Customer Reviews

Shakedown

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm not going to write a long snazzy detailed song by song review of this CD, but I am going to give you an opinion of an everyday college student who enjoys some good dance music. I've looked far and long for house music that would completely sweep me off my feet, nothing has come close to the music of Freemasons. I am so glad I ran across them; I'm so glad that I had to write a review and let people know about it...I've had tons of chances to write reviews, but never felt compelled enough. This album drove me over the edge; 9/10 songs are SPECTACULAR, a truly rare feat. If you want to read about the details of the style of music, others have provided that, but I felt like I should say something. I just wish there were a couple more groups who do similar work...because I'm aching for more.

I don't usually buy DJ or dance mixes, but after hearing much of Freemasons stuff online and in the clubs, I thought I'd give this one a try. I tried looking at downloading it from iTunes, but they don't have the whole album and the mixes I wanted. Suffice it to say, I've been listening to these discs for the last 4 days straight, over and over, and the tracks, while addictive at first, just get better and better. If you are a fan of dance music, then this is the album for you!

I am a long-time fan of dance music, but had not heard of the Freemasons until tuning into XM radio 2 years ago. Their tracks and remixes are frequently played on the dance stations, and I liked every single one of them, so I decided to purchase their entire CD (a rare occurance for me).

Despite some very minor dissapointments, I could not have been happier with my purchase. Every single track on these two discs is a fantastic, heart-pumping catchy wonderfully-mixed piece of music.

As with all artists there are similarities between tracks - but in the case of the Freemasons, this is a great thing. Each track blends wonderfully with the previous one, making sure you never miss a beat.

I am partial to their remixes, but the original tracks are just as fantastic. My absolute favorite tracks include:

*Atlantic+Pacific (A brilliantly arranged instrumental - Not sure why these are split into two tracks, they're essentially one long song)
*Mesmirized (A remix of a rather boring Faith Evans song, which turns it into an anything-but-boring dance anthem)
*Nothing But a Heartache (A Freemasons original - the catchy hook gets stuck in your head for days)
*I Wasn't Kidding (A remix of which I've never heard the original, but after hearing this version, I don't think I'd care to hear any other version. The funky guitar riff makes this one to listen to over and over again)
*Love on My Mind (Another Freemasons original - One of the most-played tracks on dance radio, with good reason)
*Boy Meets Girl (I'm not sure if this is the Freemasons or not, the disc does not specify...It lists the artist as Walken. Nonetheless, it's a great "Freemasons-esque" track that will be sure to get you dancing)

Only criticisms:
*The mix of Shine by Luther Vandross (one of my favorites) they included here is too fast for my tastes. It really takes away from an otherwise brilliant remix
*Ring the Alarm by Beyoncè is not included. If you can purchase it separately I suggest you do so...It (like Mesmirized) takes a rather bland R&B song and injects new life into it. It really is a top-notch track that is sadly missing from this collection
*Rain Down Love, while decent, is not as strong a track as the others. There are two versions included on this CD - neither one particullarly shines. If you can find the mix that blends it with Boy Meets Girl, snatch it up.

All-in-all, if you have ANY interest whatsoever in dance music, do not hesitate for a second and purchase Shake Down by the Freemasons. You won't be dissapointed....don't let the price scare you away, it's worth it and thensome.

This is bar none one of the best dance compilations I have ever heard. As another reviewer put it so succinctly, it's the "bomb" and never lets up on the Hi-NRG until the last cut on the second cd which is a slowed down version of Siedah Garrett's "Rain Down Love" (After Hours Mix).

Freemasons have an incredible talent in melding some of the best of the 70's, 80's and 90's dance sounds with new r & b and pop songs that create mixes which sound totally fresh and contemporary. For the most part the vocals are very strong and the result is a blend that's very danceable, but still melodic which makes this an enjoyable listening experience as well. The flow and transition between cuts is seamless and I believe this is due to the fact that all of the songs have either been produced or remixed by the same production team, so the "vision" is consistent throughout.

The extra dollars for this import are well worth it as you will find some of the biggest hits from the dance floor over the last couple of years all in one place here including Beyonce's "Deja Vu", Luther Vandross' "Shine" and Freemason's "Love On My Mind" with vocals by Amanda Wilson, an excellent reworking of Jackie Moore's classic "This Time Baby" among many, many others. Just check out the track listing.

I recommend this release very highly. Put it on at your next party and everyone will be up on the dance floor asking what you're playing.

