Now Dance 2001 Vol.1 - Various Artists

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Not applicable
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
Value for Money

Advantages:	Some wicked tunes
Disadvantages:	Some  .  .  .  .  .  .  tunes

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Please don’t moan about this, it doesn’t have a walking stick and it doesn’t have a pension but it is old. I have to tell you all about this because it’s maybe one of my favourite albums of all time.

If you know me you’ll know that I’m a Happy Hardcore fan, I love Hardhouse mainly Lisa Lashes and Dance and Trance also play on my stereo at home.

But this is one of those classic Dance albums and for some strange reason, it was apparently made by Virgin, wander if the release date was delayed!!!

This is Now Dance 2001. You can still pick it up actually, I originally got it at the time of release from HMV for £15,99, but have since seen it still on sale reduced of course in our local Tower Records-Southampton for £16,99.

It seems as most Cd’s like in my last album op use disc1’s as the scape goats, don’t know why but they end up being the worst of discs in almost every album. Here they haven’t done too bad though, they have some classics.

Disc 1
‘O, ‘O, ‘O,

01- Chocolate Puma ~ I Wanna Be U
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This tune is quite good, it has a fairly catch intro and has lots of opportunities for mixing. The bad thing I find about this track is that it always reminds me of a Ricky Martin tune so it’s hardly ever played, shame.

02- Rui Da Silva Ft. Cassandra ~ Touch Me
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Now whatever the sort of music your into, this is a classic tune. You have to like this, it has great voice vocals whacked in front of a piano riff that's like a soft melody. It’s one of the best tunes I’ve heard and it’s one you can really listen to.

03- Sonique ~ I Put A Spell On You
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Not a tune I can listen to, this is her follow up to her first- It Feels So Good. It’s a fast tune with some fast hats and beats kicking away in the background, but other than the fast beats, there’s nothing else that makes me listen to it.

04- Safri Duo ~ Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song)
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We all remember this, not for being the best tune ever but for being something great and different. I still enjoy listening to this and the video made for it was excellent, still, a fantastic track for the ears.

05- Fragma ~ Everytime You Need Me
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This is catch tune that you can always play in your head whether you have the music or not. Not the best of tunes but a great tune about. Fragma did a great job of mixing the vocals with the trance background melody.

06- Dario G ~ Dream To Me
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The first of only 2 tunes she ever sang. This is one of those mellow songs that you and you’d partner listen to after a great night out, it’s soft but fast with some slight happy beats in there.

07- LeAnn Rimes ~ Can’t Fight The Moonlight
Latino Mix)
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This is a bouncy mix using the nice vocals of LeAnn with some beats and bouncing melodies. This film was the song for Coyote Ugly and managed to make it to number 4 in the charts.

08- Atomic Kitten ~ Whole Again ( Whirlwind Mix)
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This was their 4th hit single that stayed in the charts for sometime. Although this was a fairly good track, this mix makes it sound much stranger and longer and really drags the song out.

09- Melanie B ~ Feels So Good
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If someone were to mix this and release it, it’ll be big hit in the clubs today and I can guarantee that. It’s a great tune with some excellent lyrics, an all round great song.

10- Britney Spears ~ Stronger
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I have no idea what the people thought when they
were adding this to the album. It’s not a bad tune, but you just can’t listen to it and if you do it’s because both your legs are broken and you can’t get to the stereo.

11- Backstreet Boys ~ Shape Of My Heart ( Soul Solution Edit)
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This is another good tune. The lyrics are great and the tune is average, but this mix does spice it up a little by speeding it up and adding a few rangy sounds.

12- Kaci ~ Paradise ( Motiv8 Celestial Edit)
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Never would have liked this tune if I didn’t here the edit first. The edit is nearly enough to make you want to club. It’s a good track but it still has nothing special although I don’t mind it.

13- Kylie Minogue ~ Please Stay
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Probably one of the worst tracks on the disc, even Kylie lovers couldn’t sit and listen to it. There’s no specific intro and there’s nothing to keep your ears open. Basically it’s boring and simple and could get repetitive.

14- Alice Deejay ~ Celebrate Our Love
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One of the best tunes on the disc! Right from the start the soft church chords and sharp lovely vocals get you listening. All the way through it keeps you with it bringing in new quick sounds and different ways of playing the tune by voice and tune mixed.

15- Martine McCutcheon ~ On The Radio
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Quite a simple song, just one of those songs you hear playing on the radio itself. Not that fast but faster than some and vocals well, not bad. An all-round Ok tune.

16- Cleptomaniacs Ft. Bryan Chambers ~ All I Do
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This is a very catchy tune that WILL stick in your head, but like some of these catchy tunes, it’ll soon get repetitive and you’ll soon be praying for the CD Player not to work!

17- Madison Avenue ~ Everything You Need
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It took me ages to not mind the song playing and I was surprised that it was on the CD. This was their follow up single after their first big hit. This wasn’t though, the vocals are to clear and the sound and melody are worth no ears.

18- Bel Amour ~ Bel Amour
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This is an early sounding 90’s tune with the same sort of sound as the 90’s tune- Playing with Knives. It has a soft melody with a great rhythm, not many vocals but you don’t need them when you have a sound like this one.

19- Disco-Tex pts. Cloudburst
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Don’t get me wrong, this is a good tune, but I feel that at times its far too crowded with too many different beats. However, the vocals are good and the tune is better.

20- David Morales ~ Needin’ U II
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This is the last classic on the disc. This an update of the hit single Needin U in the early 90’s,It has a bit of old skool in it which I think is great, it has excellent vocals, excellent tune and an all-round club classic.

