Super Eurobeat 201

1.Dave & Futura - Super Eurobeat (A-Beat C)
After a rather bumpy start Futura is getting more foothold on the eurobeat community. Super Eurobeat follows the path of the catchy and memorable Dance In My Town. The song features dominant vocals by Dave as usual, with Futura providing only a fraction of the complete set. So the basis for this Dave & X is still the same as it was when Domino started with him. The good part about the deal here is that the song is very simple, but also due to its simplicity it's catchy and fun to hum along. It ain't a direct hit like some of the past duets presented, but the song has a weird charm that grows by time more and more. What I would have loved to hear more is the female vocals, but I guess you can't have everything anyways. A nice addition to the long list of songs titled Super Eurobeat.
Rating : 8½

2.Yo - Shine - Power Of My Love (SCP)
So SCP presents us with a new title to mess around with, and with this sort of material I'm at least not disappointed one bit. Irene's style is prominant and the track just oozes of good mood. The uplifting melody combined with the ear-pleasing vocals provide a very effective package. What the song does perfectly is the chorus, it's exactly what a female eurobeat song should be: Catchy, cheery, highpitched and most of all memorable. This is the kind of material I got used to hearing under the Lolita title, so it's great to hear this sort of material from a different label. A song that will definitely divide opinions strongly, but for the light hearted people there's not  a single reason to not like Power Of My Love. Nothing to add or substract, bring back the chipmunk girls!
Rating : 10

3.Fastway - Rock Beatin' Wild (SCP)
At the other end of SCP studios we have Fastway messing about with his guitars. While most of the time the concept works out very well, there's just something about Rock Beatin' Wild that makes it feel like a rehash. The track is built around the guitar riff which is nice sounding, but it just doesn't really form enough of a base that would carry the song far enough to make it memorable. Vocals are as masculine as ever which can be considered as a good or a bad thing. In my case I have to admit that this style of eurobeat has lost some of it's charisma by time, or alternatively this song just is not exactly top notch. Either way this is not exactly a bad song, but it does heavily suffer from lack of edge. Some more variety, guitars mixed with some more dominant elements and maybe a more distinctive chorus would've had a positive effect on the song.
Rating : 7-

4.Mirka - 10,000 Lovers (A-Beat C)
Well, this just feels wrong. Computer says no. I might not know all of the details regarding 10,000 Lovers, but having a song made in 1993 suddenly appear on SEB feels wrong. And the song does stick out of the crowd, but definitely not for its own advantage. All the admiration and positive vibes to Alessandra, but this song just feels so outdated it has zero competition with the line up on the album. What also really bugs me is that there are a lot of songs from the early 90s that still sound good, but this track just lacks pretty much everything to make it a good song from its era. Not a strong presentation in any way at all.
Rating : 6

5.Manuel - Nightrain (Go Go's Music)
It's always a pleasure to hear more of Manuel's screamy vocals and fortunately Nightrain provides just that. It has been a while since we heard from him the last time so the long absense earns him some extra brownie points, unfortunately the song isn't from the better end of what he has sung to date. The song is interesting since it initially sounds strong and catchy, but the melodies over time just suddenly start to sound repetitive with very little variety. The track does provide really intense and kicking sounds which are always a plus in the eurobeat world, but with just good sounds you won't get far. Nightrain falls into the category of songs that are fun to hear every once in a while, but it just doesn't stand heavy airplay at all, well maybe the next Manuel song will follow his previous hitstreak.
Rating : 7½

6.Tipsy & Tipsy - Never Ending Love (Asia/Saifam)
Well, as far as Saifam goes, they have a weird talent to push forward songs that seriously sound completely and utterly lifeless. Never Ending Love sounds like it just has random elements put together and there's no real melody to speak of. Vocals can't really provide much extra life into the song, the only part with any sort of edge is the chorus but it's not exactly the embodiment of catchy. This sort of presentations just enforce my feelings when it comes to the label. Where are the great presentations like Like A Fire or Hey Guy.
Rating : 5

7.Queen 26 - You Are My Wonder (Delta)
Eurobeat songs are pretty easily categorizable, most songs sound good the first time you hear them and others just suck on plain sight. Then there are songs just make a sudden rise from the ashes and force you give them a second chance. You Are My Wonder sounded pretty calming and tranquil the very first time I heard it. Nothing special I guess. Then later on the song just suddenly crept without notice in my head and suddenly I kept playing it more and more. Most of the times songs work well due to great sounds, but occasionally vocals just steal the show completely as is the case with this track. The vocal work is just so soothing and pleasant to the ear I couldn't help but feel relaxed especially during the bridge. This sort of eurobeat makes me feel that there really is a different "Upper category" for songs in this genre, it just isn't one time use music as a lot of eurobeat is. The song has multiple layers, very strong emotion attached to it and most of all replay value. A definite highlight of this album.
Rating :  10

8.Mr. Moog - Say Goodbye (Dima Music)
Dima has had a knack for creating instantly infectious songs in the past, so it was rather interesting to hear him produce a song that didn't right away stand from the album. Say Goodbye can directly be categorized as a hit, but it still is far behind from his previous works. In the world of eurobeat the song has the good ingredients you could hope for, but it just seems to lose some of the potential somewhere along the way. The bridge and chorus are very strong and catchy, but the rest of the song can't really keep up with them. The sounds also lack some punch that per say Save A Prayer or Tsundere Night had. Either way, the track is memorable and fun to listen to, but it still could have used a bit of extra magic.
Rating : 8+

