Ultra isn't even trying to impress dance fans anymore
Daniel W. Kelly | Long Island, NY United States | 05/27/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Wow. I really can not believe what I experienced when I put disc 1 in my CD player. First of all, the disc is not even 48 minutes long! Most of the tracks on here only run between 3 and 4 minutes!!! And half of them are merely original album versions! And, as the other reviewer pointed out, the `mixing' is atrocious. Most of the time, the vocal from one song stops only seconds before the vocals to the incoming track begins! WHY? They had over 30 minutes more time on this CD to add longer versions of these songs and actually use instrumental intros and outros to beatmix the songs so the vocals weren't right on top of each other!!!
Okay, that the worst news. Now onto the songs on CD 1--the `commercial' side. In My Head--album version. Bad Romance--album version, BUT, here's one bonus of this CD. It's actually the UNCENSORED version, which was not used on the Fame Monster CD. Good luck finding this uncensored version anywhere else on CD if you didn't pick up the now hard-to-find import CD single. Rihanna's hard remixed by Jody den Broeder is a travesty at only 3 minutes and 19 seconds. We should have gotten at LEAST 6 minutes. Selena Gomez's naturally is cool to have in a Dave Aude mix, but I actually prefer the album version. Also nice to have the Jason Nevins mix of Replay by Iyaz, which is followed by, yes, the regular version of Britney's 3. Starting with track 7, we are treated to a series of electro hip hop tracks, which are all the rage right now. But track 10 is a hot male vocal electro rocker, by deadmau5. Following this is a very Italian sounding, mellow female vocal track, and finally, a great trance track by Chicane and Natasha Bedingfield, even if it does sound like something straight out of 2003. Also of note is that it actually runs over 7 minutes!
CD2 at least runs 10 minutes longer than disc 1, and as a result, two tracks run almost 6 minutes and two others almost 7 minutes. Inna's vocal track Hot opens things up. Track 2, by Grum (huh?) is a bouncy female vocal house track. Definitely a summer fun track. 3 is pure Kaskade, sort of melancholy dance track with a great female vocal hook. Track 4 is very deep house/with attitude, like something out of the 90s. And so the 20 year anniversary retro kick begins. Can another remix of Benassi's Satisfaction be anything more than filler?? Totally unnecessary. Track 6 pits Pitbull against some serious rasta house. Track 7 samples a classic blips and bleeps 90s house track by Rollo and Sister Bliss. Kim Sozzi is always welcome on these mixes--and usually always has a song on them, and here you get "Secret Love," as infectious as all her other tracks. The David Guetta mix of Calvin Harris's "Flashback" is all sunshine and rainbows--a definite summer anthem--with both male and female vocals, but it has some very odd, hard electro house instrumental parts that don't go with the flow of the song. The 90s return with the overplayed Haddaway classic "What is Love" in a harder electro mix. The Cure's alternative rock ballad "Lovesong" gets a dance makeover with female vocals by Jes. And finally, Kaskade returns with another melancholy dance track with female vocals.
All-in-all the song selection and variety of styles is excellent. The downfall is the awful mixing and short song lengths. Ultra, you need to start reading the feedback on your CDs, because long time supporters of your product have been dissatisfied for a few years now...
Track times are:
CD1
1. in my head (3:04)
2. bad romance (4:31)
3. hard (3:19)
4. naturally (3:50)
5. replay (3:56)
6. 3 (3:28)
7. Shots (3:41)
8. shake that thing (3:19)
9. memories (3:11)
10. ghost n stuff (4:55)
11. stereo love (3:12)
12. bruised water (7:08)
CD2
1. hot (4:03)
2. can't shake this feeling (3:33)
3. dynasty (4:07)
4. hey hey (5:50)
5. satisfaction (4:00)
6. I wanna (4:00)
7. insomnia (3:43)
8. secret love (4:18)
9. flashback (5:52)
10. what is love 2K9 (4:31)
11. lovesong (6:45)
12. so far away (6:48)
"
Shame on you Ultra
Rogelio Guzman Arill | Tampa, Fl | 05/26/2010
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I have been a loyal follower of the Ultra compilations since Ultra Dance 1. But I have to admit this latest installment is pure garbage. The song selection is ok, I dont mind Hip Hop or Pop Remixes, on the contrary I enjoy the variety and applaud Ultra for mixing it up. My main problem with UW 6 is the mixing. The sequencing has no flow, its choppy, messy and amaturish at best. The person who mixed this must be so embarrased that he/she had his mixed by credit removed and nowhere to be found in the cds linner note. I love Ultra comps because of the high quality of the mixing and full remixes used. But lately they seem to be dropping the ball more and more. First repeating same songs in several compilations, then radio edits instead of full mixes, now terrrible mixing. Shame on you for releasing this poor quality compilation to your loyal customers."
Another Ultra BOMB!
DJ_PopeyeOne | 07/06/2010
(1 out of 5 stars)
"I have been a raving promoter of Ultra for many years! Their Annual, Dance, Trance and Weekend Series have consistently been top quality and there were many times I counted down the days to their next release! They kept me current with the best mixes of the latest songs and usually before they hit the main stream at every club in town!!
Whatever happened, and allowed for the consecutive release of these "Armature Hour at the Purple Pussycat Lounge" Albums, needs your immediate attention! In fact, you probably have some Brand "damage control" required as well!
Ultra Weekend 6 is another FLOP...to be honest; every album you have released in the last year has been disappointing. However, this one took me past my tolerance level.
Hope you can get your act together soon!
"
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1