times to be hopeful and wait for that _one_ song to rule them all. Maybe due to the pessimistic attitude I was actually somewhat surprised to notice that Do You Really Wanna Love Me sounds pretty slick. It doesn't break the normal pattern one bit, but it just sounds pleasant to the ear. The sounds we hear are very similar to the ones that were used in Matt Land's Magical which might have a thing or two to do why I get happy feelings here and there while listening to this track. If you are a Norma fan, this song might just be your highlight for the album, for me it was a step up from the norm.
Rating : 8+

8.Cherry - Anyway, Anymore (Delta)
Delta's powerhouse name of the moment keeps pushing forward with sheer energy and aggression, it's great to see at least one of those so called oldschool titles appear with constant rate even this late in the eurobeat history. Clara Moroni's influence on the song is noticable as the song right off the bat has that unique tone she gives out to the tracks she performs even without the powerfulvocals. Anyway, Anymore sounds really fun and simple which works for both good and bad. The sounds with the chime-esque effects are really easy on the ear,  but after a while they just lose the force. Vocals are the highlight as usual, and not the least due to the fact that the chorus and verses are built mainly around the nicely written lyrics. The engrish parts here and there aren't as noticable as some of the times *cough Hello Hello*, plus the heartbroken lyrics just sound so good coming from Clara for some reason. A basic good Delta song, but not equal to her previous hits.
Rating : 8½

9.Leslie Hammond - Run And Run (HI-NRG Attack)
I've become strangely attached to this song and I just can't understand exactly why. If I could nominate a best intro for this album it would no doubt be for Run And Run as it just sounds so fucking brilliant. I've stated this before already, but HRG really somehow manage to put their best essence often into the intros of their songs. I wouldn't look forward to anything particularly different from the usual trend, but instead they just present a simply addictive song with excellent verses and a mildly annoying chorus. So I use the word annoying as an adjective for the song, but I still admit loving it, what's up with that? God only knows, I can't understand it myself. I'm just simply mesmerized every time I hear it, props to the best intro for the album and the well done c-melody. Oh and less squeeky vocals next time and I could actually give the song a perfect grade.
Rating : 9

10.Mega NRG Man - Up & Down Spin Me Like A Record (A-Beat C)
It's not always fun to review songs from the artists you've become customed to love, because well... they just occasionally do bad songs. Mega NRG Man has had to do a few rather bad performances lately and this track doesn't lift the bar too high either way. Back in the 170's we had a few of similarly built songs as Up & Down Spin Me Like A Record: The song builds up fast with active sounds and aggressive vocals, but this time it feels like the spirit is missing completely. The chorus doesn't really feel one bit different from the verses and the c-melody sounds completely down the drain. An un-eventful song that would be shamed compared to some of the actual big hits he scored during the past few decades.
Rating : 7

11.DJ NRG - Go Go Champion (A-Beat C)
So maybe the return of Gianni for even for a brief moment could bring some life to A-Beat C's garage. Go Go Champion sounds nicely speedy and it's simple enough to be listened to for a few times here and there, but sadly it ain't really longlasting fun. The track peaks at the chorus which sounds good every single time, but sadly the intro, verses and c-melody can't really compete with it in any way possible. Occasionally while listening to the song I felt as if it was a patchwork job with completely irrelevant pieces that don't click no matter how hard they try. The different kind of sounds from the normal A-Beat C trend are refreshing, but to make me pleased they still need to do some work and get rid of the downtimes many of these tracks offer.
Rating : 7½

12.David Dima - Tsundere Night (Dima Music)
So one of the old generation eurobeat producers is back in picture, and new labels surely do bring some variety for the albums. Davide Di Marcantonio has an impressive array of hits under his belt, on many different labels, so it's only natural to expect big from him this time as well. Tsundere Night is definitely the right way to keep up with his past, the track sounds effective, majestic and thoroughly produced to perfection. The verses are effective, chorus is simply addictive and the sounds with all of the nice acoustic parts feel completely fitting. The song is nicely different from anything else on this album and I do hope with this sort of level we'd be getting at least one song from Dima Music per album, a very nice way to kick off on SEB.
Rating : 9½

13.Sandy - Power Of Loving You (Sinclaire Style)
Well the album has reached it's climax, but what sort of a climax are we talking about? A perfect ending for the course or no satisfaction quaranteed.... I have to sadly face the facts and notice we have a rather lifeless song that just sounds like something, which might have been better left at the shelf. The vocals sound nice and chirpy, but the problem is that the track just sounds lifeless and only the chorus can bring some memorable moments for it. A song without a good melody often comes crashing down like this one, it lacks the good structure to be built upon on, but we can only hope for the best on the next performance.
Rating : 7-

Final Words :
Well I do have to admit I am even surprised myself. I initially dug into the album and was hoping for the best, the first reaction was contentment as there were quite a few pretty nice pieces on the album, but by time I did notice that a lot of the songs lost their charm swiftly and in the end only a few of the tracks remained liked. The album is fairly nice due to the fact that it doesn't have any actually bad songs, but there are a few performances that did leave room for improvement. After the excellent 187 the level sadly notches down quite a bit, but in the end we are still moving on safe ground as the generic level is good. After all the average still hoves around 8, which is considered good for our grades at least. Well every one can judge for themselves how they feel about the album, I'm at least looking forward to hearing 189 and the comeback of the Go Go Girls much more than anything else.

Final Score : 8

The Best 3 songs

- The Snake - Queen Of Mean
- David Dima - Tsundere Night
- Leslie Hammond - Run And Run

The Worst 3 Songs

- Sandy - Power Of Loving You
- Daniel - Spirit Of The Night
- Mega NRG Man - Up & Down Spin Me Like A Record

Honorable Mention

- Cherry - Anyway, Anymore

Labels present on the album:

A-Beat C: 3
Delta: 2
Dima Music: 1
Go Go's Music: 1
HI-NRG Attack: 1
Saifam: 1
SCP: 2
Sinclaire Style: 1
Time: 1

Reviewed by Bore