Overview

Bust A Move Dance Summit 2001 is third album in the series; with the second album being relatively hard to get hold of and the first being a real gem, this album has a tough challenge ahead of itself.

Body

"Nah-Ten-Ten" is just a small track to stretch the albums legs before the real tracks kick into full dance anthem fun. "Custom Move" starts off with a more underground beat featuring a rough-sounding reggae artist rapping throughout. Inoffensive and slightly catchy, it paves the way for the more Bust A Move styled song, "Red Star". This is a dance track with a cabaret feel to it; the brass instruments and singing go hand in hand to be quirky, catchy, and very fun to dance to. As with all the songs, they are sung mainly in Japanese so, although you can't sing along easily, you'll be humming the chorus in no time.

"Game World" is a more futuristic dance song. Various little synth effects pitter patter throughout, but sadly the slightly off key singing and poor sound balancing detract from an otherwise good piece. "Do You Think You and I Can Get Acquainted?" is an uptempo rocking number using organs and guitars to dampen the rather over-the-top and excited male singer who can't quite hold the notes for longer than a second without growling or wavering. It doesn't sound as bad as I've explained it, but it's just not very polished.

Moving along, "Cherry Bomb!" is a return to old skool dance of the early 1990s and is a very pleasent and catchy song by someone who can sing (I always welcome that). It reminds me of something that would open a early night gameshow! "My Name Is Sister 'Get'" has an overly busy verse, but has the ultimate gay pride ovation chorus! You can hear Village People dripping off it — and it's no bad thing as it's as catchy as hell and you can't help but dance about like a loony! Maybe that says more about me than the music, but it's definitely one of the highlights of the CD.

"Ichijiku" is good fast-paced fun with Japanese yodeling in it and some cutesy girls as backing vocals. How can that go wrong! It's for pure comedy value this song gets high marks from me as it never fails to bring me a smile. "God of Funk" is a great 70s treat full of snazzy guitars, litte guitar numbers, and hand claps. It's another sexy and sassy song that really shines. The ending theme "Kyogen Message", in complete contrast, is a rock song which, despite some poor production, is a strong number. There are some seriously funky sections before an anthemic finish that lifts your spirit and soul beyond the clouds.

Summary

Bust A Move Dance Summit 2001 is one of those albums that gets better upon each listen. There's only ten songs and, of them, seven or eight are of the same stand of Bust A Move's high dance music standard. But when it hits the right notes it does so with such panache it can't be touched. Be warned — label under funky, bold, and proud!