21- EBTG vs Soul Vision ~ Tracey In My Room
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This is a pretty bad song, no wonder why it was near the end. I have heard Soul Vision do much better with music and sounds and this is not one of them.

22- Amira ~ My Desire
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How would you end a CD? With a smash maybe, well this doesn’t have that. This isn’t a bad tune, it sure deserves more than it has because I never heard of it before. Everything seems in-line on this track and everything's all on one level!
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That was Disc1. I can listen to a few of those tracks time and time again, especially 2 and 14. But Disc2 is so much better, have a look!

Disc 2
‘O, ‘O, ‘O,

01- Gorillaz ~ Clint Eastwood (Ed Case/Sweetie Edit)
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We all remember this tune but do we know this mix? I hope so. In this mix you have a lot more rapping, a sharper intro and a more longer song. All in all, this mix is fantastic and makes the whole thing sound a whole lot better.

02 - Simon ~ Free At Last
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This is a fantastic sound, not to listen to but the sound is a genius one. It’s completely different. It has low and short packs of music filled with a constant load of samples of words by Martin Luther King himself. It has his words and other strange sounds put together.

03- Hatiras ~ Space Invader
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A very bad intro that makes you want to turn it off, but a fantastic tune with a wicked chorus where the fantastic chords blend with the low male vocals.

04- Santos ~ Camels
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An excellent club track, it’s not the fastest of tunes and in fact, takes some while to get started, but it has that whole chillout trance feel made from the soft sounds in the tune.

05- Planet Funk ~ Chase The Sun
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This tune made it big in all the clubs here in the South as well as Ibiza and Ayia Napa. Not only does it have the level beats but it has significant chords that are slightly bended. The whole tune from start to end is amazing and this is a track you can listen to again and again.

06- Vincent De Moor ~ Fly Away
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The vocals are what in my view make this tune as good as it is. But the way the vocals are put with the music makes it just that bit better, everything is in great timing, another great tune.

07- Mario Pui’ pts. DJ Arabesque ~ The Vision
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Um.. a very confusing tune, sometimes the sounds are muddled up and this confuses me, though all in all, The Vison is a good tune and I can listen to it many times.

08- Public Domain ~ Operation Blade
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A Fantastic club tune, plenty of vocals but vocals that just build you up on adrenalin. The whole tune is a banging one and if you hear this in a club your arms will be high and your head will be swinging, an excellent tune that never gets turned off.

09- Storm ~ Storm ( Housetrap mix)
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The mix doesn’t make it that different actually. It’s pure beats mixed in a with a sub base line with a fixed soft melody. Another good tune but can get boring to listen to.

10- Cortina ~ Music Is Moving
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Very similar to the previous track. It has more vocals and is a bit more bouncy though this is better than the last track.

11- Voodoo And Serano ~ Blood Is Pumpin’
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This is a .... Pumpin’ tune. Similar to Operation Blade without the vocals. Lots of beats, fast and quirky but all on one level at a steady rhythm, another class tune.

12- Darude ~ Feel The Beat
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This is the follow up to that dodgy classic- Sandstorm. It’s completely for the clubs as it slows down and speeds up a good few times. I’d say it’s close to a Trance tune but the beats and speed make it a great Dance tune.

13- Jan Johnston ~ Flesh
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Not a bad tune, but it’s hard to get into it and the tune is fairly repetitive.

14- The Thrillseekers Ft. Sheryl Deane ~ Synaethesia (Fly Away)
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A tune that at right from the start everyone knows. It’s a mix of vocals and sounds but the rhythm of the tune played with the vocals make this not only a great tune to listen to but a great tune to dance to.

15- ATB ~ Fields Of Love
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This is a nice song, nice? Yeah, nice. It’s a trance sounding tune with a few vocals here and there, it doesn’t have anything big about it but it’s a great track made by the great ATB.

16 - Marc et Claude ~ Loving You
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This is like one of those old tunes played in the 40’s and 50’s by Ms Monroe. The woman who sings this has a great voice with a massive high point, but the actual sounds that follow are great, amazing chords and riffs make this fantastic!

17- Tenth Planet ~ Ghosts (Vincent De Moor Radio Edit)
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Tenth Planet should have got more attention over this tune they put together. It has a soft bended chord melody with some sweet trippin vocals.

18- Mauro Picotto ~ Komodo (Save A Soul)
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I know a few other Mauro tunes and they are excellent. This is like a bouncy Japanese sound tune with that oriental beat and some slow praying vocals.

19- Tomba Vira ~ The Sound Of: Oh Yeah
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This is a strange tune that's obviously been put together by a DJ. It has constant vocals - Oh Yeah, and it put together back to back with a sample of the 80’s classic- Enola Gay.

20- Slam ~ Positive Education
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A simple tune that's very similar to the last though it has more of the dancing feel done by the strange tune in the background.

21- Photek Ft. Robert Owens
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A very beaty tune that's up and down, this one I don’t like at all, it just isn’t on the same level and too much has been put into the tune in a short space.

22- St. Germain ~ Rose Rouge
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I hardly ever listen to this because I can’t ever see me dancing to this in a club. I’d rather switch it back a few tracks as the short soft breakbeats mix weirdly into the tune itself.
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Well that's the CD, or should I say, my CD. I prefer Disc2 a lot more as there are many club tunes here that’ll get your arms throwing and your feet hopping.

It’s a great album, overall, disc 1 and 2 are both pretty good. But there are the good few tracks that make this a ‘must have’ in your Cd collection.

It’s took me ages to write this but it’s worth it, especially if you all agree and get the Cd. It’s a good one that you don’t want to miss and you can still get it but real soon you’ll find it impossible!

Just enjoy the music you have if you haven’t got this!

Thanks for reading and dancing!

Chunka!