Manny Lehman has been a staple in the dance community for going on three decades now. From his work at A&M Records in the early nineties to his residencies on some of the circuit's biggest dance floors, Manny has done it all. He was recently back in the top ten of the dance charts thanks to his production work for the Taylor Dayne track "I'm Not Featuring You." Now, building on this momentum, the folks at Atlantis Cruises have commissioned him to be the first DJ to mix a series of CDs geared towards their clientele. "Move: Atlantis Dance 2008" is a two-disc affair that is put together based on one disc being vocals and one being all dubs. This concept sounds good on paper, but the problem is that the tracks on the dub CD are the dubs from the songs already on the first CD! So you get double the Kristine W (Walk Away), double the Billie Ray Martin (Undisco Me), and double the Bob Sinclar (Together). You get double everything!! I understand that some DJs prefer vocals to beats, but why not fill each CD with different songs? The casual listener will more than likely be turned off by what they would consider repeats of the same songs.
So how is the mixing? It's actually pretty good. Manny knows how to spin a record and his skills are in full effect here. I think this CD could have been better by switching out certain songs for others, but I am not the DJ, just the reviewer. Tommy Boy Silver, the label behind this CD, obviously wanted a majority of the songs to be from their vaults since 70% of the tracks are from the label itself. The Vocal Mix is a peak hour stomp full of wailing divas and big room beats. The Dub Mix is much darker and a perfect choice for those folks who like late nights and dirty sounds. Manny gets a mixed reaction from crowds, but I have always enjoyed his sets and this one is no exception.
So how do I rate this? Overall, flawed concept aside, it's a good CD. The music may be dated at times, but the beats are so fierce you tend to forget that. The idea behind the set is not a bad one, but I think using different songs for each disc might be a better idea. Manny proves once again why he has managed to stay on top of his game for all these years. I'm anxious to see what the next release in this series will offer. Hopefully, this debut is also a litmus test that will be paid attention to by both the label and customers alike.
Concept execution: 1.5 stars
Manny's mixing: 4.5 stars
Overall rating: 3 stars
