DJ Sammy - Heaven

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Music reviews of Heaven

Music Review: Heaven
Rating: 4 Stars

2. Heaven -- Two remakes in a row. A hint? Maybe. But at least they're both ear candy. The female vocalist, known only as "Do", appears to have a great deal more control over her sound than the afore-mentioned Loona. She appears here along with her counterpart, Yanou. The effects pulse strongly in sync' with the beat, and the noticeably more powerful voice of Do doesn't hurt. Great song, very cool.

3. Sunlight -- Again, the girl with the curious accent. Loona appears five times on this disc, once in a remix, leading the listner to assume she and the DJ know each other pretty well. Anyway, Sunlight brings the listener back underground to what appears to be DJ Sammy's true home. This is the first original composition on the disc and is probably one of the best. The riffs seem to have come from California Dreamin', but the rythmic pattern is closer to Heaven. This song is what actually introduces the listener to what the majority of this project consists of. Not bad.

4. The Boys Of Summer -- Loona returns. As an experienced listener, I can set the record straight on this song. Most of my friends claim that this song was remade after The Ataris did theirs. Wrong. Not only did The Ataris do theirs after this, they practically copied this one. DJ Sammy produces a very cathcy riff with the soaring airy and sky-ish effects that is almost completely [imitated] by the Ataris. All they did was speed it up, and adapt the riff to be able to be played on the guitar at that speed, that's it. The Ataris even played their interpretation in the same frickin key as is on here! Check for yourself, you'll find both remakes are in G flat major. So, who copied who? The Ataris copied this one. Personally, I like this one better.

5. El Condor Pasa -- An interpretation of an old Spanish fold song. DJ Sammy probably discovered this song through Simon & Garfunkels '78 translation of it. However there is, ironically, no sung words in either English or Spanish. This is where it gets strange. The voice is not singing, but speaking, in not either of these languages, but in French! That caught me off guard. I had no idea what he was saying, but hey Sammy, it's your CD. Musically, it is most similar to Heaven, exccept for two things. One, there are more slow parts here, and two, during the slow parts an ethnic flute takes the lead. It's like exotic Techno. It's a pun in itself, but it's very cool.

6. Beautiful Smile -- Loona's back again! Only one stanza worth of lyrics here. Much more like commercial Techno. This song shows DJ Sammy's versatility. The lyrics are vague, and not in a poetic way. Assuming DJ Sammy wrote the words himself, one would have a greater understanding to why he likes remaking things...he can't write good words for his own songs. The song almost disappoints the listener, but right when one is tempted to skip to the next, it changes. Silence emits, then in the far distance you hear a new and better riff with more effect creeping slowly upon you. Soon, it's soaring just like the rest of the CD. This is a good PSYKE!!! song.

7. Unbreakable -- Michelle Tabu needs some freakin VOICE LESSONS!!! I'd take even Loona above this girl. She can't control her voice worth [anything]. Two stanzas here. Predictable riff, excluding the awesome piano. If not for the piano in this song, I'd hate it. The only decent effects are at the very beginning and even that little interlude is nothing special.

8. Paradise Of Love -- I have nothing against instrumental Techno. But this one bothers me. It never changes keys and it never has a leading riff. It's like listening to a 5 1/2 minute introduction to another song, but the othe song never comes. Not very good here.

9. Vive El Presente -- This is where DJ Sammy really starts to flaunt his dark side. The deep bass guest-voice of one known only as Dicaprio gently rumbles with spoken words the Spanish poem of guidance (Vive El Presente) which encourages one to be ambitious and live in the present, thus the title. Despite the words of positive advice, the song is dark. To me, the music itself illustrates combat with certain demons, whether personal or tangeable. If the words were English, they would clash with the mood. But the beautifully mysterious sound of the Spanish dialect blends perfectly with this dark and suspenseful song.

10. Take Me Back To Heaven -- La Bouche is featured here. If I'm correct, she had a hit called "Be My Lover". Her voice is not as good as she thinks it is. I agree that this song requires a soulful black voice, but was La Bouche the only choice? This is another very dark song about conflict and just wanting out. The riffs don't impress me much. When given the choice between this song and another from this cd with the same mood, I'd go with the previous, Vive El Presente.

11. Sunchild -- Another instrumental. The title mistakenly leads the listener to believe that the vibe of this song would be similar to Sunlight...the soaring feel good synthesizers and such. Wrong. More than anything this song reminds me of Paradis of Love. Remember all the negatives I had with that song? Well apply them here.

12. Sunlight (Bossa Nova Vibes) -- An interesting reanimation, but the original is better. If you've ever played Pilotwings on the Super Nintendo, you'd say this song would fit nicely there.

13. Heaven (Candlelight remix) -- Very classy. Very classy indeed. DJ Sammy does the piano here, as in all the songs with piano in them. Apparently, piano is his primary instrument, and I dare say he is quite good at it. Do is back, of course, for this one, along with her counterpart, Yanou. I personally think Do should have appeared for more than just two interpretations of the same song. Imagine her singing The Boys Of Summer. That would be so much better than Loona. This was the mainstream hit of Heaven. Meaning, in other words, that the stations that didn't want to play the Techno version, played this one. DJ Sammy was clever enough to split the power-ballad idea that Adams had, and take into two seperat parts...power and ballad. The first version was the power, here's the ballad. Very cool. Buy the CD.

Description of Heaven

Dance & DJ CDs

• Music > Styles
• Pop