I was recently thinking about the current direction in which Eurobeat is headed, and while I can say I prefer it to the 19X Super Eurobeat decade, I can’t entirely hear the “return to the late 90s” sound that was at one point the aim for the series. Some of my recent compositions (not yet released) have tried to mimic that, but I’ve recently wondered if I’m the only one trying to do so.
And then I saw this video.
Super J-Euro
I’d be hardpressed to even suggest that half of those didn’t sound a great deal like the “middle” years of Eurobeat, in a way that brings out the early Eurobeat fan boy in me. Perhaps labels such as Akiba Koubou and their counterparts on this album are on to something here?
Making sure to not base an entire sub-genre on an assumption from one video, I looked up some more. Touhou-Eurobeat remixes, J-Euro originals, remixes of popular anime themes… the most resounding theme— at least, from the more “stable” labels— was a strong homage to late 90′s Eurobeat.
Why is this? What is it about J-Euro productions that keeps them rooted in the “high point” of Eurobeat’s lifespan? Is it more around the lines that they understand it better, having been entrenched in multiple labels’ styles for such a long time that they’re able to pick and choose what works?
I’m wondering if this is the case, as the italian-based labels (including Dima for the sake of speed) have at least come somewhat close to this sound as of late, but can’t quite seem to reach that exact bit. Perhaps they’ve sold their equipment that made those sounds lately? I know for a fact that recent Hi-NRG Attack has been dependent on Apple Loops found in Logic and/or Garageband, for instance, so perhaps this leaves out some of the sound-choices to which J-Euro seems to adhere more closely. I don’t doubt that the Italo-labels could go back to these sounds with some level of ease, but my guess would be that they’re being pressed to maintain a balance between familiar sounds and modern advancement. In essence, they’re keeping their songs familiar without losing their new-and-advanced edge. I can respect that much.
However, I would guess that if the very audience for which these ‘modern’ tracks is making their own material that is quite distanced from such a sound, wouldn’t it behoove the creators to take this into consideration? The fans MAKE 90′s sounding Eurobeat because that’s what they want to hear, or so I’d theorize. J-Euro labels MAKE 90′s Eurobeat because that’s what they know fans will buy, for the most part. And given that Japan is still the target country to which Eurobeat is targeted (though this demographic is beginning to decrease, with increased demands from Europe and USA), I’d suppose that labels such as avex or any one that puts out Eurobeat aught to take a very close ear to such things. I imagine they are; like any major record label, avex clearly does its homework on what customers buy or don’t buy, simply for the fact that they put out this J-Euro compilation to begin with. I’d imagine, however, that a ‘sudden change’ in the direction of the Super Eurobeat series would be extremely hard to implement without the labels undergoing significant changes to their current productions, so it’d take a bit of time before such a change of sound could take place in their flagship Eurobeat sound.
Then again, we’ll have to see. Perhaps things WILL change that way, or things will modernize further. I can’t say if one is better than the other, simply because I haven’t heard the tracks of the future yet. We’ll have to wait them out together, no?