Rating: 6/10

Track Amount: 14

Running Time: 1 hour and 6 minutes

Genre: Eurodance

Personnel: Turbo B (vocals), Thea Austin (vocals), Niki Haris (vocals), Benito Benites (keyboards and electronics), Andy Plöcher (guitars, bass guitars), Daniel Iribarren (guitars, bass guitars), Bobby Sattler (woodwind instrumentation)

Producer: SNAP!

Recording Location: Various

Record Label: Arista Records

Art Direction: Sascha Lalülala

Best Tracks: Rhythm is a Dancer

Quick Verdict: A fairly disappointing Eurodance album listening experience

Eurodance exemplified the EDM scene’s diversification in Europe throughout the 1990s. Groups such as 2 Unlimited, Vengaboys, Aqua and Culture Beat proved that there was a newer and more exciting form of EDM that could appeal to a mass audience based on a fusion of House and Techno Music. SNAP! was one of the early contributors to the development of the Eurodance movement and proved that there was more to Electronic Music than your typical Acid House or Techno Music in an underground rave on the weekend. This is one of the very early Eurodance releases in the 1990s, and as a result, needs observing as such. Let’s take a listen to this album, the second SNAP! album, and arguably the group’s most successful album, and we shall hear where it is at.

1. Madman’s Return begins the album with some neat Acid House-style sounds and rhythms, launching into an iconic and fantastic opening track. Bongo beats and other percussion are thrown in as well. Immediately, this is a winner of a tune. It has a cool breakdown, followed by some male Rap vocals to match it. This was no doubt revolutionary at the time, and it sounds amazing to hear. This blows away the Pop Music of today, and this album so far has an impressive musical sound and structure to it all. A great and interesting song at hand, which has some well-structured and unique power. This no doubt did help kickstart the Eurodance scene at the time, and it is an amazing and essential listen from way back in 1992. A top tune that marries electronics, beats and vocals into a fantastic EDM composition as such. Towards the end is a Funky Drummer drum loop and rapping, before this launches straight back into action. A wonderful and fantastic tune to listen to, and a great start to this album. Worth it, even for a casual listener. This music is excellent.

2. Colour Of Love – Massive Version begins with some subsonic bass, beats and a great deal of suspense. Some spoken word vocals are prominent, along with some female vocal harmonies. This quickly enters into some craftily cut-up breakbeats, and this moody tune gets going nicely. A seriously solid and amazing tune, even if the song is a bit melancholy with its minor-key melodies. This is unique and pioneering music that combines House, Techno, Breakbeat and Rap into a seamless whole. This music is seriously fantastic, and it is a deep and moving song about the nature of love itself. This five-minute-long piece is seriously fantastic, and it has some rapping that is better than most Rap Music records released to this very day. SNAP! certainly did have some great tunes at this point, and the music will take you to a better place than what the likes of Cardi B could ever do. There is a breakdown in the second half of the tune, which has some spoken word rhymes and sounds great in the process. This is a cherishable and definitely underrated album as such. The music and singing/rapping are so inspirational that it makes one want to make Eurodance Music of their own. A fantastic tune that needs to be played more today. Awesome. It ends well.

3. Believe In It begins with more atmospheric sounds and bleeps, launching into another moody yet good song with some edited Amen Breakbeats on it. There is some sampled guitar as well. Soon enough, rapping emerges over a minor key soundtrack that sounds deep and emotional. This is a fantastic and iconic album so far that isn’t the positive and consistently upbeat side of Eurodance; on the contrary, it is dark and moody. The electric guitar samples are fantastic on this tune, and are mashed up together with electronics and singing/rapping. This is very cool, and although it may seem and sound a bit dated these days, this track has lasted the test of time. This is a catchy and memorable song that has many layers of intricate sounds to explore. This was no doubt an inspiration for those following the UK Hardcore scene of the time and who were looking for something very different overall. This music is excellent and combines both masculine and feminine into a song that sounds forward-thinking rather than biased one way or anothe. The guitar samples are very intelligent and clever as well. This is a longish tune in terms of output, but nonetheless, this is a fantastic listen from beginning to end. Simply excellent music.

