Customer Reviews

Ultra Dance 4: Louie Devito

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

New York based Louie DeVito is the reigning king of mainstream dance cheese. While his contemporaries often search for new textures and challenging grooves, DeVito remains stubbornly mainstream, serving up trashy Euro dance beats and energetic trance. Clearly, his formula is working, for he has been hailed as America's top selling non hip hop DJ. While he may lack fresh ideas, he obviously knows a thing or two about mixing and keeping a dancefloor crowded, and that shows on Ultra Dance 4. Disc One is the more accessible of the two, featuring highlights such as the Dead or Alive remix of "I Begin to Wonder" (which borrows the instrumental from "You Spin Me Round [Like a Record]"), Dana Rayne's Eurodisco remake of Starpoint's "Object of My Desire," L.I.V.'s energetic "Journey of Love," and Deborah Cox's "Play Your Part." Disc 2 is a bit more "underground" (a term I use quite loosely in this review), with kickin' tracks like Luna Mora's "A Better Day," Robbie Rivera's "Girlfriend," and Lee-Cabera's "Shake It." Considering DeVito's high profile, "Ultra Dance 4" looks poised to be a big seller. He may not be my favorite DJ, but this is one of the more consistent compilations Ultra has put out. Overall grade: B.

This volume truly hooks you up with the biggies, particularly the first disc. They opt for the "Dead or Alive" remix of Dannii Minogue, and you also get the hard to find Deborah Cox "Play Your Part (the gabriel & Dresden mix). Wish it had run more than 5 and a half minutes though-same with the Thunderpuss mix of Stuck. The extended version of QED's commercial trance cover of Def Leppard is here too. Disc 2 is much darker and more progressive. We really didn't need another mix of Don't Laugh by Wink. But there are some big club tracks on this disc, and several of them run from 7-8 minutes, a trend that should have begun on the first disc. Vocal lovers will most likely love the first disc, fans of more tribal dub stuff will get into disc 2, which has vocal, just not enough to really satisfy vocal lovers-although the Donna DeLory cover of Tears for Fears "the Hurting" is a must hear. Track times:

CD1

1. So I begin (5:18)

2. I'm in heaven (6:13)

3. Into the sun (5:16)

4. stuck (5:24)

5. I begin to wonder (4:32)

6. simply being loved (3:52)

7. getaway (6:35)

8. Play your part (5:36)

9. just the way you are (6:07)

10. object of my desire (5:47)

11. love bites (5:48)

12. journey of love (3:59)

CD2

1. Don't laugh (5:39)

2. satisfaction (6:36)

3. Bucci bag (6:05)

4. Appreciate me (7:02)

5. girlfriend (6:19)

6. shake it (5:13)

7. a better day (5:47)

8. the hurting (7:25)

9. as the rush comes (8:02)

10. Pressure (7:21)

11. at night (3:50)

12. be free (6:16)

I have been a follower of Louie Devito for some time now, and his mix of Ultra Dance is what I have come to expect from him. Devito has a unique way of mixing trance, house, and techno into one smooth mind trip. This has become my favorite work out CD.

I had to give this CD 5 stars to offset the poor reviews of a couple people. It really deserves 4 stars but any way.

The first disc is a dance masterpiece. From 1-10 it is excellent. In a day where 2 CD sets are standard but have only about 10 good songs randomly dispersed in total, this runway of 10 in a row is reason enough to give it 4 stars. Plus if you get it here on Amazon you can get it for the price of one CD anyway. As for disc 2 I never really got into it. I guess when 1 is that good it is tough to listen to a typical lukewarm typical dj dance cd.

So if you want a guaranteed solid vocal dance techno cd, disc one is tops!

