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F.E.V.E.R.By ceekay
Yannick |
Originality: | 4 | Technical: | 7 |
Theme: | 6 | Quality: | 8 |
Arrangement: | 6 | Global: | 7 |
+ Punch
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Sunbuster |
Originality: | 4 | Technical: | 9 |
Theme: | 5 | Quality: | 8 |
Arrangement: | 6 | Global: | 7 |
Right, with this one we get thrown right into a dance track. The tune is very danceable, has a pretty typical club feeling, gets your feet moving. The vocalsample that is used here is of good quality, however it gets a bit tiresome in the end. Used a bit too much in other words. The drumprogramming is pretty basic, has a bit of shuffle going on, but other than that it's your basic 4/4 beat.
Overall, the tune has a very commercial sound. Nothing wrong with that, but that unfortunately also pulls down the originality ratings. Technically nothing much wrong with the track, perhaps a bit more pannig on the drums could have helped give the song more width, but overall the tune is well mixed.
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mindplay |
Originality: | 3 | Technical: | 8 |
Theme: | 4 | Quality: | 8 |
Arrangement: | 5 | Global: | 6 |
This clubtrack is much too mainstream for my personal taste, but without letting this tilt the scores (other than originality) negatively, this song is quite well mixed (save for the open hihat, which shouldn't be this loud in a mainstream clubtrack). The theme is much too typical, even for mainstream music - if the author wants to make it as a mainstream clubtrack producer, he'll have to put in more personality. Or not. All depending on the clubscene ;) .. also, he'll have to quit biting vocals and find more original samples to spice things up with. Just free advice :)
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Novus |
Originality: | 9 | Technical: | 9 |
Theme: | 8 | Quality: | 8 |
Arrangement: | 8 | Global: | 8 |
Okay, trance kiddies... class is in session, and Ceekay is your professor. Be sure to take notes; there's a quiz tomorrow.
On the surface, "F.E.V.E.R." is a typical trance tune with all the stereotypes in place (except for the 7-minute playing time), but the song inventively plays around with cliches and turns them into a song that works. See, that's the thing about cliches... they become cliches because once upon a time, they were original ideas that worked so well, everyone else started copying them, though usually not nearly as well as the original. But at the core of every cliche is a good idea, as Ceekay demonstrates with this tune.
The best example of this is the rapped vocals in the song. Vocals of all kinds are a staple of trance songs, but the mistake that many trancers make is to use a vocal sample as a substitute for the melody, playing the vocal over and over again and wearing it out. "F.E.V.E.R." has its own rapped vocal loop, but instead of basing the song around it, Ceekay deftly uses it in the background as more of a rhythm instrument, overlaying it with a reverbed synth-lead that carries the true melody. It's a new twist on an old tactic, and it works great here.
Melodically, the song could've used more depth, but the main melody is interesting in and of itself and is just long enough that it can be looped without sounding too repetitive. Ceekay also breaks things up by playing around with a couple of different samples for carrying the melody, adding to the variation in the song. It's also another example of successfully milking a trance cliche, the use of a short-and-simple looped melody, and the twist here is letting that melody migrate to other instruments.
The sample-selection and production-quality are both well above average, though they don't quite rise to the level of professional. But the song sounds clear and clean at all times, and you can't ask for much more than that.
Most importantly, "F.E.V.E.R." is just plain fun to listen to. It's toe-tappingly catchy, and the fact that it ends at 3:54 is a plus, since the song doesn't have enough time to start sounding stale. Overall, this isn't the best the genre has to offer, but it's certainly a strong addition, and it's a keeper for me.
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Copyright © 1998-2005 Yannick Delwiche All rights reserved | |
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