Super Eurobeat 193

2.Lou Hunter - The Never Ending Story (Eurogrooves)
The idea of a whole album made of remakes sounded edgy on paper, the reality was fortunately a little bit brighter. The one factor that saved some points of this album were the songs that were actually covers instead of yet more remakes of old eurobeat hits. The Never Ending Story opens the album up nicely with a song I haven't even gotten familiar in the past, so Eurogrooves actually presented a brand new song. The song has really mellow feeling to it and it's nice pace keeps the melody flowing very pleasantly. A nice mixture of dance ingredients and acoustic instruments blend well and form clearly the best aspect of the song: the sounds. Over all the song is nicely balanced and shows that the masterminds behind Time/Eurogrooves have what it takes to do good "remakes", just ditch the monotonous presentations we've already heard a lot. The only minus points for the song come from a rather uninspiring verses, if the attraction the chorus offers would've been attained elsewhere, this might have been one of the few bull's eyes for the Dall'Ora team.
Rating: 9

3.David Dima - Save A Prayer (Dima Music)
Although I have had a long past with 80's music in general, I have to admit I haven't gotten too familiar with this Duran Duran original. A lot of their other songs I would've instantly recognized, but fortunately Dima picked up a song I wasn't already bored of. Save A Prayer is technically one of the best known tracks Duran Duran did, so it feels logical to pick a widely recognized song as a cover. The track infuses an infectious melody with the well recieved "Dima sounds". Vocal work is as strong as ever by Davide and when the song offers a really stable and memorable melody it's no wonder that this song easily stands out the best from the whole album. Although the song is really well balanced all around and sounds really good to the ear, I feel the track just doesn't have enough to make it an everlasting dance track, nice in small doses but eventually the novelty of it just wears off.
Rating: 9½

4.Tipsy & Tipsy - Hung Up (Saifam/Asia)
Covering Madonna is yet an another intelligent move by the eurobeat labels. You just have to admit it, the original Hung Up is a milestone for mainstream pop music: it infuses really memorable elements from different styles with such expertise you hardly come up with such. Covering a widely appreciated and loved song into fast paced eurobeat will surely divide the crowds in two, for the people who can still find the original highlights present will enjoy this version definitely. Then again, those who have a hard time letting go of the original mood, won't prolly enjoy the Tipsy & Tipsy edition. What I found remarkable and at the same time disappointing about this song is that it really kept the sounds and style of the original really well. The vocals sound a lot like Madonna and the sounds basically have just added that little bit of mandatory eurobeat to it, but otherwise we move rather close to how it originally was. So technically if you liked Hung Up when it was released, you should enjoy this one as well (if you don't mind the faster tempo).
Rating: 9

5.Tina Ray - Video Killed The Radio Star (Eurogrooves)
Pretty much everybody knows the original, so this track moves close to the border of over-done eurobeat classics. I can't say I would have ever really valued the original as a classic of any kind, but some elements and lyrics probably made it stand out from the masses. Annerley's vocalwork sounds rather inspiring compared to a lot of the A-Beat C presentations, but at the same time the song sounds rather depressing to the ear. It feels slightly forced and unintentionally mellow. It tries to sound bubbly and catchy but to me it just sounds like one of those grandmas in the Caribbean trying to look 25. Overused, uninspiringly produced and totally monotonous. Props for Annerley being able to put up a different style for a change though.
Rating: 5½

6.Mark Farina Feat. F.C.F. - Bad Desire (Saifam/Asia)
As far as needed remakes go, this one is definitely one of those. If you have been in the eurobeat scene for more than a week you should probably in one way or an another gotten familiar with Bad Desire. The wide array of "classic" Saifam songs definitely features this one. The fact that it has been redone at least once in the nearby past makes it even more obsolete. As far as the remake itself, it still sounds catchy and memorable. But I have questioned myself in the past as well about this very feature, is it just memorable due to the sheer amount of replays it has had or is the song really just that punchy. I have to admit that Farina's vocal work is very nicely presented and he sounds fully singing from his heart here which does earn the song some extra oomph. Electric guitars are a nice spice definitely and maybe could have even been used more aggressively to bring out a different feel to this remake. Basically this is a remake of a song that is without doubt gotten to a standard eurobeat classic status, but you just have to decice for yourself whether it actually deserves it.
Rating: 7½

