Customer Reviews

Pavement Cracks The Remixes

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Pavement Cracks" was the first release off Annie Lennox's "Bare" LP, and the track became one of the top dance/club hits for 2003 - topping the chart in August of that year. The CD single includes a bevy of excellent mixes, all with top-rate production.

What really stands out is the song itself. Beautiful, haunting, and deeply sad - not the easiest material to work with on the dance floor. The remixers did an amazing job turning this haunting song into a dance floor smash.

My favorite mix on the CD is the Mac Quayle Extended Mix. It's the most simplistic of all the mixes, but has all the makings of a summer groove, and probably was the most popular of all the mixes when this song peaked in summer 2003. Despite the sad lyrics, this mix definitely has a party and togetherness vibe. The remix kind of says "well, life isn't going all that great right now but you know what, i'm gonna dance and party anyway". We can all relate to that from time to time!

The Shanghai Surprise mix is also a standout on this single. I was skeptical at first (hadn't heard of the production team before), but this mix turned out to be excellent. It's the most "anthemic" of all the mixes on this release: uplifting and tribal sounding, and containing some interesting vocal effects with Annie's voice.

The Goldtrix and Gabriel & Dresden mixes are both excellent - and unlike the other mixes they keep the darker vibe of the song. Both are good "after-hours" type mixes - and great for listening to in the car. The Scumfrog mix is the only one on here that was disappointing to me. Similar to some of their mixes, its more of a dub and doesn't have all the vocals. A good mix, but I wouldn't rank it as one of their best.

All in all, this is easily one of the best collections of remixes for any track to come out in 2003. Maxi-singles are becoming harder and harder to find, and it's rare to find such a great collection of mixes on one CD anymore.

First, a fantastic full length album 'Bare' released June, and now this marvel!!! I think it was a smart idea for J Records to release this single AFTER the full length album...since sales were high on 'Bare', they could easily finance the production of the first maxi-single 'Pavement Cracks'.

I would have never thought that a somber song like 'Pavement Cracks' could be remixed into a dance anthem, and actually sound GOOD!! The remixes are great, and they don't all sound the same, lots of variety with this one!! My personal favorite (the one I've heard MANY times on XM radio, but was not available to the public) is track 3 (Scumfrog Mix)- a very trancy mix, good stuff!! Track 6 is cool, too (Shanghai Surprise Mix). I only wish that there were more photos and artwork, but that's a maxi-single for you, kind of low budget and light packaging...but otherwise, I love it.

Bottom line- a fabulous maxi-single, one that younger Annie fans will love I'm sure. Annie has really outdone herself this year, and I hope this one will sell right off the shelves just like 'Bare' did.

I bought this one as a pre-christmas present for myself. I'm loving it over and over again.

Rarely does a remix CD come out full of excellent, well-mixed remixes.
I've been so disappointed by other big name artists and their remixed versions of their own, previously released music. Sometimes it can be really tacky & cheap, when an artist remixes stuff that's already fine as an "original version".

Annie Lennox's soulful voice matches the smooth, liquid sounds of all 6 versions of "Pavement Cracks" remixes.
I'm really happy to have bought this CD before Christmas. It helped me through a really bad slump, and it will bring you out of any slumps too, with all the ultra-dancy, vibrant beats and sounds.

For about 3 months, I've been anticipating on getting hold of the "official" remixes of Pavement Cracks, and now the time has finally come.

Primarily, what pleases me is the fact that the original melody, body of the original version and Annie's voice, are all left pretty much intact, instead of tearing the song apart to make a whole, new, noisy and ultra "soul-less" song.

This is the tracklist:

Mac Quail Extended Mix - 6:30
Goldtrix Club Mix - 6:26
The Scumfrog Club Mix - 8:21
Gabriel & Dresden Club Mix - 9:56
The Scumfrog Knob Dub - 6:45
Shanghai Surprise Vocal Mix - 6:59
Original Version (album) - 5:09

I don't have any complaints about the CD, nor do I have any "least favourite" tracks.
You must remember, that with a producer & songwriter such as Stephen Lipson, teamed up with Annie...anything by Annie will not be a waste of money.

A thought just popped into my head:
(The one thing i like about having the original version at the end of the CD...is because it's a great way to slow down from the excitement from all the dance versions, rather than starting out with the excitement, and then "BANG", right into beats & rythms.)

Does this make sense? I think it does!

The cover artwork is really simple and keeps all the excitement for the music you'll hear on the CD.
Oh, and the slimline jewel case is the exact kind that should be on every CD single. There are some places and some artists that release singles in CD-R cases, and that goes to show just how cheap some artists & their music companies can be! But not Annie! No, she's always released stuff that's pleasing to the eye, the ears and the wallet too!

I don't have much else to say. Go buy yourself a copy of this CD single now. You won't regret it!

It seems that lately mainstream dance music has become boring and tired. Faints have been tried by the folks over at electroclash and even dance hall, but there is something rotten in the club music scene that is killing it.

