Original vs Eurobeat

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A comparison of 4 songs between the original version and the Eurobeat cover.
Track list:
1. Heaven by Bryan Adams
2. Heaven by Keith Roland
3. Wait for You by Elliott Yamin
4. Wait for You (Dancefloor Night Mix) by Ace
5. Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley
6. Never Gonna Give You Up by Kevin Johnson
7. Save a Prayer by Duran Duran
8. Save a Prayer by David Dima

Yeah, Eurobeat can make anything into super energetic. LOL. Obviously I prefer the Eurobeat versions of all the songs, especially Save a Prayer. I didn't even know about the song and found it to be bland, but the Eurobeat version is awesome.

The Evolution of Music

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The evolution and highlights of music that I experienced and enjoyed from my childhood through the end of 2008.
Track list:
1. Candy Candy Anime OP
2. Goshogun 発進せよ by Fujii Ken
3. Dai Sentai Goggle V
My first exposure to music that has a significant memory to me was actually from anime. No, not Sesame Street, Barney, or Mr. Rodgers, it's shoujo/mecha anime and tokusatsu for me. YEAH! LOL.

4. Born Free by Andy Williams
5. Bye Bye Love by The Everly Brothers
My next exposure to music were actually music from the 50s and 60s, simply because these were the music that my dad listen to. Ironically, I didn't even know/hear about the Beatles.

6. Step by Step by New Kids on the Block
7. Someone Loves You by Takayuki Miyauchi
8. Cover Girl by New Kids on the Block
9. Can't Stop This Thing We Started by Bryan Adams
Yeah, I hardly know any music from the 70s. Next thing I knew, it's NKOTB. Of course, I still watch tokusatsu, mainly Kamen Rider Black and Black RX. I started to listen to western songs, NKOTB, Vanilla Ice, Bryan Adams, Phil Collins, etc.

10. 對你愛不完 by 郭富城
11. 追風少年 by 吳奇隆
12. 吻別 by 張學友
13. 100樣可能 by 黎明
1991 was one of the turning point for me. 對你愛不完 by Aaron Kwok is probably the first mandarin pop song that I listen to, and hooked me into Chinese/Canto-pop for years, especially during the "Rave/Techno" era of Canto-pop. Thus my music collection mainly consisted of Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung, Leon Lai, Eric Suen, and various Hong Kong/Taiwan artists. I hardly listen to western songs anymore, if ever, around this time.

14. Music for The People by V6
15. Everything (It's you) by Mr.Children
16. 眼睛想旅行 by 黎明
1995 was another turning point for me. I watched the music video of V6's Music for The People, and I was amazed. It was so awesome that I was hooked into V6 and J-Pop, not realizing the true genre of that particular music. My music collection started to grow with more JPop and JRock music in addition to mandarin/canto-pop.

17. Love Forever by Sechskies
18. Shuffle by 奥井雅美
19. GOOD DAYS by Zone
20. Cosmic Rescue by V6
A blip in my music experience was Korean pop, introduced by my sister. HOT, Turbo, Sechskies, NRG, Cool, the list goes on. However, I'm not really hooked into the genre that much, referring back to JPop with artists like V6, Zone, Masami Okui, dream, Mr.Children, Folder, Tokio, W-inds, T.M.Revolution, etc. Watching a lot of anime also drawn me further into JPop, until I found THE true genre of the music that I love.

21. Space Boy by Dave Rodgers
22. Spacelove by Fastway
23. I Know What You Like by Karen
24. Get the Dark Side Into My Brain by CY-RO
25. Blood On Fire by Go2 & Christine
26. Caramelldansen (Speedy mix) by Caramell
27. Please Don't Leave Me by Go2 feat. Andrea Martongelli
Yeah, Eurobeat. I finally found my kind of music. Remember V6's Music for the People music video that I saw back in 1995? What amazed me was not JPop. It was Eurobeat. I didn't know nor realize that back then, thinking it's JPop, and even mistakenly thought it was Eurodance. Even funnier, Eurobeat is actually from Italy, not Japan. Thanks to the internet, I finally figured out Eurobeat, later found out the genre is used extensively in Initial D. Now, Eurobeat is the main staple of my music collection. Dave Rodgers, Niko, D.Essex, Fastway, Ace, Go2, Nuage, Domino, Go Go Girls, Manuel, etc. I still listen to various JPop, but not as much as before. As for Chinese pop, I hardly listen to them anymore. Most of the current songs are pretty much ballads or Chinese hip-hop anyway, not my cup of tea. Caramelldansen is not really Eurobeat, but the speed mix version is very catchy and popular that I had to include it here.

