Delta
I'm a major fan of all of Capaldi's works, even if they do take a while to warm up to sometimes, so the two Delta songs on this album were welcome additions to the decade. I'm still warming up to the Marko song, which is a very typical Capaldi production, but "Stay With Me" was definitely a surprise! I wouldn't have ever guessed that Capaldi produced this, which, I suppose, alleviates some of our fears about his productions sounding too samey. A great effort by the Delta crew.
Dima
Dima was a mixed bag on this album. I thoroughly enjoyed "Stardust", but "All About You" is probably Dima's most forgettable song of the decade, if not of all time. That song does absolutely nothing for me. The quick succession of slow Dima material has finally taken its toll on me - I can't even tell these type of songs apart anymore. Having said that, however, I actually enjoyed the Destinee song, probably because it's not Dima who's singing it. Yes, her voice is a bit plain, but I think it works with the general, steady mood of the song.
Go Go's Music
Not impressed with Manuel, especially not as the album opener. The problems I highlighted with "It's Like A Fire" and basically all of GGM's male productions in the past few years are present here yet again, and, to save myself from sounding like a broken record, I don't really want to go into all of that again. All I'll say is that those lighter synths GGM have adopted have already lost them quite a number of fans and are not gaining them any new ones. GGM really needs to bring back the power and edge that was present in their earliest productions.
Hi-NRG Attack
Very glad to see that Hi-NRG Attack are finally pumping out material that is catchy and innovative for a change. Of course, I'm mainly referring to the Joe D. Toaster production more than the Claudia Vip one, but "Lucky Star" wasn't all that bad either. I hope this isn't just a brief flash of inspiration from Hi-NRG that we're hearing though - I hope it's a permanent change for the better.
SCP
Like Dima, SCP was a mixed bag. "Bigga Boom" was just an immature and annoying mess that did no justice to the label, but "Hi Love", on the other hand, really blew me away! Traditional Jay Lehr at his pure best, and my favourite song from the album.
SinclaireStyle
SinclaireStyle has really been the dark horse of the decade for me so far. However, I don't really understand all the hype surrounding "1.2.3.4. Fire!" Maybe that's because I'm not the biggest fan of late 90s/early noughties eurobeat material. Oh, and I'm still seething with rage over the fact that the DeJo alias was used for this song (yes, I'm still having nightmares over that horrendous "Too Young To Fall In Love" remake from 193). Kill that alias off altogether, I say!
Sun Fire
When I first heard "The Race Of The Night", I hated it, but I can already feel that it is slowly growing on me. It'll probably take some time before this Dave Rodgers song deserves regular airplay though. To say that Sun Fire has had a very strange effect on me so far would be an understatement, haha.
Top 3
- Jay Lehr - Hi Love
- Marika - Stay With Me
- Mr. Moog - Stardust
- Joe D. Toaster - Feel The Power Inside
- Manuel - Limousine
- Dream Fighter - All About You
- Christine - Bigga Boom