9.Claudia Vip - In Your Car (HI-NRG Attack)
If HI-NRG Attack producers get their hands on a hit they can do some wonderful work, but unfortunately the label has lately had a lot of tracks that are fun all around but not exactly hits. I put in some extra expectations for In Your Car due to the simple reason that I've pretty much loved every previous Claudia Vip song, but this time around even the old legends let me down. The song suffers from the same old issues: Repetition, uninspiring vocals and rehashed sounds. The thing is, that even with old elements there are times when they just go together perfectly, but In Your Car just doesn't really bring anything new into the mix. An okay song in its own category, but definitely not a masterpiece.
Rating : 7-

10.K. Deleo - Wonderlover (Eurogrooves)
If you start an intro with piano I'm usually the one to press forward fast. This Eurogrooves track provides quite some amount of piano to boot, fortunately it mostly is overshadowed by the basic beat. The problem though is that when you rip out the intro you get left with a long stream of nothingness. The different parts of the song don't stand out in any way, you can hardly notice when the verses change into bridge and bridge to chorus. This sort of production is usually what makes me instantly ignore the song. More highlights, just something to break down the repetitive formula.
Rating : 5

11.Nathalie - Live It Up! (SinclaireStyle)
SinclaireStyle has this weird fetish of throwing in vocoders here and there, did I ever mention how I hate vocoder vocals? Well fortunately it's not a constant vocoder faire, but every little bit throws my annoyance meter one step further. The positive side is that the track features a very bubbly chorus that is fun to listen to and it does give justice to the longlost Nathalie title. But the other problems rise up in later parts when the typical Sinclaire beat kicks in. The metallic sound just sounds so hollow and empty I can't really stomach it. I really tried my best to like this song a lot, but unfortunately the negative sides overshadow the good chorus and bridge. Live It Up! could have been a very catchy song with some different production but now it just gets overrun by the other tracks on the album.
Rating : 7

12.Ken Blast - When The Sun Goes Down (Delta)
So the random dude outside the usual eurobeat circles gets a foothold on the community, and with class as well. I have to say I was a bit skeptical about a song initially, but fortunately my doubts were swept away very quickly. Vocals are the clear highlight for me on this song, there's a nifty amount of real emotion included. When I listen to the song I hear a vocalist singing who also loves the music, often the eurobeat vocalists sound sort of lifeless and dull, as if it's just a job and not passion. The vocals are companied by a very nice melody and sounds. The gallopy bass is slightly different from the typical eurobeat style, even reminiscing of eurodance more so, but that is definitely not a bad thing. This sort of outside help is from my perspective very nice to hear on SEB, it makes the "old" eurobeat feel outdated and repetitive. What I would have loved to hear more is some extra highlights in the sounds that set apart the different sections, although props for the slower section towards the end of the track.
Rating : 10-

13.Girl Next Door - Climber's High (Dima Remix) (Avex/Dima Music)
It has been quite a while since J-Euro was present on SEB, but if this sort of material gets released more often I'm definitely not feeling any negative emotions. I'm not at all familiar with Girl Next Door, but this track has such a strong mood to it I'm instantly interested to hear more about them. The song is such an upbeat song I can't help but feel good everytime I start listening to it. This sort of music is what I enjoy listening to while excercising more than anything, it just makes me increase the pace and lose all worries in the world. The vocals are nice and the remixing by Dima is as strong as ever, unfortunately I don't have the original to compare with, but I shall dug that up later on. This sparkles my interest in J-Euro once more!
Rating : 9½

14.Dave Rodgers - Wild Reputation (Rock Mix) (A-Beat C)
Well hearing an old track remade in rock format at the end of a SEB can be bit of a double edged sword. I myself would have been more pleased with an extra new song instead of more Dave, but I guess things could be worse. There's no denying that Wild Reputation is a classic and it still works out great after all these years. The rock remix changes the whole style so strongly it feels like a new song for the most part, well vocals aside... I was slightly surprised in the end by how well the track works, I didn't start comparing the old with this remake but it does sound like Dave hasn't grown older at all from the old classic. A very nicely presented remix, just not really my cup of tea in the end, but as a production it does sound great.
Rating : 8½

Final Words :
There was quite a big gap between the reviews I've done lately. What really made me want to do a review after all this time was the fact that this album presented me with 3 very memorable songs, that I currently rank very high in my books. The album is definitely not from the stronger end of SEBs as a whole, but it does feature so much good mood in it that I can't help but like it. The negative side on the other hand is that some of my old favorites failed to present me with the kind of material I would have hoped, but this just shows that putting too much expectations on some names isn't always a good thing. Either way, the new titles like Yo Shine and Ken Blast were here to bring in new winds and Queen 26 stayed as strong as ever so I'm pleased in the end. The labels I haven't really enjoyed in the past were pretty much the same way now as well, it's just a fact that when a style a label presents time after time has never sounded good, it suddenly won't do that either. With these words I'm closing the review, perhaps I'll find up more time to fill in the gaps in the reviews from 193-199, who knows? Perhaps? Mayhaps?

Final Score : 8-

The Best 3 songs

- Queen 26 - You Are My Wonder
- Yo Shine - Power Of My Love
- Ken Blast - When The Sun Goes Down

The Worst 3 Songs

- K. Deleo - Wonderlover
- Tipsy & Tipsy - Never Ending Love
- Mirka - 10,000 Lovers

Honorable Mention

- Girl Next Door - Climber's High (Dima Remix)

Labels present on the album:

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

Reviewed by Bore