Louie DeVito is definitely one of the best DJ's in the world. He usually picks spectacular music for his compilations. The first Cd starts out slow with Galleon "So I Begin", Jason Nevins "I'm In Heaven", Weekend Players "Into the Sun", but then gets up a beat or two with the 4th song called "Stuck, by Stacie Orrico, which is the Thunderpuss Mix remake. Then Louie DeVito plays the remix of Dannii Minogues "I Begin To Wonder", (Instrumentals copied from Dead Or Alive's "Spin Me Round".) BT "Simply Being Loved is a boring track here, but then Becky Baeling and Deborah COx start to come up and the cd begins to get more exciting. Milky "Just The Way You Are" is a track from 2001 so it brings the beat down a bit. The end of the cd is the best. Dana Rayne's "Object of My Desire !!!!!MY FAVORITE SONG OF THE YEAR SO FAR!!!!!!. QED "Love Bites", nice Valentin mix of it, and LIV~ Journey of Love. The second cd isn't that spectacular but it boasts some good club hits like Benni Benassi's "Satisfaction", Amuka's "Appreciate Me", Luna Mora's "Better Day" and Motorcycles "As The Rush COmes". I would recommend this cd to any Louie DeVito fan and any fan of dance music, both (Underground, Trance, and Mainstream Dance)

First Off, since Amazon neglected to post up the tracklisting, here is is...
1. So I Begin - Galleon
2. I'm In Heaven - Jason Nevins/Holly James
3. Into The Sun - Weekend Players
4. Stuck - Stacie Orrico (Thunderpuss Radio remix)
5. I Begin To Wonder - Dannii Minogue (Dead Or Alive remix)
6. Simply Being Loved (Somnambulist) - BT (Junkie XL Vocal remix)
7. Getaway - Becky Baeling (Mike Rizzo club vocal)
8. Play Your Part - Deborah Cox (Gabriel & Dresden Modulation Vocal mix)
9. Just The Way You Are - Milky
10. Object Of My Desire - Dana Rayne
11. Love Bites - QED
12. Journey Of Love - L.I.V.
Disc 2 :
1. Don't Laugh - Winx (Robbie Rivera/Willie Morales remix)
2. Satisfaction - Benny Benassi/The Biz (ISAK Original)
3. Bucci Bag - Andrea Doria
4. Appreciate Me - Amuka/Shelia Brody (NYC Roxy mix)
5. Girlfriend - Robbie Rivera/Keylime (Juicy Dub)
6. Shake It (No Te Muevas Tanto) - Lee Cabrera
7. Better Day, A - Luna Mora
8. Hurting, The - Mac Quayle/Donna De Lory
9. As The Rush Comes - Motorcycle (Sweeping Strings remix)
10. Pressure - Hatrixx
11. At Night - Shakedown/Terra Deva (Mousse T remix)
12. Be Free - Lock And Burns (Eddie Lock/Dylan Burns mix)

Now For the Review:

Well what can I say, this is your typical American commerial dance compilation.I gve this one just 2 stars becuase I have heard better, much better. This is just too tyical, and boring. I must say the tracklisting does feature all of todays current US radio dance hits, but is lacks variety and a sense of energy. If you want a better dance compilation, see my reccomendations.

Being a big fan of the first three releases in this series, I was expecting more of the same from U.D. 4. Nope! This is a lackluster collection of already over-played schmotz and dopey remixes. While my faith in the series remains strong, there's little chance I'll be revising this collection with any regularity. Disc 2 is especially tedious and, oddly, not dance-able. Move on!

The problem with these cd's is that the record labels have to give people what they want (Billboard Chart Play hits) and DJ's want to play music that is popular in whatever city they're based out of. What you get here is a good mix of both. So it ends up being pretty representative of dance music circa 2003. I'm actually impressed because you get stuff like "I'm in Heaven" by Holly James was played non-stop on Groove Radio in L.A. that spring and summer yet is on virtually no other American dance compilations.

This was the first dance album I ever bought cuz I was unsure. This is my favorite Ultra Dance compilation!! Louie DeVito did an awesome job mixing each disc together!! My favorite songs on the album are So I Begin, I'm in Heaven, I Begin to Wonder, Simply Being Loved, Object of My Desire, Satisfaction, Appreciate Me, and As The Rush Comes. I definetely recommend buying this album, and I still listen to it all the time!!

A good amount of Club music never hurt anyone. Well except maybe Country artists. The Ultra Dance series continues it's apparently non-stop journey into the underground life of the weekend clubber. Track selection is good. However the unnatural shift sometimes from pure Club Remixes into House Remixes sometimes doesn't go very well. It's kinda odd to mix out from Deborah Cox into a very Joey Neigro sounding Housey groove. But Louie does get his point across at least.