Best of Bootie 2007
Carson gave this album
on2009-09-08.
While I cannot confirm that "Best of Bootie 2007" really does contain the best mash-ups from that year, I can assure you that the third release in the Best of Bootie series does contain some excellent tracks.
Obviously this is not going to be the most cohesive album in existence as it is a compilation. But, because of this, it would serve well in its original context of a dance or party where a change in tempo and sound are not only expected but desired. Keeping with that ideal, the mash-ups on this release pull from Orchestral, Rock, 80's, Metal, Dance, and other genres.
I was surprised at how well many of the tracks work when mixed since a number of them were mixed with songs from completely different styles of music. For instance, in "Galvanize the Empire" it is interesting to hear John Williams in a dance context outside of the disco version of the "Star Wars" theme. Another track that pulls this off well is "Love Comes Running Up That Hill Quickly"; I was really shocked to realize that Pet Shop Boys and Placebo really do not sound that much different. House of Pain's lyrics work well over the top of Boston's music in "More Than On Point", but the flow from one group's lyrics to the other's aren't always seamless.
Many of the tracks are like "More Than On Point" with respect to the vocals and music fitting together well. The beat from the vocals work extremely well with the guitar in "Pretend We're Alala". Also, The vocals and the music in "Tequila Lip Gloss" have very similar rhythms and the concept is rather humorous, but the levels could be adjusted as it is difficult to hear the vocals over the music at times. Also, this song feels repetitive after a while and could be helped by throwing another song into the mix.
Several of the tracks even go so far as to mix vocals between multiple songs. A notable example of this is "Funky Goes to Hollywood". While the blending is not completely seamless, it has been done remarkably well. Anther track that blends vocals from the blended songs well is "Britney - Dead or Alive?". Daft Punk encouraging Britney Spears to "work it" and asking for "more" ends up being pretty amusing.
In the case of some of the mash-ups, I have not heard any of the original tracks that went into making the song. This does not detract from the music, but, in some cases, does make it impossible for me to tell what parts came from which song. One instance of this is "Me & You & Yazoo". It is stitched together so well that I cannot tell what parts are from which song. I assume that the song that the vocals are from did not have as much percussion as the final track, but that assumption is based upon previous experience with this style of music, not because the song lacks continuity. I am also unfamiliar with the base songs in "Phantom of the Bottom", and it blends so well that I am unable to tell which parts were not from the same base tracks.
Conceptually, this is a great album and is only held back by two things. First, the base songs chosen - essentially the raw materials - have limitations on what can be done with them. And, secondly, some of the tracks do not blend as seamlessly as they could if they were spliced differently.
There are a couple of tracks that do not work so well in my opinion. "Detox" blends well, but does not sound very good because of the base songs chosen. In "Say It Right Away" the intermittent background vocal gets annoying after a while, I realize that it this was in the original song that the vocals came from, but since this is a mash-up, it could have been removed.
This is a great dance album - especially at the price - and I would highly recommend downloading it.
| Track | Name | Carson | Katherine | Track | Name | Carson | Katherine | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bootie Intro | |
12 | Phantom on the Bottom | |
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| 2 | Galvanize the Empire | |
13 | Say It Right Away |  |
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| 3 | Pour Some Hot Sugar | |
14 | Britney - Dead or Alive? |  |
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| 4 | Tender Umbrella | |
15 | Detox | |
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| 5 | Passenger Fever |  |
16 | Tequila Lip Gloss | |
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| 6 | Sympathy for Teen Spirit | |
17 | Walkin' Out Yo Girlfriend | |
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| 7 | Fade to Pretty Vacant | |
18 | Don't Stop Believin' in Planet Rock | |
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| 8 | Me & You & Yazoo | |
19 | More Than on Point | |
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| 9 | Funky Goes to Hollywood | |
20 | Illiterate City | |
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| 10 | Standing in the Way of Connection | |
21 | Love Comes Running Up That Hill Gently | |
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| 11 | Pretend We're Alala | |
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