===============================================================================
The Second Strike
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments: Chad Maier
Continuing a great tradition started by DJ's, the quality of these tracks are
great (except one), and has THE best razormaid remixes available! QUALITY = 8.5
Halo (Bogus Brothers Mix) 6:33 Not great quality. Rumor has it that
this mix along with the Uncomfortable mix were available on a promo
where only 50 original copies were pressed before they were caught!
People Are People (Razormaid) 6:25 The best mix of PaP you will ever find!
Happiest Girl (Razormaid) 6:51 Incredible best-quality mix of this song!
Enjoy the Silence (Razormaid) 6:06 Breathtaking. I'd like to hear this mix
on the dance floor!
Master And Servant (Razormaid) 8:02 Pretty cool.
World In My Eyes (Razormaid Mix) 7:45 Samples galore make this the shit!
Sea of Sin (Razormaid Mix) 6:27 Stellar performance by the guys from LA!
Policy of Truth (Art of 'Memorandum' Mix) 8:08 The Art of Mix people
complete these incredible Violator remixes with a hit mix of their own!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments: Michael Thomas
Halo (Bogus Brothers' Mix /6:33)
Very poor sound quality. It sounds as if it was recorded with the
recording level set far too high. There is a lot of distortion.
Definitely NOT worth listening to.
People Are People (Razormaid Mix /6:25)
Pretty good. Standard Razormaid type mix, though, ie, bits and pieces of
the original song cut and pasted together in different places.
Happiest Girl (Razormaid Mix /6:51)
Likewise, a standard type Razormaid remix. Sound quality is also not
that great, but still much better than Halo.
Enjoy The Silence (Razormaid Mix /6:06)
Somewhat better then the first three tracks. It contains samples from
other ETS remixes as well, unlike the PAP and HG remixes which seem to
use only the original song.
Master And Servant (Razormaid Mix /8:02)
Good sound quality. Seems to contain bits and pieces from the Slavery
Whip Mix and US Black and Blue Mix. A fine remix of MAS, in my opinion.
World In My Eyes (Razormaid Mix /7:45)
An interesting remix of WIME. The phrase "music, nonstop" is repeated
several times during the song. It also contains a sample from the song
Leave in Silence".
It's Called A Heart (Razormaid Mix /6:48)
Not a very notable remix of ICAH. Sounds a lot like the Emotion Mix and
Emotion Dub of ICAH. Luckily, it contains no samples from the Slow Mix.
Sea Of Sin (Razormaid Mix /6:27)
It doesn't sound like Razormaid did much remixing on this song. It seems
as if they just took one of the remixes off of the WIME single and did
some very slight alterations to it.
Policy Of Truth (Art Of 'Memorandum' Mix /8:08)
About halfway through this mix it blends into Strangelove, then back to
POT. It sounds like there are quiet samples from other DM songs at the
same point, but i'm not quite sure which ones.
I'd recommend going out and getting it if possible. Aside from the shit-mix
of Halo, it's a very good compilation, as DJs Revenge was.
--
I was listening to Second Strike for the first time in a while tonight and I
noticed that it didn't sound quite as bad as I had originally thought. I
think that this is mostly due to the fact that I got new speakers. With the
older speakers, there was a ton of distorted bass throughout the disc. But
now the bass sounds a lot nicer, smoother, less distorted. I'm not trying to
say that there is no distortion at all, but it's been greatly reduced. It's
only prominant on the first track. I think the problem they had with this
disc is that they recorded it at too high of a recording level. Much too high.
I notice that the bass is quite strong regargdless of which speakers are used.
Anyway. Enough of this rambling. I just wanted to say that Second Strike
isn't as bad as I had first thought and if you didn't get it for the reason
of people slamming it's sound quality, you might want to reconsider.
Oh, and as an almost-afterthought, the Ivan Megamix still sounded pretty bad
with all of it's scratchiness and record popping.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments: Bennett McElwee
Halo (Bogus Brothers' Mix)
Shocking sound quality, guaranteed to make even the most expensive speakers
sound cheap. The actual mix is good, with a bigger beat and some nice drums.
There's a vocal sample of "halo" used a lot throughout. This would be a
great mix, but the sound is so bad it's painful to listen to. Bogus indeed.
People Are People (Razormaid Mix)
Nice mix. Contains some vocal "let me take you on a trip" samples, and the
same Twins Peaks chords used in Moby's "Go". The instrumental breaks are
interestingly done, keeping the feel of the original but adding new twists.
Happiest Girl (Razormaid Mix)
Big booming beat, and some occasional nice drum samples. The heavy beat
sounds a bit squelchy when turned up loud, due perhaps to a bit of
distortion (thankfully nowhere near as bad as Halo though).
Enjoy The Silence (Razormaid Mix)
Varied mix containing lots of different instrumental sounds, including
some from the Quad mix.
Master And Servant (Razormaid Mix)
Sound like the official mixes cut and pasted together.
Behind The Wheel/Route 66 (Ivan Megamix)
A long version of the officially-released megamix.
World In My Eyes (Razormaid Mix)
A "spot the sample" mix. Starts out with some Kraftwerk samples: "Music,
non-stop" from "Musique Non Stop", and various bits from the Computer World
album. Heavily processed vocals near the beginning, and lots of little
synthy sounds. Later a riff from Snap's "The Power", and the "Woo woo"s from
"Leave In Silence". There's even a bit of "World In My Eyes"
Overall this is a very busy mix, quite good if you like that sort of thing.
It's Called A Heart (Razormaid Mix)
Not bad, with a nice oscillating bass sound reminiscent of Donna Summer's
I Feel Love".
Sea Of Sin (Razormaid Mix)
Samples Enya's "Orinoco Flow" for sixteen bars in the middle. Otherwise
a standard cut 'n' paste, but quite a good one.
Policy Of Truth (Art Of 'Memorandum' Mix)
Starts with some bits from "Enjoy The Silence" before leaping into "Policy
Of Truth". Later during an instrumental break we get bits of one of the
Strangelove" remixes and some faint "Just Can't Get Enough"s! Again, a
busy mix, and quite enjoyable.
===============================================================================
