Ultra Trance 03

Amazon.com
Ultra's third addition to the Ultra Trance series is a classic two-discs-that-should-be-one kind of collection. Johnny Vicious is back to mix the hard-hitters and the fluff together, but the blends are mostly cosmetic. The material is left to stand on its own, which only emphasizes the stark contrast between the winners and losers. Make no mistake, some remixes here, like the nasty and slick 12" version of Kelis’ "Milkshake," are designed to corrupt unsuspecting dance floors in the most glorious ways. Tracks from Crystal Method, Armin Van Buuren, and a patient, tasty club mix of Paul Van Dyk's "Time Of Our Lives" also do Ultra proud. But this collection is chubby around the mid-section, with both discs failing to sustain the momentum of the more premium material. With a freer hand, the very capable Mr. Vicious could have made relative hay out of it all, but as it stands, Ultra Trance 3 is a disjointed set with a few transcendent moments to recommend it. --Matthew Cooke

Tracks:

At The End (Johnny Vicious Remix) - IIO
Burn For You - Kreo
The Boys Of Summer (Humate Remix) - DJ Sammy
Look @ Me Now (Extended Mix) - Jessy
Mr. Lonely (Hex Hector/Mac Quayle Main Club Mix) - Deborah Cox
Don't Say Goodbye (Flatline Mix) - Paulina Rubio
You're Gonna Miss Me (Jonathan Peters Club Mix) - Katrina Ruiz
The Sound Of Violence (Narcotic Thrust Mix) - Cassius
In This World (ATFC's Southern Fried Vocal) - Moby
Loneliness - Tomcraft
Diving - 4 Strings
I Should Know (Alex Neri Club Mix) - Dirty Vegas
E - DrunkenMunky

Tracks:

Yet Another Day - Armin Van Buuren
The Way (John Dennis Mix) - Divine Inspiration
Cafe Del Mar (John 00 Fleming Remix) - Energy 52
Head - Thunderpuss And Barnes
Dark Beat - Oscar G & Ralph Falcon
Sweat (The Remix 1) - Cheyne Christian VS. Freedom Williams
What God Has Given You - Scanners
Inside - Velocity
Love In Bombay - Veronica
I'm Waiting - Johnny Vicious
Sweet Dreams (Eddie's Underground Mix) - Eddie Baez

Album Description

Johnny Vicious presents 2CDs of the hottest dance music featuring such artists as Deborah Cox, Cassius, Dirty Vegas & Jessy. After a string of hits and a #1 album in her native Belgium, Jessy is ready to take the US by storm with her latest smash single, 'Look @ Me Now'. The extended vocal mix is made to burn up the airwaves, while the harder DJ Philip remix will destroy any dancefloor. 24 tracks of today's hottest dance music in a slipcase. Ultra Records. 2003.

Customer Reviews:

First volume with some longer exclusive mixes..........2005-09-20

Where as volume 1& 2 had way too many short versions, this volume starts to get it right, giving us longer mixes of tracks that are rarely found on CD, like Mr. Lonely, Yet Another Day, and I'm Waiting. For serious collectors of dance music, this makes this volume much more than just a "party" mix. CD1 is a blast of hot peak hour diva vocal tracks, and ends with instrumental "E" by Drunkenmunky, which is actually the riff from one of Eminem's hits. Disc 2 is a mix of vocal, trance, and tribal beats, and tends to slow down the pace a bit. more longer, hard-to-find tracks would have put this volume over the top. Track times:

CD1
1. At the end (5:32)
2. Burn for you (4:26)
3. Boys of summer (7:52)
4. Look at me now (4:21)
5. Mr lonely (7:05)
6. Don't say goodbye (6:25)
7. You're gonna miss me (8:17)
8. Sound of violence (5:10)
9. In this world (6:44)
10. Loneliness (6:19)
11. Diving (3:29)
12. I should know (4:26)
13. E (3:17)

