Over the course of the last few years, dance music has lost its special place on the UK singles chart, with dance #1s being infrequent rather than a staple of the chart. This year, however, dance music has regaining a lot of ground on the charts, thanks to Calvin Harris, David Guetta, and (interestingly enough) Dizzee Rascal.
But while dance acts are great for the singles chart, they don't generally produce very satisfying albums. With Harris and Guetta's albums having been released recently (and Rascal's is on the way), I wanted to see whether they could buck that trend too. Unfortunately no, but that doesn't mean there is some fun to be had on both discs.
Of the two, Calvin Harris's Ready for the Weekend is the more satisfying. "The Rain" throws in a very '80s-sounding saxophone solo in the middle section, despite not sounding like an '80s dance song. Current hit "Ready for the Weekend" is a worthy, energetic follow-up to the album's best track, recent #1 hit "I'm Not Alone." "Stars Come Out" and "You Used to Hold Me" are similarly disco-fueled ditties, with sharp beats and synth effects. There's a definite pop sensibility to these songs, which is perhaps why they play so well on the radio. Aptly titled "Flashback" has a retro '90s vibe (it's the keyboards that do it). Speaking of Dizzee Rascal, his "Dance Wiv Me" shows up, since Harris produced it.
Less exciting are "Blue" and "Relax," which begin with guitar before transitioning to their its blurts, bleats, and beats, "Worst Day," which lacks as strong a melody of most of the earlier tunes, and "Burns Night," which goes for chill, but not impressively so. The latter half the of the album is generally not as strong as the first, although I do like the layered melody of "Limits" and the piano of "Siliconeater."
David Guetta's One Love arrives similarly with a #1 hit already under its belt--the likable Kelly Rowland collaboration "When Love Takes Over"--and recently scored a second #1, "Sexy Bitch" with Akon. While both artists are essentially DJ-producers, Guetta fades from the spotlight more than Harris, perhaps because he favors more famous guests (Kid Cudi, Ne-Yo, Will.I.Am and Esetelle, in addition to those already mentioned). "Gettin' Over" sounds suspiciously like Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling." No surprise there, given that Guetta produced the Peas' massive current hit, which also shows up here in a (barely) remixed form. It's inclusion actually undermines the album a bit, making it feel more like a singles collection than a cohesive work.
"Missing You" is a pretty decent club track, with a charging synth beat and auto-tuned vocals. Kelly Rowland shows up again on the less interesting "It's The Way You Love Me," as well as the downright annoying "Choose," which benefits neither from her or Ne-Yo's efforts. "On the Dancefloor," not a Kylie remake, probably sounds great at 2 a.m. in a club when you're high out of your mind, but I'm too old and clean to confirm or deny that. In general, One Love is more straight up dance club than pop, and as such is less satisfying for me than Harris's record.
Ready for the Weekend (3.5/5). Best: I'm Not Alone, Ready for the Weekend, You Used to Hold Me, Flashback. One Love (3/5). Best: When Love Takes Over, Sexy Bitch, Missing You
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