#Since everybody else has done album"reviews except me, (okay: an album and one single) I thought it was!about time to do one myself. What#better album than 2 Unlimited's new$album "Real Things"? I'll try not to%use lines like "This is a really good
song."
THE REAL THING
$2 Unlimited arn't very original, are!they? Their last two albums names!have been the plural of the first!track on the album. Oh well. This$track is superbly loud, with lots of$organ like music playing to back the"whole thing up. Anita's singing is%just as loud as it always is, and for%once Ray doesn't ruin the whole thing$by shouting "Techno!" a lot. In fact$he doesn't say it once on the entire
album. Truly a remarkable
accomplishment.! What can I say? You've probably$heard it on the Telly already. It's certainly more worthy of being a title track than "No Limit", but didn't do as well in the charts.#There just isn't any justice. Heck,#Sunday mondays didn't even get into#the charts at all. It's all rigged, really. Who buys singles anymore$anyway? The last single I bought was#by Vanessa Paradis (That didn't get%into the charts either), and that was#ages ago. Surely some better system
has to be developed.
Anyway, I digress. This is!excellent, dig the organ, dig the"singing and dig the message in the%lyrics. (Yes, there is one.) Is there#anything wrong with it? No. Give it
full marks then.
DO WHAT I LIKE
This track is introduced by some%strange synth instrument that sounds $like a wind instrument. It's kind of
difficult to explain, but it's "really rather good. The lyrics are%basically saying not to criticise the$way she leads her life because she's$happy with it. One of the lines goes "...and I do do what I like, and there's no need to criticise..."
which is actually quite catchy,#especially the double "do". On that
subject, I must point out a grammatical error in the printed%lyrics: it quotes the lyrics as being#"...and I do, do what I like." when#in fact that doesn't make any sense"with the comma in the middle. It's$almost as bad as putting a full stop
in the middle of a sentence.%Nitpicking? Me? Probably, but I can't#stand it when people misuse grammar
symbols and do stuff like write%"your" instead of "you're" (check out"Mario 3 on the Mario All Stars for$the Super Nintendo when you play the#card game in Toad's house: he makes#that mistake when he introduces the
game.) Also, I like the breaks in the%middle where the synth wind plays and%Anita says "Do what you like" in that%strange breaking voice that she has."Ray says "Don't give a damn, don't%give a damn!" during the same breaks,$and the whole thing is really rather catchy. I find myself singing or#humming it all the time. One of the$best on the entire album. No faults,!full points. (You don't think I'm$being over generous here do you? You
do? Tough.)
HERE I GO
Not at all bad, in fact really
rather good. There are annoying breaks in the singing in which a%not-very-special backing track plays.$Anita's singing is top notch though,"and she proves that she isn't just%some crap member of a Techno duo with"a crap voice but is in fact a very%good singer. How many people can sing$as wide a range of notes as her? Not
many.
BURNING LIKE FIRE
" Anita puts her voice through its!widest range of styles here. Very!catchy, especially the line "Baby#come and take me on a natural high,%only you can make me feel the way you#do." The break from the usual style$of music in the middle is really the$best bit, where Anita's voice slowly$fades out saying "burning like fire,#fire, fire" while a simple waveform$synth instrument fades in. Curiously
effective, and then Ray raps$something I can't make out too well,$but does have the line, "You move so!sexy, I'd like to give it a try."#It's all excellent stuff. One of my%three favourite tracks on this album.%The others being "Do What I Like" and$"Nothing Like The Rain" (still to be reviewed)$ I'd like to give this track higher"than any of the others so far, but$can't go higher than 100%. (Redefine
the laws of maths, then. -ed)
INFO SUPERHIGHWAY
Oh dear, and it was all going so"well. It's not completely rubbish,"some bits of it are ok. It kind of
reminds me a bit of Shakespears!Sister in Anita's singing in some#places. (before Marcy got all moody and broke up the duo. It was her"fault.) Also reminds me a bit of 2$Unlimited's "A magic friend" the way
Anita whispers things in the%background. (wasn't her hair style in#that video a load of balls? It made$her look like Lulu. Yes, that bad! I#also think parts of that video were$Rotoscoped for "Jesus on E's" by LSD (the bit where Ray and Anita are!walking through that dessert like$terrain looks a lot like that bit in$Jesus on E's were two silhouette are
walking along.)% It's basically about how technology!is taking over and stuff, and how#we're becoming a "Virtual society".!Anita says stuff like "Won't you
interact with me?"