CD2
1. Yet another day (6:49)
2. The way (2:51)
3. Café del mar (5:14)
4. Head (4:03)
5. Dark beat (7:44)
6. Sweat (5:02)
7. What god has given you (6:04)
8. Inside (6:10)
9. Love in Bombay (4:32)
10. I'm waiting (8:44)
11. Sweet dreams (5:16)

better than 1 and 2.......2004-10-24

i think the first CD is considerably better than the 2nd
many of the songs have a good backbeat with excellent female vocals perfect on the dance floor
the best songs on the CD are:
At the End (classic Iio with great vocals and backbeat)
Diving (4 Strings in my opinion is always able to pull out a good song - Diving is one of my favorites)
I Should Know (Despite the male vocalist, it was still a fairly good song, as it jut gives you an overall good feeling)

Very good, well-rounded album.......2004-06-15

This CD totally rocks. While the second disk focuses mostly on beat, the first is all about strong vocals, and no one can match the talent of Deborah Cox in the Hex Hector/Mac Quayle mix of "Mr. Lonely", or the power of the chorus in Katrina Ruiz's "You're Gonna Miss Me". Several songs exhibit periods with excellent synth lines, like in Tomcraft's "Loneliness", and the trancelike rhythms of DJ Sammy's take on "The Boys Of Summer" will get your blood pumping. Drunkenmunky's "E" has its own charm and unlikely instruments. The second disk wasn't quite as entertaining or danceable, but it wasn't mediocre enough to hurt this album. My suggestion: Buy. Now.

One of my favorites.......2003-06-27

Something about this album got me hooked. At first I was disappointed because it did not have the initial appeal of "Ultra.Dance 02." The more I listened the more I liked it. I thought initially that the first disc had better songs because it was more mainstream but the more I listened the more I liked the discs equally.

There are good and bad songs on this CD and is seems that when they mess up, it's seriously bad. I really liked the first three songs on disc one. I liked Johnny Vicious's remix of iio's "At The End," Kreo's "Burn For You" and Humate's Remix of DJ Sammy's "The Boys of Summer" was my favorite section of the disc.Tracks 4 through 7 were in my opnion the worst act of the album. The vocals of Jessy, Deborah Cox, Paulina Rubio, and Katrina Ruiz got redundant after a while. Narcotic Thrust's "Two Minute Warning Mix" of Cassius's "The Sound of Violence" was a highlight track. ATFC's remix of Moby's "In This World" was SO ANNOYING! Listen to it once and your ears will cringe. I dont want to think about it. Anyway, I enjoyed Tomcraft and 4 Strings and I like Dirty Vegas's "I Should Know" but it sounds like it is sped up to more than 5% which makes it sound bad. Drunkenmunky's "E" was in my opnion annoying.

Disc two starts out with Armin van Buuren's "Yet Another Day" followed by "The Way" and Energy 52's "Café Del Mar." I liked these three songs and how well they fit together. The transition to "Head" was a bit iffy but I did like "Dark Beat." "Sweat" was disappointing consitdering it came from C + C Music Factory's smash "Gonna Make You Sweat." The vocals on this song were not sung by Freedom Williams as the album says, but were performed by the powerful voice of Martha Wash who also sung the title lyrics for SNAP!'s 1996 song "The Power." I did not like Scanners's song "What God Has Given You." It got repititive, but I did like Velocity's "Inside" and Veronica's "Love In Bombay." I loved Johnny Vicious's own "I'm Waiting" but was disappointed with the sensuous conclusion of "Sweet Dreams."

If you like club music, this CD is a good one. I loved the transitions by Johnny Vicious. This makes you feel like you are really there. My friend (who was into rock) kept thinking that it was the same song when the next song would start. That's how good the mixing is. There are some bad songs, but the good outweighs the bad by far. I am satisfied.

It grows on you.......2003-05-08

I bought Ultra.Dance 02 and enjoyed it greatly and thus bought Ultra.Dance 03. At first, I did not like this CD as much as the first but the more I listened to it the more it grew on me. There are still some tracks I don't listen to, for instance the annoying remix of Moby (Disc 1 track 9) and Drunkenmunky (Disc 1 Track 13). I also did not like "What God Has Given You" (Disc 2 track 7). My favorite tracks include the Humate Remix of "The Boys of Summer" (Disc 1 track 3), "Yet Another Day" (Disc 2 track 1), "The Sound of Violence" (Disc 1 track 8) and Johnny Vicious's own "I'm Waiting" (Disc 2 track 10) (Which I discovered is EDITED for this CD: "...stop gnikcuf with my mind..."). Despite inconsistencies, this is a good CD.