The abundance of forgettable, badly done remix albums that came out in the 1980s and 1990s made some consumers wary of remixes. And up to a point, their skepticism was justified -- in some cases, remix albums have amounted to cheap, crude exploitation. But when remixing is done with creativity, the results can be thrilling. Much like a jazz instrumentalist, a remixer can put an interesting new spin on your old favorites, and that's exactly what happens on
Everybody Dance. One of the most captivating dance-music collections released in 1998, this superb two-CD set brings mostly classics from the Disco era and the early to mid-1980s into the club world of the 1990s. Gems like
Chic's "Good Times,"
Linda Clifford's "Runaway Love" and
Sister Sledge's "He's the Greatest Dancer" are given high-tech, late-1990s makeovers, and most of the remixes (which are provided by dance-music icons like
Todd Terry,
Albert Cabrera, and
David Morales) sound organic rather than forced or unnatural. The only song from the 1960s is
Aretha Franklin's "Respect," which works surprisingly well with a 1998 remix.
Everybody Dance is a release that no dance music enthusiast should overlook.
–
Alex Henderson, Rovi