7.Kevin & Cherry - Doctor Love 2009 (Delta)
What exactly makes an eurobeat song survive past the initial appeareance on a SEB? If there was a clear answer to this question we'd probably be blessed with so much more "good" material, but sadly it's still a mystery. Why I even wonder is the fact that I don't quite find Doctor Love a song worthy of a remake in the first place. The song originally sounded nice and that's the real problem, it's just nice, nothing specially different or catchy. The remake does justice to the original though, even so much that it possibly is an even more professional to the track. Adding extra vocals here and there by Clara works wonders for the otherwise slightly monotonous vocals. Davide as a vocalist usually offers a nice range of variety but here he just feels to be stuck in a really short range of notes. If you record an eurobeat song and update the sounds to a modern state you get Doctor Love 2009, an okay song that will surely make you hum along to the chorus but who remembers the verses if you get asked?
Rating: 7-

8.Lolita - Try Me (Platinum Mix) (A-Beat C)
Due to being a fan of the Lolita title itself I would have assumed to be more pleasantly thrilled by the remake, but I was not. Even beforehand I was slightly put off due to the fact that Try Me is possibly one of the worst Lolita songs in my books. The song has this weird proud mood to it, I can't quite pinpoint what about it bugs me the wrong way, but Annerley just comes off as a real snob when she tells you to try her. I wouldn't. On one hand I can't deny the fact that the song has to some extent deserved the glory it has had, but on the other hand I could pinpoint a lot of other songs from the Lolita-album that would've been so much better if you ask me. Roughly 15 years after the original was released, the remake brings life into the track again by putting the sounds into a more modern format, but for some reason they still sound very much like the 90's. The current state of A-Beat C's synths is probably a step back into the past, and also the reason why the song feels so much like the original with some extra meat around the bones. A proud ho' telling me to Try her, I am going to politely decline and go find myself some real meat.
Rating: 7-

9.Dejo - Too Young To Fall In Love (Sinclaire Style)
Sinclaire actually does something with the male vocalists, a relief to know they didn't ditch all of em. As opposed to the previous comments about questionary remakes, here I'd say the title really deserved a remake. The original Too Young To Fall In Love is pretty much a milestone for eurobeat classics for me. Nicely catchy chorus is what the whole song is built upon on, too bad the remake has sunk it somewhere deep deep. Bluntly put the first moment I heard the remake I could have expressed my feelings with some of the rather famous 4Chan images. If the original was addictive and memorable, the remake is annoying and horrible. Plain horrible. I could go on about how every aspect of the song sounds faulty, but I'll remain civil and just end by saying that this remake should have never been done after all, oh how wrong I was.
Rating: 4½

10.Go 2 - Hot Vampire (SCP)
The idea of switching tracks by two really widely recognized eurobeat "groups" is definitely one of the highlights for this album. Ideally hearing more of this sort in the future would be very welcome as these 2 songs present a completely different kind of aspect to a track you have already gotten familiar with. The original Go Go Girls track featured a rather murk and even slightly mystic mood to it (which is very well from an eurobeat song), the Go 2 presentation on the other hand makes it into a fiesta. Experiemental tracks are often on thin ice, but sometimes you just have to take the risk and try something else. I would honestly have hoped to hear Go 2 something more light and humorous like the Go Go Girls generally are, but alas no. Hot Vampire in the hands of Go 2 sounds very masculine and butch, I originally thought they could get the song sounding slightly homoerotic, but for some reason they didn't. Good vocals, catchy sounds and all the basic Go2 elements are here, if you like the SCP duo, you will like Hot Vampire as well, if not. Well that's your problem. But still, the original is better. Props for the "Go Go Girls!" shouts, put a smile on my face.
Rating: 9

