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This is an "unofficial" release from DJ/remixer The Hitmaker™ (and I wonder if the ™ is ironic or not). He's created dance remixes of 80s radio-rock hits which are inspired, according to his bio at least, by bootleg/mashup culture. Well, it doesn't take a whole lot of inspiration to take a recognizable hit, chop it up so the vocal hook repeats ad nauseam, throw in a couple of other samples and keyboard parts, and add what sound like canned dance beats, which is what he's done with most of these songs. He also claims to be recontextualizing and revitalizing the songs, but here too his reach is exceeding his grasp. His remix of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" clumsily sucks the majesty out of that song (which I say unironically), and the addition of Michael Jackson and Rush samples seem more desultory than witty. The best thing about the remix of Van Halen's "Dance the Night Away" is Eddie Van Halen's guitar playing, which I never paid a lot of attention to before, but man, that guy had a touch, even with rhythm parts. "All I Need Is a Miracle Drug" is ostensibly a mashup of Mike + the Mechanics and U2 (and throws in a clip of Culture Club's "It's a Miracle" for good measure), but it fails to achieve the synergy of a good mashup. The Hitmaker tries to blend the piano hook from Coldplay's "Clocks" with Bryan Adams's "Summer of '69," but the result just feels artless. It doesn't take a genius to put electronic beats to The Who's "Baba O'Riley" or Styx's "Mr. Roboto," and here you go. Perhaps the most damning thing I can say is that I don't even listen to a lot of dance music and I can tell that most of the beats that The Hitmaker employs are pretty tired. He only approaches creating something artistic on two songs. On Foreigner's "Feels Like the First Time" he's added a keyboard part that works pretty well with the original guitar, and he's emphasized the piano part in REO Speedwagon's "Roll With the Changes" and recast the song as early-90s-style acid house. Neither of those is too stunning of an achievement, though. You could maybe slip one of these tracks into your party mix for a little novelty value, but include more than one track and you'll instigate more eye-rolls than booty-shaking. (mike.05.06)
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