Search - Yello Vs. Hardfloor :: Vicious Games

I played Vicious Games - and I liked it!

04/03/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The latest in a long line of remixes of the timeless Yello hit Vicious Games [Stella] and the only one that really does the high quality of Boris Blank's original work any justice. The original track was released in no less than 5 remixed versions by Boris during the 1980s. It was remixed during the 90s by Mark P. and Teri B. in 1994 (4 versions) and The Grid who tried their luck with two ambient versions during the Hands On-project 1995. The two more recent Yello vs Hardfloor releases 1998/1999 are easily the better of the 90s material.This Platipus CD single consists of 3 tracks, a short Radio Edit (3:47), the longer Art of Trance remix (8:07) as well as a "Da Bomb remix" (6:59) by Piet Blank and Jaspa Jones. Note that this single does not include the Blank/Wollschlager mix which appears in Eccentrix Remixes and which was originally released on an other single also named Yello vs. Hardfloor - Vicious Games by Orbit Records in 1998.The Hardfloor Radio Edit easily counts as the best. It is a quick and rhythmic dance track which will get you moving. It is also more true to the original than the two very loose interpretations by The Grid which did not strike a cord with old hard core Yello fans. Some of the effects sound strangely familiar though, and remind me of...was it the Viola dance floor remix of Mory Kante's Yeke Yeke? -Nevertheless this version is up there in the top together with Boris's old Vicious Remix. The Art of Trance version is slower and less impressive. It will definitely not put anyone into a trance, but it does contain some funny samples of old Yello songs like Lost Again and Oh Yeah, as well as an interesting distortion effect on Rush Winters's sensual ohhhh-ohhhh's which I found novel. I have nothing much to say about the Da Bomb remix except that it is not a very convincing attempt at a heavy dance floor beat... Those of you who think the original Vicious Games was a decent track will certainly enjoy the Radio Edit which I rate a solid 5 stars. The two other tracks bring the average score down to 3 stars and there is a reason why CD's like this are called `singles' - it is the sort of record you buy because of the title track only. It will probably not come as a complete surprise to American Yello fans that this is yet another imported release which undoubtedly will be out of stock soon. Get it while its still available.// J. Silvennoinen"