This is why this CD single, as an example of what I am guessing more or less mainstream, is so refreshing. The beats are not the same ol same ol and the songs feel more like remixes than simply new beats with snatches of the chorus thrown in.

The song itself is beautiful, but this is one of those rare joys where the remixes actually improve the song, giving it a bouncy upbeat feel that make a nice counter to the downbeat nature of the lyrics. It makes the song that much more poignant.

Check out the first and fourth remixes especially. Do yourself a favor and pick up this little pop jewel.

This is truly one of the most haunting songs she's ever recorded. The original version is beautiful, Annie's soaring voice sparingly accompanied for the first 1:20 of the song, then a slow but driving beat and her traditional soulful backup vocals drive the rest of the song.

The remixes, especially the Mac Quayle, are phenomenal. As with other MQ remixes, the song transcends its melancholy lyric and turns into a burning and urgent dance extravaganza.

Music like this is rare; Annie Lennox is one of those artists who has always been able to take the lyrically meaningful and musically soulful and combine them both into powerhouse recordings. This song and the accompanying remixes are no exception.

To these awesome remixes! I took the CD to a club and they played the whole thing... everyone loved it and hopefully went out & bought a copy! Great job Annie! Congrats on the Oscar win, too! ;o)

This is Annie Lennox's best Maxi-Single yet, It even towers over the excellent ''No More I Love You's'' CD single which got quite far in 1995 when Junior Vasquez made a Megamix that included the best of ''Medusa''.

This song was a huge dance floor hit here in South Africa (especially Mac Quayle Mix & Scumfrog Mix). Both mixes were overexposed here in October 2003, Scumfrog's Mix was a chart-topping hit!. Absolutely Timeless!.

Also don't forget to pick up Annie's Best-Selling Album ''Bare''. I still cannot get over how excellent it sounds, all the remixes are first-quality and strictly dance, ranging from different types until the end, it slows down to the (Album Version).

Mac Quayle Extended Mix. You can easily tell that this is a Mac Quayle remix, since it possesses his unique dance formula, He has also done allot of (very exceptional) work for Madonna, especially when he collaborates with Victor Calderone. This Mix is more for radio friendly, but danceable, it is however more laid back.

Goldtrix Club Mix. This is more for underground play, since features beats that are more sophisticated, while her vocals have been reduced and reversed which actually sounds remarkable. This Mix definitely focuses on the beats other than the vocals, which echoingly take place every now and then.

Scumfrog Club Mix. This is by far the best mix here, as it is one of Scumfrog's most flawless mixes ever. This mix is more dominating with virtually incredible house beats. It definitely happens to hold the more serious side of House, containing the immense stomping touch to it.

Gabriel & Dresden Club Mix. This is a enhanced version of the original, which builds up to lightly based techno, the lines ''Love don't show in the pavement cracks, aha, There will be no turning back, aha'' accompany the build-up when her vocals finally break through with ''How come every day, I'm still waiting for the change?, How come I still say, Give me strength to live?...then as the ''to Live'' vocal part turns into a effect that mourns continuously.

Scumfrog Knob Dub. This is a dub, in the same immense stomping- sense of the term. Really no other remixes of Annie Lennox's that can be compared to both Scumfrog's mixes of this song.

Shanghai Surprise Vocal Mix. This mix sounds allot the Mac Quayle mix, but it features darker beats and better vocal range, Annie's voice sounds very refreshing. This is also more for radio play, well it dominates semi-house beats, the kind of beats producer/Dj Todd Terry comes up with.

Original Version/Album Version. To me the album version is poor in comparison to the remixes, since they are one of the best remixes I've heard. On it's own (by merit) the original is a good song.

Annie Lennox sure makes one hell of a advance in digital technology, and this CD is a testament to that!.

The album was complete and had no scratches. This was a great value and better than purchasing on iTunes since it is uncompressed audio (AIFF). I will look to amazon again for used CD's in future.

I'm a big Annie fan,I have all her albums + solo. I didn't know what to expect. Not all remixes are good,my favourite is track 1 & 6 and of course the original mix. Buy it you will be happy you did.

Well why J Records released this single a few months later than its radio release is unknown, but I am glad they did it anyhow. Simply because this CD-maxi single is just the best this year.

The first remix is by the Mac Quayle remix is a trademark remix from the duop who has done much work for Madonna. A commercially-tailor club mix that comes with the usual grooves.
The Goldtrix Club Mix starts to build some excitement for this song by introducing some techo house bits lined with Annie's haunting vocals.

The Scumfrog Club and Dub Mixes continue the tempo with a stomping dancebeat where the vocals take a back seat.

The Gabriel & Dresden Club Mix is my favorite mix of the lot. It begins with a long upbeat intro before breaking into the original song with vocals and finally culminates into a high point of techno, dance and electronica. A riveting 10 minutes of dance anthem.

The final remix is the Shanghai Surprise Vocal mixwhich builds up its groove gradually. Nothing spectacular but a regular club mix.

Well, the last song is the album version which needs no introduction as a haunting and sorrowful tune from the lady herself.

This is a maxi-single not to be missed and the only place where you'll find all the remixes. EXCELLENT!