4. Who Stole It? begins with some high-frequency sounds, before launching into an upbeat Disco Music sounding piece with some awesome beats. This sounds a lot more positive and danceable than before, while still keeping the overall quality of the album. A fantastic tune that is extremely interesting and inventive, and just sounds top-notch. Rapping emerges that sounds quite good. This album is a fantastic listen so far, and it has many interesting and worthwhile sonic layers as such. A cool and wonderful listen with some great sounds and instrumentation. People who love Disco, Acid House and Rap Music will definitely love this tune in particular. It is way ahead of its time and just sounds top-notch. This tune is a joy to listen to, and it is an excellent hybrid of sound that is miles away from many musicians today. This sounds really interesting and consistent as a tune at large. Its quirkiness, anti-censorship sentiments and lyrics about musical piracy are good points to all new musicians as such. Nonetheless, this is a real winner to hear. Top stuff.

5. Don’t Be Shy begins with minor key synth strings and quickly has some subsonic bass enter. This launches into a more mellow music tune that still sounds good, but not quite as good as what came before it all. Some cut-up female vocals are here, and it quickly launches into an interesting tune that is neat and interesting about the relationships that one can potentially have with a member of the opposite sex, provided you swing that way. This is a neat and interesting listen that has some fine music impact and power throughout. This is way ahead of many music contemporaries of the time who were not creating revolutionary records in either Rap or EDM. Therefore, this works as a treat to listen to. Some wah-wah guitar soloing is present in the second half, before this tune returns to action. A really iconic and fantastic song about heterosexual love and romance at hand. Cool, calm, collected and clever. Nice tune once again. The outro is fairly repetitive, however.

6. Rhythm Is A Dancer is the main hit of this album. It has some neat and nicely constructed melodies and delayed sounds, with some symphonic-style strings to match it. Very cool, catchy and unique, it launches into an iconic song that sounds really very cool. Some neat female vocals enter, and this classic yet somewhat dated tune bursts into the scene. This is a floor-filling and danceable tune that sounds great and is worthwhile adding to your average EDM or Eurodance Spotify playlist of sorts. It still sounds fantastic to this day, and it has a colourful and futuristic sound to it all. This is not a million miles away from Acid House Music, but it is more of a product of 1992 rather than 1987, as the music trends and sounds had shifted dramatically by then. A seriously loveable tune that works well and will inspire some to make some EDM tunes of their own. This is a great and interesting tune that sounds interesting throughout. It has a broad appeal to those who value Electronic Music of any sort. Interesting, listenable and memorable. This is a key song from this album, and it delivers. Good job. A seriously wonderful tune. It ends in a good way.

7. Money is not Pink Floyd, just FYI. It begins with some twinkling high-frequency melodies, and quickly enters into a smooth tune with breakbeats and subsonic bass. A really lively and wonderful tune is present here. This music moves into a fine Rap tune that is about dealing with gold diggers in the dating scene. A cool and interesting-sounding song, although it is full of some rather direct lyrical matter, at hand which does drag it down. However, at the time of writing, this tune makes much more sense with divorces at a sky-high level over things like money matters. This tune is really interesting and direct, but all the same, it is a little controversial to hear. This seems like a bit of a duff track as such, but still, it does not drain the rest of the album before it. Some unique instrumental solos are present here, and this has some witty rapping about it all. Nonetheless, a really fine and excellent tune, even though the toybox melody throughout is super annoying. Good, although this is quite a bit lacking overall.

8. See The Light begins with an old school organ-sounding patch, which is a lot better than the track before it all. This quickly enters into a better EDM tune with some Acid House sounds and melodies to match it. A really sweet and interesting tune which has some lyrics about love and lust throughout. SNAP! no doubt pioneered Eurodance on this album, even if they did not perfect it. This is, therefore, a perfectly enjoyable album and tune. This track mixes some early EDM genres into a new and more focused-sounding tune, just like the rest of the album does. A clever and inspired track with Acid House sounds, Eurodance styled vocals, and UK Hardcore styled breakbeats. This tune is a good winner, although it is a bit long for this sort of release. Nonetheless, this is quite listenable, despite its length and repetition. The solo female vocals in the second half sound really fantastic, mind you. A very interesting and excellent track, despite this not being the most solid tune throughout. A great and interesting song that simply delivers very well. Awesome and timeless, for all its flaws. It ends with the organ patch, other sounds and vocals to conclude with. Very good.

