Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
La Bouche: Good Introduction to Eurodance, February 10, 2002
Well, as most people know by know, Melanie Thornton, the lead singer of La Bouche (as well as Le Click, famous for the club anthem "Tonight is the Night") tragically died in a plane crash in November of 2001. This album probably will be always known as the pinnacle of La Bouche's short lived career. I remember "Be My Lover" as the song that started getting me back to listening to dance music after being away from it a few years. The album is worth a listen if you are into energetic music (Be My Lover, Sweet Dreams) and a few slower tunes mixed into it. Most of all, remember La Bouche and Melanie as a group (along with Real McCoy and 2 Unlimted) as artists started the trend toward the introduction of dance music into the US Market. Unfortunately, La Bouche and Melanie didn't last long but they leave behind a good legacy.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good driving music, February 3, 2002
When thinking about 90's music, no one can help but thinking about the duo that was once La Bouche. The singles that were released ("Be My Lover", "Sweet Dreams" and "Falling In Love") were true masterpieces of the 90's pop charts.
This is a great album because it incorporates a unique combination of American and Euro pop/disco, most likely because of their German influences (they also met in Germany). This album according to me makes killer driving music, never letting you get sleepy if it's late at night and waking you up if it's early in the morning on the way to school/work. I would have liked it better if they would have included the longer version of "Sweet Dreams" but I don't mind it too much. "I'll Be There is my favorite song on the whole album and her vocals are truely represented here. Little did I know that lead singer Melanie Thornton died last year in a plane crash. She is the most powerful vocalist I have ever heard in my whole life, hands down. She will definatly be missed. Buy this album in memory of Melanie, and as is being one of the best albums of the 90's.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Part of the soundtrack of my high school years, June 22, 2006
I was 15 years old and a sophomore in high school when "Be My Lover" started burning up the U.S. charts toward the end of 1995, and I loved every second of that song: Eurodance-pop perfection, bolstered by the catchy "La-da-da-dee-da-da-da-da" hook and the powerful diva voice of the late Melanie Thornton. As I recall, most radio stations played the edited version without Lane's rap, without which the song seems kind of empty (even though it is cheesy: "Like Boyz II Men I'm on bended knee"... sorry, that line makes me giggle). As much as this song simply smokes, the extended mix which also got some radio play on "mix shows" and the like is even better.
Anyway, when I bought this album I expected an album's worth of songs in the same Eurodance style which I had grown to know and love thanks to Real McCoy, 2 Unlimited, Fun Factory, and (remember "The Rhythm Of The Night?") Corona. To my surprise, there were some slow jams here too! Despite being well-sung by Melanie, as is everything here, the slow jams - especially "I'll Be There" (which is NOT the Jackson Five/Mariah Carey classic) - aren't as memorable as the dancefloor thumpers. "Be My Lover," the title song, "I Love To Love" and "The Heat Is On" are all red-hot, catchy, well-crafted Eurodance classics. And it is the talents of Melanie Thornton that make them really special. In the hands of any other singer these songs wouldn't sound nearly as hot. There's also "Where Do You Go," which is ALMOST the same song that became a hit in 1996 for the Cuban-American trio No Mercy - I say "almost" because the verses are different. Equally fun is Le Click's "Tonight Is The Night," a #89 Hot 100 hit in 1995. (Of course, after Melanie and Lane McCray got together as La Bouche, Le Click continued on with a new singer named Kayo Shekoni who was sort of a soundalike for Melanie, and scored a Top 40 hit in 1997 with "Call Me.")
And there's an oldie here too - that would be "Fallin' In Love," the Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds #1 hit from 1975. The album version is a nice, breezy, mid-tempo pop tune that wouldn't sound out of place on adult contemporary radio. It's certainly far superior to the horrid Eurodance remix that was issued to radio stations after the success of "Be My Lover" and "Sweet Dreams." Actually, "Fallin' In Love" was originally La Bouche's first single in the United States in 1995, but it flopped, getting into the "Bubbling Under the Hot 100" chart for a few weeks and then vanishing. When it was re-promoted to radio the following year, RCA did not re-release the single and CHR stations played it as an album cut (though most of them, unfortunately, played the remix, which was not all that bad on its own, but was horrible compared to the album version).
In short, this is a more-than-competent survey of the mid-1990s Eurodance sound, with a pair of big hit singles and a few extras as well. La Bouche injected some soul into the Euro beats and came up with a winner. Rest in peace, Melanie, you are still missed.
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