| Author |
Thread |
|
Vladel
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1,526 posts
Joined: Feb, 2008
|
 Posted - 2011/11/19 : 21:00:23
As for the album itself, i'm listening to it now for the first time and i have got to say that i was hoping for a lot. the first track is a remix of timebomb and i thought it would be hard to ruin that song by Al Storm didn't dissapoint at all and manged to utterly destroy it. I Am a huge fan of Technikore and i don't think any of his best was on this album and coupled with the utter drab rubbish Al Storm consistently puts out easily makes the first disk the worst ever Hardcore underground mix by a long shot. The songs are horrid and the mixing is terrbible and practically non existent.
Disk 2 starts better with some pleasant breaks and some nice melodies that are niceky blended but i feel the jump to full on hardcore is prmature and when it comes, the tunes are a bit softly vocal with no real punch and i like vocal tunes. The better tracks get a paltry two minutes which is what i was afraid of. The Fracus & darwin tracks are like listening to Ultrabeat seriously and how many bloody tracks do they have on this album? (not including the ones on their own disk). I had to wait til track 17 to get a good one! Life is a journey by Brisk and Darwin is the best track to this point as far as i'm concerned. Even the rest of that disk is just meh :(
Disk 3 i don't know what to expect here but atleast it can't dissapoint me any more than the last two. Pleasant breaks again only better than the last disk but it's nothing that great. Summer by Samba D is a pretty nice track and Hollow by Tanuki isn't bad either and i like irish sunrise by Raving donkey. Wake up call is pretty awful and shouldn't exist. Did you see it by entity is a cracker! Everytime 90's revival is a belter and such a shame it only gets two minutes :( which is really annoying when you consider all the 1 minute crappy fillers that the album is littered with.
First off i gotta say about disk 4, Loving the scratching!! very Kevin energy! I don't take well to most freeform so it takes something special for me to really enjoy it. There really isn't very much on here that stands out either and maybe it's just not my cup of tea
Overall the positives:-
A Hardcore underground album in a time when we really need one.
Slipmatt and Entitys disk having some really nice variety on it and being a disk you could put on and chill to.
There are some good brisk tracks on there as always.
The negatives:-
Al Storm
Not the best of technikores great work
Far too many tracks
Too many short tracks
Too many nonsense electro fillers
Far too many Fracus and darwin tracks it's like Fracus and darwin and friends volume 5
It's about as underground as a jet plane
HU used to be about up and coming producers and now it's the same old folk producing a load of crap and sticking a label on it.
__________________________________
remain calm do not be alarmed do not attempt to leave the dancefloor
Alert moderator 
|
Quicksilver
Advanced Member
Sweden
2,545 posts
Joined: Jul, 2007
|
Posted - 2011/11/19 : 21:08:55
quote:
Originally posted by redwingz:
Also really enjoyed 'Domination' by Transcend (who are a new name to me)
He's one of the four guys from Endemic. :)
I haven't bought this album yet... Soooooon!
__________________________________
a.k.a. Phaaze
My SOUNDCLOUD
Alert moderator
|
CDJay
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,049 posts
Joined: Nov, 2001
|
Posted - 2011/11/19 : 23:26:51
Ouch @ Vladel's review (although I hope it'll be kinder with time)
I'll counter some specifics:
First off I'll go with the Fracus & Darwin sounding like Ultrabeat. Really? Ganja Crew? Got the Rhythm? No Disguise? I Will Wait Remix? Think about what you are saying.
Underground as a jet plane? It's probably more "overground" than previous volumes, so I won't try to claim otherwise. That's partly because the genre as a whole has receded in the past 12 months and the amount of material from each tier has diminished as a result. It's also partly because I still maintain there needs to be a "bridge" into alternative stuff. Where else are you going to see breakbeat hardcore, or the new wave of freeform, championed in a way that is actually visible to the bulk of potentially interested ravers?
HU has always been about showcasing facets of the scene that are underrepresented elsewhere. Still; you want "new" producers? Series debuts of Mob, Tanuki, Buzz & Stevie D, Tom Revolution, StrifeII, Chris Ross & Audioshift, Dain-Ja, Raving Donkey, Pulse, No Left Turn, Firefly, Daniel Seven, Haywire etc.
I knew before this was even finished compiling that Cd1 would be controversial in some quarters, but I'm increasingly comfortable that it was the right decision. People often compare HU to Bonkers and that's a good thing in the current clime; Bonkers to me was always the flagship not only because it was visible but because some of the most obvious stuff was used to float the alternative. With that venerable series now on hiatus, something *has* to pick up where that left off.
Finally, in my opinon, CD3 ranks amongst not just the best mixes on the HU series but can trade blows with the best compilation mixes in the genre. Ever.
I guess what I'm really saying is..... have a few more listens. I'm aware we're the victims of our own past relatively successes and unrealistic expectations each time out. It doesn't help that we try to skew towards longevity rather than the quick fix. In fact I vividly remember the CD3 slatings we got on the first volume. 
I think I agree with the track length thing; at least in places. I'll endeavour to keep an eye on future volumes as they develop, should they happen.
Regardless of my seemingly adversarial tone, here, I really apprecaite the feedback and show of support in purchasing. We'll always try to do better. 
