Search - Various Artists :: Ultra Mix

Another single disc release that leaves you feeling cheated

Daniel W. Kelly | Long Island, NY United States | 10/15/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Frustrating that Ultra and Thrive have been opting for these quick one disc releases, and I hope it doesn't lead to them not releasing their 2 disc sets at all. The thing to appreciate about this collection is its inclusion remixes of commercial pop hits that are mostly unavailable on CD--which is why it's a shame that most of them last under 5 minutes. Damaged is a bit too choppy and tribal a mix that actually detracts from the original flow of the song. The Den Broeder mix of Rihanna is great because it stick most closely to the original, flawless track, retaining the MJ sample, which most of the remixes of this song failed to do--but to have only 4 minutes of it is pretty useless for collectors who are looking for this official `extended' version. Calabria--hugely popular, if not extremely annoying, so I can see why it's included here. You get less than 4 minutes of a remix of 4 minutes (none of the dance mixes are as catchy as the original). Eric Prydz' instrumental track is infectious, but an odd choice for this very vocal set. 4 minutes of the Soul Seekerz mix of American Boy is a sin because both the remixers and the song are HUGELY popular right now! Love Is Gone is definitely overplayed, so having less than 4 minutes is welcome. Tiesto mix of Piece of Me--should have been longer since this mix was not released on the CD single!!! A new mix of Daniel Beingfield is an interesting treat. No Air--why use the obnoxious Benny Benassi mix that totally ruins the feel of this ballad? The Jason Nevins mix should have been on here. The Johnny Vicious mix of Run The Show--awesome, but not even 5 minutes of it. Ditto for the Johnny Vicious mix of Natasha Bedingfield. Anything by September is catchy and fun in a commercial electro pop way, and then the disc, surprisingly, ends with two not so familiar tracks, both of them pretty good (especially the second female vocal track), but they decided to cram as much music on as they could, and both songs barely last 3 minutes...one doesn't! This just makes this release seem like such a move to cash in with yet another generic dance disc. You'd think with the decreasing sales of CDs, they'd want to make these mixes more desireable with long versions of unreleased mixes, instead of giving us a mish mosh of short versions.



Track times:



1. damaged (5:01)

2. don't stop the music (4:13)

3. calabria 2008 (3:45)

4. minutes (3:47)

5. pjanno (4:34)

6. American boy (4:02)

7. love is gone (3:48)

8. piece of me (4:22)

9. the one (3:45)

10. no air (6:07)

11. run the show (4:39)

12. love like this (4:53)

13. cry for you (3:26)

14. no stress (3:14)



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