Not for me
Gabor Kovacs | 11/23/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Unfortunately Amazon does not specify whether this album is a continous mix or not. So I invested 99c to find out downloading a song in MP3 format to see... and if you're wondering, yes, it's a continous mix. If you're looking for these songs to be played on parties and such, you're better of with a different disc."
Ultra is back in ultra form with this 2 disc release
Daniel W. Kelly | Long Island, NY United States | 12/11/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It's sad that Ultra only gives us these 2-disc releases in the form of their original Ultra Dance series only once a year. By the time they gather all these songs together at the end of the year, they are quite played out, not to mention that many of them have previously shown up on other Ultra and Thrive releases. Disc 1 keeps the more mainstream pop hits in remixed form, and the more club heavy stuff is on disc 2. The number of major mainstream pop artists on this disc is limited though, which is unfortunate, because as a dance mix collector, I depend on these discs to give me a good chunk of the dance mixes of pop stuff you can't get anywhere else on CD. Here, we get the elusive extended mix of David Guetta and Kelly Rowland, but you can actually get the full extended mix, NOT segued, on the 2-disc set Club Fever 2009. Radio hits by Pitbull, Pussycat Dolls, and Lady GaGa are also here in club remix form, all running over 5 minutes. Oddly, we're only given the censored radio edit of If U Seek Amy by Britney. Deborah Cox lends her vocals to the track Leave the World Behind, but it isn't her usual belting diva anthem, it's a really mellow trippy trancy track that doesn't even sound like her singing. Fedde le Grand, deadmau5 and Remady all deliver excellent electro stompers with male vocal. Not surprisingly, Tiesto offers a good dance track with alternative sounding female vocals. The final song by Calvin Harris is just odd--Sylvester-esque falsetto vocals at points, with a Scissor Sisters/Mika vibe.
Disc 2 is surprisingly loaded with short tracks (the disc only runs 44 minutes!!!). It has a more urban vibe for starters, with a breezy R&B/hip hop reinterpretation of Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Want to Have Fun by a male vocalist. Pitbull returns for more electro hip hop. Gifted is a hot electro track with female vocal, while Chelley's Took the Night, is an annoying b*tch track. Tracks by Inna and Hayley usher in a more floaty female vocal feel. This compilation also demonstrates that retro 80s sounds are on their way out and the retro 90s stuff is making its 20 year re-emergence via remixes of old 90s classics. Guru Josh on disc 1 has been on at least 3 other ultra and thrive mixes this past year, so it really needs to be retired already, while disc 2 brings back the Tamperer's Feel it in a new mix. 76 Ocean Drive has a latin disco house flair, and the basement jaxx give us more disco house with male vocal. Crossover dance artist Kim Sozzi is on disc 2 instead of on the mainstream disc, where she would have fit in better since she has a very appealing commercial sound. We then get another new mix of 4 Strings Take Me Away (another one that needs to be laid to rest). Basshunters ends things on an upbeat, happy note with male vocals. This track also could have fit in better with the mainstream sounds on disc 1.
Master remixer Dave Aude does the mixing on this latest release, so it's actually kind of disappointing to find only two of his own remixes on this disc. Even so, it is quite a smorgasbord of dance sounds to appeal to true dance lovers.
"
Not Good
muzikfan | 01/31/2010
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I guess Ultra has lost a number of fans. I thought that Ultra 2009 wasn't very good, probably 3 stars; after hearing this, it's certainly 4 stars. Ultra releases promise dance music; this can be from obscure Billboard Hot Dance charters to remixes of pop songs, and this usually works. This time, most of the songs are just no good, or sound like you should hear them on pop or urban radio stations. Honestly, I don't care if it's popular or not; it MUST be good, and too many songs are not good. There are too many pop radio friendly songs (and edits), and hardly any good stuff. What is good is few and far between, and some songs are just irritating. Basically, this doesn't offer what the Ultra 2008 and 2009 offered, which was good dance music. This offers pop and hip-hop, which is fine if you like the commercial aspect of it; the rest would do best to avoid this, like I should have."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