Not as good as what has gone"before, or even some of the things#that will come after. Average mark.
HYPNOTISED
Hmm. Not bad, but not the best.%Anita's singing is as good as always and the chorus is pretty catchy."("I'm hypnotised, no more worries !I've got music on my mind.") Does#have a lot of breaks in it though, !which makes it drone on a little. Seems as if it never really got !started by the time you reach the$end. Could have been better, but the
chorus is excellent.
TUNING INTO SOMETHING WILD
#Gee, I haven't listened to this one#since I first bought this album and"played the whole lot through. It's
pretty damn good. In fact it's excellent. I especially like the!chorus (haven't I said that about!most of them? Oh yeah, well: this
one's better than all those put!together.) It goes, "like a comet$from space, like a slap in the face,#you can feel it coming. Like a push
in the back, turning white into
black. You're feeling something
wild." It's excellent." I can't say much more. Excellent
chorus. Almost as catchy as a%baseball mit. Maybe. I love it. Worth!buying just for this. Would be an$ideal choice for the next single. At!the current rate of clothes loss,"Anita should be wearing nothing in!just a few singles time. Have you%noticed how she wears less each time?
ESCAPE IN MUSIC
$Another incredibly catchy chorus. It%goes, "sometimes you just need to get%away from the troubles and worries of#everyday, all you have to do, yeah"you know the trick, just escape in!the mus-ic." The backing track is$also very good 'n' jumpy. As good as!"Tuning into something wild." Not$sure about Ray shouting "BANG! BANG!
In your face!", though.# I can sympathise with the lyrics;
after a long days work on the #magazine and at school (even though"I'm off at the moment) doing more "than my fair share of work because!the others can't be bothered (on #the mag, I mean), there's nothing I!like more than to slip in (FNAR! "-ed) a 2 Unlimited or Urban Cookie!Collective album and hit my head !against my monitor. Another track$with a message in its lyrics. Great.
SENSUALITY
$Not the best, but not as bad as Info"Superhighway. Kind of average, I'd!say. It isn't really that catchy,"although some of the backing music
sounds Cappella-esq. The chorus%is "What is this physical attraction?#Can't help it I need satisfaction."#Crumbs! Satisfaction, eh? eh? As if"that wasn't fnar-ish enough, there$can also be heard a whip cracking in#the background every now and again.#Not bad, but there is stuff on this
CD many times better than this.
NO ONE
%This is dead good this one, it's less#chorus orientated, and actually has"more than one verse. The chorus is "No one can resist the desire to"escape to paradise, starts to seem#like there's nothing else to do but#dream and fantasise." Obviously you"can glean from this it's all about#life and stuff and how you can only%ever dream about having a really good life. (pass me the gun. -ed) The$music at the beginning is dead good,!with it being mainly made up of a%synth wind instrument. It's curiously#effective. The whole thing is a lot!slower than a lot of the stuff on"this album; you certainly couldn't$take E's and overheat dancing to it,#but that's not the point, it's more
of a message song than dance$(although frankly, most songs have a!message in them somewhere. Except "One love" by The Prodigy, which
doesn't have any lyrics)
It was released as a single#recently but failed to get into the%top 40. Shame. I really like it. Only#saw it performed on Top Of The Pops once and then not a peep from it again. There's no justice in the
world.
