Like two great tastes that go great together, longtime NRG star Natalie Powers tackles the NRG classic “Shattered Glass” across a bumper crop of seven full-length club mixes on this CD single.
Now while I was expecting to hear cues picked up from Laura Branigan’s 1987 version, I was unexpectedly pleased that Starlab’s mix also kept a touch of the Disco backbeat from Ellie Warren’s original. Melding modern day electronic bleeps with more organic-sounding piano and bass arrangements, the Starlab versions beautifully update the song in a style that successfully dips its foot into both House and Electro waters.
A number of the remix teams opt for a hard-charging Trance style a la Cascada including Class Act and DJ LK whose mixes are similar in fashion, though the addition of some angelic chimes at the chorus is a lovely touch to the Class Act version. But it’s the Cosmic Squad mix that comes up trumps in this category; riotously filling the arrangement with incessant, shuddering beats before letting them clear into delicate beatless vocal sections.
Electric Allstars' more Electro-styled mix effectively interweaves gliding trance synth lines that tighten the melodic focus. The Bassmonkeys follows a similar pattern but the rhythmic chunkiness of their take unfortunately feels incongruous with the sweeping vocals, as does the DE:Coy & Entice remix, which kicks the BPM into aerobic territory for a frenzied take that offers little to flatter Powers’ performance.
Still, while a few of the mixes may stumble, there are more than enough successful mixes on offer to make this single well worth perusal.
Released June 2009 on Liberty City Records
Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.