The Best Dance Album In The World... Ever!

Product Information

Warner Chappell Music Ltd/Windswept Pacific Music Ltd. Produced for Sunship Productions. Recorded at Roundhouse Studios and Sunship Studios. ℗ 2000 Wildstar Records Ltd. Licensed courtesy of Wildstar Records Ltd. Warner Chappell Music Ltd/PolyGram Music Publishing Ltd/Don't Funk Wit My Gamma Publishing. ℗ 1999 Zomba Records Ltd. Licensed courtesy of Pepper/ Zomba Records. Looking at the other options out there at the time, the Dance Zone ones were equally guilty of much the same things!

This album is a mixed bag, containing a good CD while the other was very flawed mainly for including off-genre music. This is where the series sadly started to really dip in quality. Here we have an album to represent 1996 and you would think that there would be a lot of actual dance music right? Guess again. Universal Music Publishing Ltd. ℗ 1999 Bliss Corporation, under exclusive license to Warner Music UK Ltd.. Licensed courtesy of Warner Music UK Ltd..

Peer Musik. ℗ 1999 BMG Berlin Musik GmbH/Laustrak. Sample of "Mambo No5" performed by Perez Prado. ℗ 1959 BMG Entertainment/RCA U.S. Issued under license BMG Entertainment International UK & Ireland Ltd. Quite a mixed bag to be honest, but it is not a terrible album at all. This one clearly represents songs from the year 2000, and while we have a CD dedicated to actual dance and trance, the other is more pop focussed with only a few dance hits here and there. If both discs had been more consistent, it would be a great album. Warner Chappell Music Ltd/Windswept Pacific Music Ltd. ℗ 1999 Progress Records Ltd, under exclusive license to Mercury Records Ltd. (London). Licensed from Universal Music Licensing Division. Energy Productions SRL/Off Limits. ℗ 1998 Energy Productions Srl. Licensed courtesy of London Records. Well it's the start of 1993 and dance has broken into the mainstream in the UK and the companies are looking to tap that market; enter 'the best dance album in the world... ever' series.

Rive Droite Music Ltd. Produced and mixed for Metro Rive Droite Music Productions. ℗ 1998 Warner Music UK Ltd. Licensed courtesy of Warner Music UK Ltd. I think this was the first one I bought on release (or rather had it bought for me). I would have been 12 years old and heavily into music at this point. Whilst it's not one of my favourites out of the series, it does rank highly with me as this was, quite literally, everything that was being played on the radio that I was lapping up!

Jewel Music Publishing Co Ltd. ℗ 2000 Fundamental Records. "In Your Arms" contains elements from "Rescue Me" performed by Fontella Bass used courtesy of MCA Records under license from Universal Music Special Markets, Inc. Jessica Michael Music (ASCAP)/Wamdue Music (ASCAP). Produced for Wamdue Productions. ℗ 1998 Strictly Rhythm Records. Licensed from Universal Music Licensing Division. This is undoubtedly the best in the series, at least in my opinion. Both CD's in this album seem to focus purely on dance music other than a few slower songs here and there. This is really the defining release with the quality of both CDs being top-notch and never faltering. Step By Step. Produced at Peak Top Studios, D'dorf, Germany. ℗ 1999 Multiply Records. Licensed courtesy of Multiply Records.

Again theres enough on the compilation to save it, but also a whole bunch which have me diving toward the 'skip' button. ICM/Hanseatic. ℗ 1999 Mercury Records Ltd. (London), licensed from Subversive Records Ltd./ Sony Music Entertainment (Germany) GmbH. Licensed from Universal Music Licensing Division. Peer Music. Produced and mixed for Shaft Productions. ℗ 1999 Wonderboy Records. Licensed from Universal Music Licensing Division. Got this one for my 13th birthday, which is september, so I think this would have been released around about August 1997. Much like the 2002 release, this one had a lot going for it and things were heading in the right direction. However, many off-genre songs and questionable choices lower the overall quality. This was the last release for six years before they brought out that hideous revival in 2009.

Recommendations

CD2 is a bit all over the place at the start. Dance music goes out the window in favour yet again of RnB and Rap. Not all bad, but still a bit of a curveball, stay on target!