Super Eurobeat 119
1.Mega NRG Man - Thanks To My Fans (
A-Beat C)
This time the album is kicked off with pure A-Beat C power as
Mega NRG Man
displays yet another energetic song that is dedicated to his fans. When I saw
the title I just started to think about
D.Essex's
Thank You-Arigato
and for some reason the whole time I listened to this song the
D.Essex
song played in my head and I supposedly found similarities from these two. Well
anyways this is really energetic and catchy and truly a great presentation to
kick the album off with, a great chorus is backed up by great backgrounds.
Thanks to our
Mega NRG Man.
Rating : 9-
2.Cherry - DJ Baam! Baam! Play The Boom Boom! (
Delta)
I've always liked
Cherry a bit, but I never really noticed her real
talent until I heard this song. I knew a dozen songs before this one but none of
them made me go crazy like
DJ Baam! Baam! Play The Boom Boom!. This song
is really upbeat and catchy, and anyways you practically never get a bad song
when the title has the word 'Boom' in it. When compared with other
Cherry
productions this song is way above the most cases as the song has a really
variable soundworld and the vocals are truly ingenious. The lyrics don't have a
real meaning to them and they're pretty dumb in the end, but that hasn't
bothered us before so why would it bother us now? A great presentation, thank
you Delta.
Rating : 9½
3.Kasanova - Shame (
Time)
After a strong start we're treated to a rather surprising song. The intro starts
sounding really lame, but it fortunately turns into joy when the intro ends. An
upbeat melody paves the way for a rather catchy song that has a nice chorus and
a simple, yet cool soundworld. The vocals in the song sound kind of... smokey (I
mean that the vocalist sounds like he would've smoked all of his life) and they
add a serious sexiness tone to them (not that men who smoke would be sexy, but
still). A good song but not a huge hit.
Rating : 8+
4.Valentina - Broken Illusion (
A-Beat C)
This time we're also surprised by
Valentina I was expecting for a rather
mellow calm song, but we got an upbeat song with a great chorus.
Valentina's
vocals are still excellent and that's the main key for this song as if it was
sung by for example
Norma Sheffield the song would've probably been
rather boring. Now the song works as the strong vocals combined with the light
backgrounds create a very functional environment. Good thing that we're treated
to surprises.
Rating : 8+
5.Mary Ann - Wonderful (
Time)
Time knows one thing for sure, they make either crappy or really cool intros.
This time we hear a really cool intro that uses robotic voices and a happy
melody. The song also turns out to be really happy and upbeat that suffers only
from mediocore vocals. The melody is good and the sounds are exceptionally happy
for Time. Also a nice chorus with a good c-melody, a great song over all.
Rating : 8½
6.Kevin Johnson - Looking For Love (
Delta)
I am not quite sure how I know this song so well, but I've had this song playing
in my head from time to time for ages now. I know I haven't dug into this album
before so the song has to be featured on some album I've listened a lot before.
Anyways this is exactly the kind of production you could expect from
Kevin
Johnson the vocals are great, the melody is lightly upbeat and we're moving
on rather mellow grounds (so the song isn't very energetic). The chorus is the
clear highlight for the song as it gets stuck in your head for sure if you hear
it once, and in my books that's a good thing.
Rating : 9
7.Go Go Girls - Nightmare In The City (
A-Beat C)
And once again the praises I've given to oh so many previous
Go Go Girls
songs apply. This is yet another magnficent eurobeat song at its simplest. The
vocals are catchy, the melody is plain awesome and this time we've gotten a
rather dark and murky kind of a mood as the song has this mysterious feel around
it. The track's best feature is the unique tone it has, as it really does feel
kind of nightmare-ish and it works marvellously, and when the vocals, melody,
chorus and lyrics fit the song we've got a masterpiece in our hands. One of the
best
Go Go Girls songs out there.
Rating : 10
8.Matt Land - Night Clubbin' (
A-Beat C)
Another big name from the same label follows as
Matt presents us with
another hit. This is yet another energetic song that works mainly due to the
wonderful melody and the strong vocals. His songs have a serious night-theme
going on for them (
Night Clubbin', Night Flight To Tokyo, Kiss Me Before
Midnight, Mickie And Minnie On The Moonlight Night & Fever The Night), and
for some reason all of his songs with the word 'Night' have also been his best
presentations.
Night Clubbin' is a very very strong song but doesn't
stand a match to a few of his other masterpieces, but still a song worth of a
perfect grade.
Rating : 10
9.Rose - Prayer In The Dark (
Time)
After a quite solid first half the album takes a step lower, though not much.
Now we get exactly what we've come to expect from the title
Rose is calm,
acoustic/mechanic songs with pretty vocals... Those people who love this kind of
eurobeat will surely fancy this song, but I didn't dig it as much as for example
the previous energetic song. But on
Rose levels this song works really
well due to the cool backgrounds, the vocals aren't bad at all, but the problem
is that they're not energetic and that's the main key-element I look for
vocalists in eurobeat. A good song, just not for me.
Rating : 7½
10.Time Force - Moving In Tokyo (
Time)
Time seems to surprise from time to time, they really should do more upbeat and
energetic song. As we already pretty well know the slightly calmer and more
mature sound is what we get from Time on most cases, and in my opinion they are
at their best when they do songs that are unlike their general level.
