My overall impression of the new album isn't good, but I require several listen throughs on any Scooter release to get the feel and even more listenings to get into the minds of our trio (whatever their current line-up). Maybe the album is better than I initially thought?
01 C.I.F.L - The intro has been used on many Scooter albums to set the tone for the release. In this case, I feel a very strong Commodore 64 vibe with this track and the album overall. SID Player rules!
02 David Doesn't Eat - H.P.'s voice is re-modulated in the fashion of current American pop radio. I hate current American pop radio, terrible generic sound to every song with the voice going up and down a fake scale. Dave from Sheffield doesn't need this to sound good.
This is an okay track that does not annoy. But it doesn't jump out, either.
03 Dreams - Finally Hans-Peter Geerdes' voice comes through without alteration. He doesn't need it!
The techno side sounds like a bunch of kids playing with the keyboard at the local electronics store.
According to the Wiki entry, Dreams samples the 1980 single 'Reality' by Richard Sanderson. Sanderson's voice is so smooth, I could almost wish they hired him to be the High Pitched Voice (HPV) for this album. No modification needed!
04 Beyond the Invisible - The Happy Hamster dance was over before it started. Why is this considered something that improves this track? Any track? Sounds like someone is playing the old Williams arcade game Defender or Stargate during this one.
The High Pitched Voice (HPV) fans remember from 'The Night' and 'Nessaja' is long gone, and this replacement sounds cheap and silly. This track did give me a laugh, hearing the HPV modulated like the current trend. "They modulated the HPV! LOL" Would that be a double enhancement?
The song ends with the sequencer having a power surge, making one wonder if the stereo is broken. Yuck.
05 Sugary Dip - Over-modulated HPV. Doesn't improve the song. Terribly over-produced, this song would be a stand out track if it was less cluttered.
06 It's A Biz (Ain't Nobody) - I've never heard a song beg you to steal from the band before. This one tells you to listen to the bootleg, and the opening track says "Copyright Is For Losers (C.I.F.L.). Whatever. I bought this album, why tell people to bootleg it?
The worst part of this song is an extended sample from Chaka Khan. This makes it sound like one million other techno tracks out there, generic and undifferentiated. Scooter is not Tiesto or Armin Van Buren! I like Chaka, maybe 'I Feel for You' would be a better sample pick. But this is not what I listen to Scooter for. This sounds like everybody else.
07 C'Est Bleu - A fun jumpstyle song, one can almost see the Sheffield Jumpers hopping around on this one. Unlike Chaka Khan, the French vocalist sample sounds fitting. A good track, although these jumpstyle tracks tend to sound the same after awhile.
08 8:15 To Nowhere - A real risk to title a track similar to the masterpiece instrumental '
Trip to Nowhere'. As one would expect, this track fails to measure up. The first two minutes are promising, then at the 2:05 mark, the DJs don't know what to do with it and make a bunch of noise.
This one will improve with the passage of time, so I'll keep it on my playlist.
09 Close Your Eyes - Great opening on this one. Then the over-modulated HPV starts up, ruining the song. HP could have handled the vocals on the whole song. The DJs really need to have someone else listen to these tracks and ask "Does the HPV super-modulated voice add or detract from the song?"
This song doesn't sound too bad, I can hear a number of elements from their better efforts on previous albums.
10 The Only One - The most familiar to my ears, as I bought the single. I actually prefer the extended version of this track. The music video helped me like this, I always picture the hot women banging on the drums for this one. Also loved the
KLF mention "We are justified and we are ancient, right?"
The best song on the album. That's not a good thing when this was released long before the rest of these tracks. It's still the best track, so kind of a let down.
11 Sex And Drugs And Rock 'N' Roll - Really sounds like this was mixed on a Commodore 64. That's not a bad thing, it is interesting to hear old-school mixed with the new Millenium. The generic female vocalist on this song does not help, wish they deleted her from the final mix or gave her something better to sing do.
The DJ mix on this one really does not sound up to Scooter standard. There are many talented DJs out there with some interesting sounds. This is not Scooter quality.
12 Copyright - Opens with a horrible guest rap. Cannot stand rap on any Scooter track. I actually converted my "Behind the Cow" to WAV files just to edit out the Fatman Scoop raps, then re-encoded them so I wouldn't have to hear him. And I still cannot stand to hear that guest rapper scream on "Maria", sorry.
This track would have made a good instrumental with a little more work. It feels rushed out, like much of the album.
13 Bang Bang Club - Generic bass drum booming through this one. Scooter goes beyond disco by putting some variation in their tracks. At least, previous Scooter DJs did that. This is what the current Scooter DJs turn out, generic and uninteresting techno with the same beat throughout. Boong boong boong, boing boing boing. Are these the only drumbeats in the world to these guys?
Hamster voice HPV not adding to this one. I guess they figure they needed the HPV on every song to cover for their DJing.
14 Summer Dream - The HPV starts up very annoyingly. Did I mention this new HPV (new as in newer than Nessaja) is one of the most horrible things to ever be put on an album? And we have to hear it seemingly every song.
I really wish the current Scooter DJs would go to work on the next Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, and let HP hire some new DJs for the next album. The HPV has never sounded more dated, silly, and pointless. "La la la la la", indeed.
15 Mashuaia - The stand out track, worth the purchase of the album. Near the end it sounds like the HPV wants to come on, then someone drowns the chipmunk. Good job!
Longest track on the album, I wish more of the album was like this and less 'poppy'. Best instrumental of the album!
16 Friends Turbo - Made for a movie soundtrack, didn't see the movie, didn't see the need for the track. A nice inclusion, but not something I'd play twice. There are a lot of Friends remixes out there (several released by Scooter themselves) that sound a lot better.
Overall: So there are a few good tracks. A few more listens will be required to see if these last to become great tracks. But most of the album sounded rushed and generic.
The worst thing I could say about the album is that they made a real effort to make it sound like everything else on the radio. Why? No one asked Scooter to make another
Kei$ha album.
What the Album Didn't Have: I would have liked some more longer instrumentals. But this team has real trouble putting those together, so most of the album is 3-1/2 minute pop tracks.
H.P. Baxxster: HP sounds fine on this album. I would have liked something from his pop background again, like 'Second Skin' from the past album. His voice does not need computer modification, as almost every track here mangles his voice. No reason!
The Techno Side: What made me a lifelong Scooter fan was that the techno arrangements sounded like nothing else on the market. From 1995 onwards, you can look at every bit of techno music out there, and it all sounds the same. The same monotonous beat through the entire song, little creativity, and a generic 'techno babe' singing about how much she loves you even though she's too hot to date the DJ.
Scooter was different because you could appreciate the incredible depth and variations through all of their tracks. The drum beats would change, they'd skip around, slow down, speed up. These extra touches that I value from Scooter are missing from the current DJs in Scooter.
For the past few albums, it has sounded like a couple of kids who just figured out how to use the bass on the sequencer, and just jump up and down and clap when they make it go "Boing boing boing". If you've heard "The Question is What is the Question", you've heard most of the future beats from this same team.
Scooter set the highest standard in the world, and the current team is not even close to reaching that pinnacle again.
Final Analysis: We need more DJs, this effort sounds rushed out the door, and like the rest of radio. HP should go drag Ferris Bueller, Jay Frog, and Axel Coon out of retirement. And I'm not saying fire anybody. Why does Scooter have to be a trio?
Have four or five DJs! and give us the Scooter we know and love.
THE CROWN IS ALREADY MINE 
THE BIG MASH UP »
The Big Mash Up
(Apr 28th 2011, 10:59pm)