2 discs of absolutely peek time, floor destroying, anthems. 28 tracks flawlessly mixed over 2 CDs. Featuring Freemason's best of the best remix's & self produced tracks. Remixing some huge names in both R&B & Dance Music such as Beyonce, Fatboy Slim, Faith Evans, Blaze & Luthor Vandross to name only a few. I was a little skeptical at first that this would be a bunch of cheez'd up Diva house, & while there are plenty of vocal tracks here, nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone looking for a pumpin' house album this is it, although a little spendy with a $30 price tag this CD is absolutely worth every penny.

When it comes to dance music "diva" style the Freemasons take on it wins "hands down". This album is full of commanding vocals, relentless thumping beats and the kind of instrumental quirks within the songs that separate them from any other disco thumper. Think: Black Box e.g. Ride On Time, Strike It Up from the 90s and you get the idea, or more recently Kelly Rowland...Beyonce's Deja Vu probably is the highlight, much like her Ring the Alarm track on the Shakedown 2 album, but there are plenty of other tracks to savour. Check out When You Touch me which samples the Three Degrees classic Dirty Old Man. Play it loud, definitely play it at the gym on your player, your cardio energy will soar.

I love all the songs on this 2 CD set but who ever made the CD's must have been on drugs. When I try to play the first disc on the PC it only shows 5 tracks instead of 14. Also the title of the disc is given as Unmixed, not Shakedown although the disc has Shakedown printed on it! The second disc does have the correct title and all 13 tracks. Actually it has 15 tracks, an extra song and one unnamed track listed as number just No. 15! Very strange. The discs have some nonsense printed on them about having 6 "encoded" tracks but there doesn't seem to be any way to play them. It must have depended on installing some rootkit on the PC that doesn't work in Windows 7. What good is it if I can't play all the tracks that are supposed to be there? The mixing is very odd also. Tracks just start at full volume like it's the middle of the song and end abruptly with no fading out. Atlantic and Pacific seem to be 2 halves of the same song that was cut in the middle. What the heck is going on here?

There is no excuse for any dance or pop fan to not have this and its counterpart Shakedown 2 in his or her collection. This price does seems awfully high though, so I suggest going to Amazon.co.uk and purchasing both Shakedowns (four discs total!) for only $20 after shipping and currency conversion.

About the tracks, this kicks off with the brilliant Déjà Vu, one of the disco remixes the Freemasons created for Beyoncé's B'day album (Ring the Alarm makes the cut on Shakedown 2). The highlight of the set is Faith Evans' Mesmerized, which takes the original and ups the tempo to incredible heights. That spoken word intro is beyond genius. Other excellent tracks include Atlantic, Pacific, Nothing but a Heartache and Watchin'.

Don't hesitate adding this and its sequel to your collection. Freemasons deserve more success and recognition in the US, so please spread the word!

Okay, keeping at $[..] would be better of course... :)

I'm glad that legal download iStore place hawks only the crippled version of this 2 disc set (it contains none of the remixed songs, only the Freemasons' original scores, which alone are formidable...). But I digressed. The iStore compelled me to find the FULL album, and here it is on trusty reliable amazon.com!!

These Freemasons cats know how to do electronic music. Their original scores re-invigorate and renew a music genre that has become dull over the years. With aplomb, may I add.

And their remixes of R&B songs do them real justice. The original R&B songs have merit and they choose artists with phenomenal voices (I dig R&B too), but the remixes add a new, totally different, and energetic (Red Bull-worthy? :-D ) dimension that makes the purchase of this CD set worth every penny, if not twice as much as far as I'm concerned. How one can successfully turn a smooth, suave R&B song into a beat-driven rave-worthy dance track is beyond me, but they've done it... (their remix of Faith Evans' "Mesmerized" is an all-time fave...)

It's all truly great stuff.

I had written a more detailed but equally critical review, but wonder-of-wonders, of three reviews submitted (for three different acts), the one that was most critical and explained exactly why, which would also impact sales receipts for Amazon, was just deleted with no explanation (simply vanished from the "reviewing your review" stage.)

Let's try this again. This "music" is pure, unadulterated, soul-less, hollow product. While on shuffle, pretty much any one song is the same as any other. Extremely overproduced, no expense spared, that is obvious. But there's no soul. This is product, which was probably constructed with product sales in mind. I've been listening to this here and there for about a month, sincerely trying to find something interesting or novel, but it's pure air, all artificial ingredients... any one of these "songs" could be used to hawk aspirin or sports cars too, which I suspect is the entire angle of these "super producers", from start to finish

Not worth even a dollar, and as a 2-disc "import", Amazon also got to milk me on this hoax, even more so! And then deletes my critical review. Hmmm...

Guess what else pushed me to buy it? Every existing (Amazon) review for the album was glowingly supportive, with little criticism of any kind in sight. Hmmm...