Moving
In Tokyo is though a similar production from the label, with a midtempo
melody and rather plain vocals, yet it still works for some reason. Perhaps the
catchy c-melody, the melody itself or just the mood makes it work, I can't
pinpoint it out, but still it's a nice song.
Rating : 8
11.Karen - Eternity (
A-Beat C)
Now we're moving on borderlines again, this song starts out sounding very much
like eurodance and it slowly moves back to the regular eurobeat grounds, but
thorough the song we hear elements from both genres and the song just doesn't
really seem to find its own identity. The song sounds rather mediocore on most
levels, but the chorus kicks in a lot more energy and gives the song a good
boost. The vocals are rather dull which is probably the biggest reason why I
didn't get a huge yayness-dose from the song.
Rating : 7
12.Vanessa - Take Your Time (
Time)
Take your Time, yeah we should take our Time, the good kind. My first
reactions with the name
Vanessa were good, because she presented one of
the best songs on the very first SEB, though actually she seems to be doing the
same thing still, and we're very far from those times, and that I tell you: is
not a good thing. The general flaw with Time is present again, the song itself
isn't bad, but they've spared on the background effects and sounds and created
yet another dull athmosphere and when the vocals can't boost it at all, we have
a load of hooey in our hands.
Rating : 5½
13.Mako - Mission To Tokyo (
Delta)
Another song that starts with a very eurodance kind of a feel, and the sounds
also in this song are very close to some eurodance classics. The only real
difference is the speed that is the key-element why I love eurobeat more than
eurodance.
Mako has done a lot great songs, and this is also a pretty
nice song but it doesn't reach the level of his best productions as it lacks a
bit of a punch. The chorus is good, the c-melody is good, but there's something
missing from the verses. A general good song.
Rating : 8+
14.Wain L - Don't You Wanna Be Free (
A-Beat C)
This title is something I've pretty much missed out on, my friends have been
going on and on about how magnificent she is, it took me a while to realize why
she is *that* good. On eurobeat levels we get this kind of materials mainly from
male vocalist, as this song is really energetic and it suits her voice (I think
the vocalist is
Karen at least somebody who sounds a lot like her). The
song is blessed with a magnificent c-melody that is the best part of the song,
though the other parts aren't shabby either, in particular the chorus kicks ass.
Rating : 9
15.Virginia Toy - Harmony (
Delta)
I would really like to know why
Clara Moroni has to use so many different
aliases. At first I didn't even pay attention to them, but after I found out
that she's the main vocalist on nearly all of the Delta productions I began
hearing her in every song with female vocals. This song is pretty much your
standard eurobeat on most levels, the real difference is the c-melody that
sounds more acoustic than what we usually get from Delta, and it works really
well. The chorus reminds me of some other eurobeat song but I just can't point
out which one. Not bad, but not very good either.
Rating : 7-
16.Frank Torpedo - Made For Loving You (
Time)
Frank Torpedo is one of the few names on Time who seems to release
materials way different from the other artists on the label.
Made For Loving
You is a track that is heavy on the electric guitars and it would suit the
A-Beat C mood a lot better, though it doesn't really matter which label does the
song in the end. The song sounds really good for most parts, and surprisingly
enough the chorus is clearly the crappiest part as it sounds really boring. The
c-melody also reminds me a lot of a particular ParaPara AllStars special
performance.
Rating : 8
17.Dave Rodgers - My Dream Team Is Verdy (
A-Beat C)
Dave Rodgers goes
Ricky Martin. The song starts out sounding like
a real rip off, but fortunately that doesn't last and we're taken back to the
regular
Rodgers' land. The song is rather hyper and it works really well
as this album hasn't been the most energetic one from the SEBs out there.
My
Dream Team Is Verdy has a solid chorus and an excellent c-melody but apart
from those two the song doesn't really work that specially and in the end I was
left with a good song, that didn't rise to the level I expected it would.
Rating : 7½
18.Every Little Thing - Fragile (Red Roses Remix)
The J-Euro visits during the past SEBs have been rather refreshing and
it's nice to hear another visit from
ELT. The band has a habbit of doing unique songs and when they've
transformed into the eurobeat form the general level hasn't suffered at all.
This track starts out with a calm yet very beautiful intro, and once the
speedier athmosphere starts the song really gets good. The japanese language
always sounds beautiful and this song doesn't make an exception as the vocalist
for
ELT is really talented, though I guess the vocals could've been sped
up a bit as well. Either way, a good way to end the album.
Rating :
9-
Final Words :
After the marvellous SEB118 the only way was down, and that's how it went.
This SEB is pretty good, and it treats us to a couple of real jewels, and as
opposed to the hits we get a few crappy songs as a gift. This SEB is pretty
heavy on the midtempo songs which might work really well for some, but I didn't
really fancy most of them that much. The best moments are mainly on the first
quarter, and A-Beat C is clearly the best label yet again, though Delta
shouldn't be forgotten as they present the wonderful
DJ Baam! Baam! Play The
Boom Boom! that is surely one of the best
Cherry songs out there. A
good album for people who like a little calmer kind of eurobeat, but for those
who want energy and action, then you might wanna skip this one.
Final Score : 8+
Reviewed by Bore