CDJay
__________________________________
Http://www.hardcoreunderground.co.uk
Alert moderator
Edited by - CDJay on 2011/11/20 15:39:17 |
djDMS
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
10,304 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
572 hardcore releases
|
Posted - 2011/11/20 : 16:11:35
Wow, that was harsh!
Right, CD's 2 & 3.
If i was to mix a Hardcore Underground album i'd follow the exact same pattern as Fracus, Darwin & Brisk. Lovely start with the breakbeat stuff, through vocal/anthem style with a hard finish. Start was excellent, finish was awesome, what was inbetween didn't grab my attention quite as much but that was probably down to me knowing a lot of the songs so well already. In all, very nice effort.
CD3 was the one i was most having trouble with before release, pleased to report that it came out sounding a lot better than i imagined! The old skool theme running throughout managed to sound up to date but bring back old memories at the same time. Already counted Entity as one of my favourite producers and this just reinforced it for me. Also, enjoyed Darwin's stuff on this mix more than the others (slowly becoming a big fan) and the production on the whole thing was immense. My one negative was that the almost constant changing between breakbeat and 4/4 meant it didn't quite flow as well as it should.
Just started on CD4, hope my belief that Freeform hasn't changed much in the last 5-6 years is about to be challenged!
Favourite moments to follow.
__________________________________
Taking my time to perfect the beat
Alert moderator
|
Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,281 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
|
Posted - 2011/11/20 : 17:03:15
what you on about dms? freeform was alot better 6 years ago.
__________________________________
---------------------------------------------
Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
---------------------------------------------
Alert moderator
|
djDMS
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
10,304 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
572 hardcore releases
|
Posted - 2011/11/20 : 18:00:10
That's kind of what i meant!
__________________________________
Taking my time to perfect the beat
Alert moderator
|
TheOneNOnly
Advanced Member
United States
1,937 posts
Joined: Oct, 2008
|
Posted - 2011/11/20 : 18:09:54
So since Amazon thinks it's coming out the 24th, and I'm in the States, I won't get it until the end of December most likely.
__________________________________
New YouTube Account
The Past, The Present, The Future (CD One)
The Past, The Present, The Future (CD Two)
Alert moderator
|
CDJay
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,049 posts
Joined: Nov, 2001
|
Posted - 2011/11/20 : 18:16:00
Even accounting for their (inexplicable, I honestly don't see how they haven't changed the date at this point) creative release date I'd figure it'll beat the xmas post nightmare.
IE hopefully start of December
CDJay
__________________________________
Http://www.hardcoreunderground.co.uk
Alert moderator
|
Archefluxx
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1,120 posts
Joined: Sep, 2011
|
Posted - 2011/11/20 : 19:24:01
I agree with what vladel said, but there's a lot of good in the album thats been overlooked
__________________________________
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0KDPkzp05mZsdmkykMqFCt?si=AT5PvWuLTU-jUMEMWuB-PQ SC: http://soundcloud.com/archefluxx YT: http://www.youtube.com/user/afbofficial
Alert moderator
|
cruelcore1
Advanced Member
Croatia (Hrvatska)
1,485 posts
Joined: May, 2010
|
Posted - 2011/11/20 : 19:45:02
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
what you on about dms? freeform was alot better 6 years ago.
Lol I always hear "oldskool was better" and never "modern is better" which is what I believe XD
Classical and Romanticistic music was a lot better than any Hardcore style u guys mention. It took much more effort to make a composition, and u either needed an orchestra or good skills with playing at least one instrument 
__________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/user/cruelcore1
Alert moderator
|
djDMS
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
10,304 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
572 hardcore releases
|
Posted - 2011/11/20 : 20:04:08
So you're also saying old is better?
__________________________________
Taking my time to perfect the beat
Alert moderator
|
cruelcore1
Advanced Member
Croatia (Hrvatska)
1,485 posts
Joined: May, 2010
|
Posted - 2011/11/20 : 20:07:27
quote:
Originally posted by djDMS:
So you're also saying old is better?
Subjectively, no, but objectively, hell yeah. Its not that I'll listen to classical or oldskool hardcore without trance elements, but I'll always believe classical and periods around classical are the best in general. But you can make orchestral nowadays too, just that its harder to be original cuz many the ideas r already taken. You can make New Age which can be rlly complex too.
__________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/user/cruelcore1
Alert moderator
|
Hard2Get
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
12,837 posts
Joined: Jun, 2001
|
Posted - 2011/11/20 : 21:15:49
quote:
Originally posted by djDMS:
So you're also saying old is better?
Yes, he is coming onto you.
Alert moderator
|
djDMS
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
10,304 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
572 hardcore releases
|
Posted - 2011/11/20 : 21:46:09
I genuinely laughed out loud at that!
__________________________________
Taking my time to perfect the beat
Alert moderator
|
cruelcore1
Advanced Member
Croatia (Hrvatska)
1,485 posts
Joined: May, 2010
|
Posted - 2011/11/20 : 21:53:04
quote:
Originally posted by Hard2Get:
quote:
Originally posted by djDMS:
So you're also saying old is better?
Yes, he is coming onto you.
You realize I said '"modern is better" which is what I believe'? (I was refering to Hardcore) XD
__________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/user/cruelcore1
Alert moderator
Edited by - cruelcore1 on 2011/11/20 21:54:02 |
Printer friendly
