Search - Various Artists :: Ultra 2009

The series is losing its commercial appeal--and becoming rep

Daniel W. Kelly | Long Island, NY United States | 10/28/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Seriously, Thrivemix and Ultra need to become more competitive rather than EXACTLY the same. Lately, there have been so many of the same tracks on both compilations that there seems little reason to buy both, unless the songs you want happen to run longer on one CD than the other. However, it should be noted that Ultra kind of gets bonus points for remaining 2-discs, while Thrivemix's latest entry, volume 5, has left us with only one disc. Each label should focus on getting more exclusive mixes that are unavailable on CD otherwise. And here's a thought. Why not release UNmixed 2-disc sets containing all FULL LENGTH versions of these songs that are not released on CD? Now THAT would be worth buying.



But on to this volume. It's fairly simply and straightforward. Disc 1 is loaded with the big crossover dance tracks that get a lot of airplay on radio, while disc 2 is a little more obscure. The sounds vary little, including disco house, electro house and euro trance. What's funny is that, half the time, when they use the "extended mix", it only runs for like 3 minutes, and at other times, when something is listed as the "radio edit", it runs for 5 minutes or more (the Metro Station and Natasha Bedingfield, for example). It is these longer times that are most appreciated, since these mixes have not made it to CD otherwise.



Other than the obvious dance happy tracks we all probably know (Britney, Natasha, Metro Station, Cascada, September), a couple of tunes are less known but deserve to be. You Make Me Feel by Annagrace is a slammin diva track--`extended' in name, but only a little over 3 minutes long. No Stress by Laurent Wolf is another killer diva track. And it's always good to have a new track by Kim Sozzi, and here, you get almost 5 minutes of her mellow dance track. But the standout tracks are few and far between. Other than those tracks and some of the bigger tracks, this is mostly background music--and why do we need that when there are SO many excellent dance songs out there that could be enjoyed in the forefront of our lives?



Disc 1 is better than disc two. Disc two is all over the place, from Spanish influenced house to instrumental trance, and `noisy' electro in the middle. Overall, this 2 disc set just doesn't have enough memorable tracks--it's kind of like the tracks DJs play early in the night BEFORE the peak hour begins. You know, in the first two hours when nobody is dancing yet?



CD1



1. break the ice (6:08)

2. pocketful of sunshine (4:28)

3. shake it (5:30)

4. all I ever wanted (4:43)

5. faded (3:40)

6. you make me feel (3:33)

7. everytime we touch (3:19)

8. behind (5:21)

9. hot summer night (5:47)

10. the one (6:58)

11. no stress (6:27)

12. cry for you (4:19)



CD2



1. down down down (5:11)

2. by your side (5:45)

3. watch out (5:22)

4. squeeze me (4:41)

5. licky (4:57)

6. in and out of love (5:15)

7. feel your love (4:55)

8. come fly away (5:19)

9. buttons (4:59)

10. move for me (5:07)

11. pjanoo (5:59)

12 driving to heaven (6:09)

"

Why Does Everyone Have to Hate

T. Mcnicholas | Arizona | 11/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ok, I know I'm not a professional reviewer, but I do know good techno and dance music! This album is actually rather excellent in my opinion. First, Ultra stuck with the double disc which I give them kudos for. Second, few songs are either mediocre or terrible. Licky (Work it Out) is probably the worst song on the album. Other than that, all songs have some good in them, and even though 3 of the songs are on both Thrivemix 5 and Ultra 2009, both compilations are excellent and have their own positive points. But, I can't believe people are so irritated with the songs placed on this compilation, considering that you can't like every song in the world and sometimes more songs on an album are negative to you than positive. But, don't say an album is so awful when someone might actually enjoy it very much. Lastly, stop complaining about the length of the songs. Why do you complain when a song is good that you want more of it? Don't you think that is rather greedy. Enjoy what you purchase considering you are fortunate that you can afford to purchase this album!"