Review
The Mega Rave was released in early 1993 and bears the catalogue number CDEVP3. It’s also the first of the three in the Mega series. The concept and compiling is credited to Ashley Abram with CDEVP2 being The Ultimate Rave while CDEVP1 is Awesome!! 2. It’s a judicious snapshot of the late ’92 / early ’93 dance chart and features a cool selection of radio edits, 7″ mixes and two 12″ cuts, many of which were caned in The Cellar bar.
First blood to Heaven 17 and Temptation. The Brothers In Rhythm remix was a faithful rework of the original 1983 classic and it’s the full length 12″ that sets the scene on this CD. The shorter single version can be found on Now That’s What I Call Music 23. The Stereo MCs connect the (micro)dots with the lively Step It Up while The Shamen make beautiful beats on Phorever People. Meanwhile The Prodigy’s Fire uses the sample “I am the god of Hell fire, and I bring you (fire)” from The Crazy World of Arthur Brown’s 1968 single of the same name. It’s a wicked experience. Next up are Electroset’s Blue Monday-sampling How Does It Feel and SL2’s jump-up bluntz Way In My Brain (Remix Edit).
The Ragamuffin Mystery: Swedish eurodancer Leila K’s full-on blast Open Sesame is a thrilling ride from start to finish. There’s a shift into hip-hop with the House Of Pain’s infectious Jump Around and the stern message of Television, The Drug Of The Nation by the Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy. The latter is enhanced by Michael Franti’s rich voice and compelling lyrical delivery. Elsewhere Uncanny Alliance speak of Burger King and employment woes on I Got My Education while Club 69’s slip into something more comfortable on the raunchy Let Me Be Your Underwear. Rage make the first of two appearances on the heartache-laden #44 charting Why Don’t You (12″ Greed Club Mix).
And the beat goes on: Lionrock’s Inna Milanese Stylee Edit of TC1992’s Funky Guitar is supremely groovy. 1-2-3-4. B.M. EX = The Barry Manilow Experience and Appolonia’s nice old skool piano house flows into Eastside Beat’s pleasant cover of Alive And Kicking. There are second shots from The Shamen and Rage; the twisted pepper shake of Boss Drum and the lush cover of Bryan Adams Run To You. Another track that didn’t quite hit the mark saleswise was Network’s Broken Wings; a shame as it really nails the emotional vibe of the original. The closing song is an ocean-crosser, Slipstreem’s singalong We Are Raving. Video directed by one Jarvis Cocker. An Earth Song; we all have HIStory.
Favourite tracks
The Prodigy – Fire (Edit)
Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy – Television, The Drug Of The Nation (Radio Edit)
Lest we forget
Leila K – Open Sesame (7″ Version)
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Hi Paul, 2 for you on this one. Jump Around by House of Pain is lifted from Rave 92 (the rapid fade gives it away).
A massive cock up by Abram appears late on. Rage’s ‘Run To You’ is lifted from Now 23. If you listen to the start of Network’s ‘Broken Wings’ you can clearly make out the start of ‘I’m Gonna Get You’, just briefly. How on earth such a thing would happen is a mystery when considering how easy audio editing is on modern computers, but back then, things were so different. Abram makes a similar error on Now Dance 92 in the early stages of ‘House of Love’, where the faint echo of the start of the extended version of ‘Baker Street’ starts for a second or so. I’ve played it along with the cd single for timing and it’s a definite that it was taken from the cd.
Slipshod stuff Andrew! Now Dance ’92 and Now 23 era particularly bad for that. Simple to avoid using Audacity but as you say, different world then.
Thinking of other obvious Abram errors, Now 36 was quite tightly indexed in that the start of some tracks, particularly on cd 2, started right at the end of the previous track. DJ Quicksilver’s ‘Bellissima’, whenever it appears on other Abram compilations, misses the full kick of the initial beat. Tall Paul’s ‘Rock Da House’ usually features the end of Healy and Amos’ ‘Stamp’ from Best Dance 7. I tweeted the other day that Abram wouldn’t have allowed the mistakes that have appeared on the re-issued Nows. Seems he could be quite sloppy, though rarely on Nows themselves.
Hi Andrew – yes, there’s been quite a few mistakes, a lot stem from use of tracks from other compilations. He was still involved when the first Now was reissued in 2008/2009 and that turned out to be the best (least-worst) of the lot.