Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

Around 40 Eurobeat 2
Release Date: 1/27/10
Price: 2381 yen

January is certainly becoming the month of surprise sequels. Around 40 Eurobeat did reasonably well in sales, but it wasn’t exactly a huge hit. Disco R35 before it sold much, much better yet it never got a sequel. In any case, “eurobeat” seems to be a fashionable word again in Japan, so I guess EMI will milk it as much as possible.

Most of the announced tracks thus far should be familiar to fans of Dancemania Super Classics. The problem with 80s eurodance compilations is that by definition they have to be 100% repeats.

Included as a bonus track is Youni Oginome’s Japanese cover of “Dancing Hero,” better known to most fans as “Eat You Up.”

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Disco 80′s presents Around 40
Release Date: 9/2/09
Price: 2427 yen

Mostly repeats on this latest attempt to cash in on the Around 40 fad.

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I did a few posts recently about a series of Disco albums from EMI, Sony, and Victor. The releases, titled Shinjuku, Roppongi, and Shibuya Disco Hits, were supposed to feature disco hits popular in each area of Tokyo and were all set for release on September 16. Due to unknown reasons, however, the whole series has been postponed and possibly canceled altogether. I’ll post an update in the future if plans change.

Around 40 Eurobeat -Download Selection-
Release Date: 8/12/09
Price: 1200-2700 yen

Wa Euro Best isn’t the only recent EMI release to receive the digital treatment. Around 40 Eurobeat also has a selection of tracks up for download. Once again, iTunes or Musico are pretty much the only choices for those outside of Japan.

Interestingly, Around 40 Eurobeat has been selling very well, with almost 20,000 copies sold after four weeks of release. And much like Wa Euro Best, it’s actually been selling more copies each week it’s out. Could Eurobeat be on the verge of a comeback?

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Shinjuku Disco Hits 2 (Gotouchi Disco Ura Shinjuku)
Release Date: 9/16/09
Price: 2190 yen

Update! This release has been postponed indefinitely.

Another release in the “Gotouchi Disco” series. This one focuses on disco songs famous in the lower part of Shinjuku. Apparently they like early 80s stuff more than 70s disco.

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Roppongi Disco Hits (Gotouchi Disco Roppongi)
Release Date: 9/16/09
Price: 2190 yen

Update! This release has been postponed indefinitely.

One of two EMI releases in the “Gotouchi Disco” series. This one has disco songs popular in the Roppongi area.

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Shinjuku Disco Hits 1 (Gotouchi Disco Omote Shinjuku)
Release Date: 9/16/09
Price: 2190 yen

Update! This release has been postponed indefinitely.

Another release in the “Gotouchi Disco” series. This one’s from Victor Japan, so it’ll primarily have songs from their stable of artists.

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Shibuya Disco Hits (Gotouchi Disco Shibuya)
Release Date: 9/16/09
Price: 2190 yen

Update! This release has been postponed indefinitely.

A collaboration between Japan’s biggest labels, including EMI, Sony BMG, Victor, and Universal. It’s similar to the recent rash of Around 40 releases, except this series will target the Around 50 crowd. Expect classic disco sounds and early 80s hits.

“Gotouchi” refers things that are unique to a particular place (think Philly Cheesteaks or New York Pizza), so the title basically refers to disco songs popular in the Shibuya area of Tokyo.

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Around 40 Eurobeat
Release Date: 7/22/09
Price: 2381 yen

The non-stop mix is confirmed to be by MST. I guess that explains the red cover. One would think that MST would have run out of ways to mix these songs into each other by now.

EMI also have the TV commercial up on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrsWom1lyso. Interesting that they do what appears to be a little ParaPara in it.

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Around 40 Eurobeat
Release Date: 7/22/09
Price: 2381 yen

Mostly the same as the early list, except with “Respectable” added. I *think* Mitsugu Matsumoto is the one doing the mixing.

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Disco 80′s presents Around 40
Release Date: 9/2/09
Price: 2427 yen

Hooray for repackaged hits! This looks suspiciously similar to Disco 80′s ~R30 Euro Special~ or any of Avex’s Disco 80′s releases. How’d we go from Around 30 all the way to Around 40 in the span of two years?

By far the most interesting thing about this release is that Avex will be licensing Almighty in the form of Abbacadabra.

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Around 40 Eurobeat
Release Date: 7/22/09
Price: 2381 yen

R40 is a relatively new Japanese term that’s short for “Around 40.” Basically, it refers to people who are around the age of 40. The term is used to market items to people in a specific age group. For instance, a couple of years ago EMI released a compilation titled Disco R35 that featured music that people in their 30′s grew up with (80′s music, for the most part).

R40 Eurobeat features classic 80′s eurobeat that’s been repeated again and again and again on other compilations. It’d be cool if EMI remixed these like they did with the classics on the Happy Paradise series, but it seems they’re far more content going the cheap route.

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