9. Rhythm Is A Dancer – 7″ Edit is the first thing you should listen to from this album, if you are picky. It is a shortened and more concise piece of music that was the hit from this album. It is a more energetic tune that is the real standout from this entire album. No doubt that it inspired many to follow in its wake. A wonderful, tuneful and timeless track with some upbeat and seriously neat female vocals throughout. This tune is a winner from the early Eurodance scene, and it has some nice piano in the midsection. This music and track sound really interesting and fantastic. The male rapping is deep and from an intellectual basis. A genuinely good hit that sounds deep, moving and interesting throughout. A joyous and celebratory listen that sounds really classy and excellent. A must hear from this album.

10. Exterminate (feat. Niki Haris) – Endzeit 7 begins with some frankly awful melodies and soft female vocals to match it. This is probably where you should skip ahead, if you can. Eventually, this launches into another fairly dated and moody tune that likely could have been junked in retrospect. Eventually, Amen breakbeats enter, and this tune gets going. Unfortunately, it seems that there is some filler on this album at this point. This is not an impressive or revolutionary listen, and it is a disappointing and gloomy listen. The second half builds up on this rather naff tune, with some pianos and other instrumentation thrown in as well. A dramatic tune to listen to, with cut-up breakbeats that could have been much, much better. This album could have had much better potential than this in its second half. An off tune that does not sound right. Avoid if you can.

11. Ex-Terminator begins with some electricity-based sounds and launches into a weird-sounding piece with many cartoon-based sound samples. This is a bit odd, but still in line with the album’s overall sound and concept as such. It quickly launches into a surreal and fantastic tune that is ultimately rewarding to listen to. The music and sounds are very futuristic and adventurous as such. A powerful and energetic piece of music that has some beauty and finesse about it all. This is a moody yet danceable tune that changes the way one listens to music overall. Some unusual and rather interesting sonic samples are placed throughout this tune. Nonetheless, a good listen, but it sounds a little lacking by this point in the album. This isn’t outright bad, but it does sound a bit like filler, for the most part. A really impressive and out-there-sounding tune with many layers of sound to explore. Very interesting, even if this is filler as such. It is somewhat different to much of the music of the time, for all its flaws. Not too bad. This tune is different.

12. Keep It Up begins with some unusual kick drum beats and launches into a not-so-original tune at hand. It has some dramatic samples and beats, but at this stage, this is a bit like having a record stuck in a scratch. This also seems a bit like filler at this stage. Unable to really reach the heights of their competitors, such as 2 Unlimited, this album is noticeably weaker than their efforts. The rapping is a bit of a breath of fresh air, as such. The music and sounds throughout are fairly original, even though this isn’t the greatest album ever made. This is a good listen, but unfortunately, not a really great one at hand. A musical tune that is a bit tiresome by this point in the album due to its repetitive nature.

13. Homeboyz is a six-minute-long piece that, from the start, does not sound very good. This has some sampled electric guitars playing some unusual melodies and some nice breakbeats that are double-tracked. This music continues to shift and evolve nicely along the way, although this album has worn off its appeal somewhat at this stage. The music and sounds eventually build up to an energetic rush of energy throughout. A neat and interesting track at hand, which does have one of the greatest drum loops in sampling history on it. The tune itself is an improvement on what has come before it, at least. This continues to progress and shift nicely along as it moves along. Sure, this is not the greatest music album release ever made, but it is not really supposed to be. It does have its moments musically, however. An energetic and different-sounding tune, as such. This instrumental track is quite catchy for what it is. All in all, a good example of sounds and great sampling as such. Not bad overall, even though this is noticeably a bit of filler. Towards the end, the beats and melodies build up very nicely, before this all wraps up to an interesting and fantastic conclusion. A good tune to represent the shift from the Hardcore scene to Eurodance in 1992.

14. Sample City V 2.01 has some unusual sounds that are sampled from random places. This makes no sense whatsoever at this stage of this album, and you really do not need to hear this one. This is bizarre and unusual, and does not end the album on a high note.

This is a fairly mixed bag of an album release. It starts off fairly well, but by the end of the album, one can hear why SNAP! were never as popular as the likes of other Eurodance artists out there today, such as the ones previously mentioned in this review. The lack of consistency and the length of the album does not make for a classic album, and it has little to go by in terms of overall music quality. Even so, should you listen to this album? It really is only worth it if you like Eurodance and other similar EDM genres; otherwise, avoid this one.

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