11.Go Go Girls - Looka Bomba (Go Go's Music)
So what I said about experiemental stuff for Go 2, I might've liked something similar by the Go Go Girls, but again alas no. The wacky and slightly off the wall good mood of the GGGs is definitely present. The original song has gotten completely different and shows how much you can do with a melody and just completely different kinds of sounds. Makes you wonder what Dave Rodgers could do with a Kiki & Fancy song. The basic melody is still as punchy as ever but the track has gotten a complete makeover with lighter synths and female vocals. Nice and catchy but eventually it doesn't quite reach the level of the original either.
Rating: 9

12.Fastway & Christine - Number One (SCP)
There's a weird feature about Christine, whenever she's singing backgrounds she sounds so much more powerful and memorable than when she's in the lead. Don't take this the wrong way though, I like her solo songs a lot as well, but somehow when she's backing others up her vocals really steal the show. Number One is definitely a song that works perfectly in any way you look at it. The remake updates sounds in logical ways, but strangely the vocals sound mostly like they did back in the original. The only changes really feel to be in the shouts and Christine's vocals. Not much to say here, it sounds a lot like the original did. A good song, but possibly could have been even more different.
Rating: 8½

13.Pistol Girl - Ike Ike (HI-NRG Attack)
HI-NRG Attack have been pleasantly avoiding remakes which is one of the better aspects of the label, since this atrocity would have been better off without appearing at all. Ike Ike is definitely one of the label's biggest successes so it feels logical to have it remade, sadly it just sounds wrong in every way. The wacky vocals in the original were great, now they sound boring and plain unnatural. The sounds originally were catchy and bubbly, now they sound lifeless and distorted. Not much to add other than the fact that this sort of presentations really make me wish they won't remake more songs.
Rating: 5

14.Dave Rodgers Feat. Mike Garson - Space Boy (Grand Mix) (A-Beat C)
As I initially said when I revieved the original Space Boy, I can't quite pinpoint what about this song has earned it to live past the other really good Dave tracks. The remake tries to bring life and it sure succeeds in that. A completely irrational piano intro for the song is better off chopped away, but after that the song bursts into a nicely different mood. Reworked sounds spiced with some piano on the background sounds weird at firist but when you get used to them it doesn't feel all that bad. Melody has it's highlights and also features which definitely have given it some reason to be credited as a song worth more than one album appereance. Eventually though the reality is that reviving a song with just slight piano here and there you don't really get much of a difference. A pointless remake from where you could pick the pianos and just have an acoustic version without Dave nor the eurobeat along.
Rating: 5

Final words:

Well I am not the biggest fan of covers nor remakes. So I was pondering for a long time whether purchasing this album at all would be worth it. In the end I did decide to the purchase for the good of eurobeat, but quite frankly I ended up regretting it. A part of the remakes are well done and the idea behind switching songs by eurobeat acts is really wonderful, but I feel there would be a lot more potential behind this idea than what this album offered. Parts of the album could have been erased from history, but fortunately nothing forces me to listen to them ever again after I'm done with this review. I have to say that I don't ever again want to get a remake album, if they do play again with the idea, I am not one of the buyers definitely. For the score I was torn due to the amount of rather nice songs, the bad songs weighed more on the scale this time around though. Not 177 though, huge relief, but we're dangerously close.

Final score: 6½

The Best 3 songs

- David Dima - Save A Prayer
- Lou Hunter - The Never Ending Story
- Tipsy & Tipsy - Hung Up

The Worst 3 Songs

- Dejo - Too Young To Fall In Love
- Pistol Girl - Ike Ike
- Tina Ray - Video Killed The Radio Star

Honorable Mention

- The idea behind the mixture of Go Go Girls & Go 2

Labels present on the album:

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

Reviewed by Bore