FACE TO FACE
"Not very special, the lyrics are a!bit samey, but I guess there's a #message in there somewhere. It goes!"Face to face and eye to eye, we !look the world right in the eye."!quite a lot and that's about it, although that isn't as bad as it"might sound. Actually quite good. !Can't help thinking it would make$quite a good theme tune for a movie.$Remember "Go away" by Gloria Estefan$that was used for "Made in America"?"This could be equally as suited to some movie in a similar way. The$lyrics could refer to the plot, just$like the go away referred to Whoopie!Goldberg and that white bloke. (I
can't remember his name)
WHAT'S MINE IS MINE
%Oh dear. It's not really very good to
tell you the truth. I like 2$Unlimited, but I just couldn't force%myself to like this one very much. It%looses marks primarily because one of%it's synth instruments sounds like it%was sampled from the Spectrum version#of Manic Miner. Anita Dels shouting!"MY PROPERTY'S MY PROPERTY!" in a!loud voice also looses marks. She$seems to have developed a strangely #English thugish accent for this one#sentence, and she sounds a lot like#one of those people you hear at two
o'clock in the morning shouting
"PARTY! PARTY!"! There are some good points, but
frankly not enough. The song is
mainly about not taking what is#theirs. I really haven't got a clue%what objects or spiritual possessions"they're going on about. Their car? Their job? Their style of music?"Their money? Nope. It just doesn't
make sense.
NOTHING LIKE THE RAIN
$For those of you who've never bought 2 Unlimited's previous album "No"Limits" and have only bought their singles or worse still only ever#listened to them on top of the pops
if that, it may come as quite a$surprise to you that 2 Unlimited can%perform a song like this. If you have%bought their previous album, no doubt$the words "Shelter For A Rainy Day"
will bring looks of immediate
comprehension to your faces.$ "Nothing Like The Rain" is a break$from the usual rave/dance/tecno call
it what you will music that 2$Unlimited are famous for. Whenever I"tell people I have both the albums"and the video I usually get stupid%comments like "Nobody admits to that,#Phil." I'm sure if these people had!ever heard this they would change
their minds." This is a much more relaxed pace
than the other tracks. It isn't#intended to be danced to, more like#you should just sit back and absorb
the lyrics. (always a sign of a
quality piece of work) It has a
definite message in the lyrics,$rather than just being incidental to#the music like a lot of there stuff
seems to be.
The verses are;% "Let me ask a question; where do we#go from here? Playing games to pass%the time, that's okay, 'cause time is
on my side." and" "If I make a promise, I'll never%let you down, no no. Life will always%break your heart, so they say, but we
can turn that round."
The chorus is;! "There's nothing like the rain,$falling down again, to come and wash#away the pain. There's nothing like
the rain, falling down again,
clearing the air so we can see
again."
This song is great. Love the$lyrics. Anita takes a pleasant break%from singing so loud her voice breaks
and shouting "MY PROPERTY IS MY%PROPERTY!" to bring us this wonderful"piece of sensitive music. Ray also#sings sensitively and doesn't break%into rap once. In shelter for a rainy!day, it rather seemed that he was
getting in the way of Anita's#singing, but in this he is an added#bonus to a track that would be good!enough with just Anita in. If you
thought 2 Unlimited were just a#mindless duo drumming out one track"after the other of mindless Techno!"rubbish", then listen to this to
change your mind. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that their!normal style is rubbish; I really%like it, but a lot of people wouldn't#agree with me there. All I'm saying
is that if you don't like their"normal style, you'll probably like!this. It really is that different$(one of their producers is different
for this track)$ The only thing that disappoints me!is that there is only one song in this "mellow" style, whereas one%their previous album there was three."("Invite Me To Trance", "Where Are"You Now?" and "Shelter For A Rainy!Day") This, however, is perfectly$good enough. I really think, though,$that Anita Dels would be more suited"to this type of music than Techno.$This demonstrates her singing skills%very well whereas her normal style is#hardly worthy as a voice as good as#hers. ("No no no no no no, no no no$no, no no There's no limit!" I don't
think so!)
#Excellent. Perfect. What more can I#say? Should be released as a single
immediately. There was talk of$releasing one of the "Mellow" tracks%from there last album as a single (It would almost certainly have been
"Shelter For A Rainy Day") but#nothing ever came of it. It should.
At once!
!VERDICT: The Techno stuff on this!album is excellent, but "Nothing %Like The Rain" is better. 2 Unlimited should do a whole album in this #style. It's truly excellent. It has!to be heard to be believed, it's #just such a change from what people"usually associate with 2 Unlimited!it's unbelievable. Get this album
(.txt)