There you go. My musical journey to the discovery of the music genre that fits with me so well that I never get bored with it, Eurobeat. Other musical trends pop up and die off, but Eurobeat is still going strong.

Back to eurobeat

Okay, watching various 90's chinese pop music videos is not good for my health, so to recover, I need a couple doses of eurobeat.
Ace: Play the Music


Fastway: Spacelove


And of course, para para (Go2 - Not for Sale)

Watch Parabeat - Not For Sale / Go2 in Music Videos  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Ah, that feels better. :D LOL

Gundam 00 + Eurobeat

Cut & paste of Gundam 00 2nd season OP with some eurobeat tracks

Watch Gundam 00 S2 OP, Manga Super Robot in Anime  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Watch Gundam 00 S2 OP, Anyway Anymore in Anime  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Aleph - Fly To Me

Found this on a Japanese blog

LOL. That is Dave Rodgers(!), in the 80s. LOL. Yeah, this is the beginnings of what will become Eurobeat. Look at the hair style, and the guy playing the guitar... LOL. Alas, the video is not complete.

Speed of Light: Another interval recording music video

Yellow 4G iPod nano Music Video

Super Rider: Kamen Rider Kiva MV

A eurobeat MV of Kamen Rider Kiva that I made.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
Edit: Youtube blocked the video due to ID match by Avex police, even though there are plenty of others doing the same thing, and the fact that Avex does not distribute the music in the US.

Dave Rodgers on Napster

You can find Dave Rodgers' hard to find rare rock album "Blow Your Mind" as non-DRMed MP3. Just search for Dave Rodgers in Napster. Highly recommended since the actual CD is only available in Italy (I had to import mine). Question is, why not iTunes?

On eurobeat side, Eurobeat Masters compilations are available on Napster too, although not as complete as iTunes.

I'm waiting for A-Beat-C to go digital via iTunes. SCP too.

iTunes: Eurobeat Heaven

Simply awesome. iTunes is becoming a Eurobeat heaven. I mentioned earlier that Eurobeat labels like Hi-NRG Attack, and Delta. Now Vibration. The problem with iTunes that it is hard to discover Eurobeat unless you're actually searching for it. Do a search for "para para classic," and you'll find the Vibration albums. Crappy covers (looks like it's drawn by a kid), but awesome tracks.

C'mon A-Beat-C and SCP! It's inevitable!

iTunes + Eurobeat?

Who would ever guess, iTunes, a music service from the US, is becoming a Eurobeat heaven. More and more Eurobeat tracks that are previously only available in Japan are released on iTunes. 1st, there was Hi-NRG Attack. 2nd, Delta joined in. Now, NRJ Mania. Do a search for Eurobeat Masters for Delta albums, and Eurobeat Super Collection for NRJ mania. The Eurobeat Super Collection contains extended version of tracks found in Europanic! series, a compilation series released only in Japan back in 2000-2001. 99c DRM free tracks are much cheaper than $30-$40 per CD imported from Japan. I can't wait for A-Beat-C and SCP to join iTunes.

Delta records in iTunes Music store!

Finally! Eurobeat fans rejoice! Do a search for Eurobeat in iTunes Music Store, and you'll find albums titled Eurobeat Masters Vol. These are Eurobeat tracks from Delta records, previously only available as expensive Japanese imports from Avex Trax. Now only 99cents per track, and they are all DRM free AAC 256kbps! AWESOME! The only downside is that most of the tracks are "old." Hardcore fans (like me) are more likely to already have most of them. Still, some tracks are now available in extended version, previously only available as non-stop mix from Avex. Vol.9 contains pretty recent tracks, and 1 of them is not even available yet on Avex' Super Eurobeat series.

Hi-NRG Attack is the first Eurobeat label that joined iTunes. Although they have some awesome tracks, they are more "raunchy" and don't really represent the general Eurobeat flavor. With Delta joining in, Eurobeat fans outside Japan can now enjoy the more general flavor of the genre. Most of the tracks from Delta are featured in Initial D anime and para para paradise.

What are you waiting for? $10 per album is MUCH cheaper than $30-$40 per album for Avex Trax' Super Eurobeat series.

Now if only A-Beat-C joins in. I want my Dave Rodgers fix!

Eurobeat in Cantonese?

Stumbled upon this in Youtube

It's Ruby Lin, singing a cover of a Eurobeat track Dum Dum Pistol. It became Boom Boom My Disco. I dunno, the singing definitely lacks energy compared to the real deal. The music seems to be very watered down, replaced by some cheap synth.
Here's a short sample of the real track. Notice that it's much much more energetic.