(Hussle/EMI)

Benny Benassi was born is Milan, Italy in 1967 and hasn’t moved from his homeland since. Currently working with his cousin Alle Benassi, the couple have created a style coined as Hypnotech by the European media. This album is a showcase of the sounds, be as similar as they are, of this newfound genre. Utilizing the vocal stylings of Violeta and Paul French the group was complete and “The Biz” was created.

The CD opens with the first single “Satisfaction” which is a pretty safe way to introduce the new album to the masses. I’m sure most of you are familiar with the sound of Satisfaction, tough filtered electro-house sounds coupled with vocoded lyrics and screaming sound effects that build throughout the track. Hot on the heels of his first single comes the second single “Able to Love (Satisfaction remix)” sadly enough the Satisfaction mix of this track sounds exactly like Satisfaction except it has different lyrics and a slightly different lead synth line. I was pretty dissatisfied with this track seeing as it sounds no different from the first hit. Funnily enough the 3rd track is so similar again that one might start to think the CD player was on repeat. “No Matter What You Do” is once again a filtered electro-house sounding track with a vocoded lyric that repeats itself throughout the track while sound-effects progressively build throughout. Things seem to be following quite a strict formula up to this point, and I can tell you it’s all very much the same.

Finally something different came through my speakers, a deep bleepy electro track by the name of “Let it Be” although the same vocoded vocals seep into the mix which gives it that Benny Benassi familiarity. I’ll take a moment to say that this is one of three tracks on this CD that doesn’t sound like a remix of Satisfaction or close to it. There are a few tracks that do sound a little different but the all come back to the formulaic structure of a high pass filtered intro that introduces the vocals and are soon joined by a punchy bass line that pretty much flows throughout the whole track. Occasionally, especially toward the end, the sounds get much more trancier and huge synths create the melodic trance sound associated with much of Europe’s dance scene.

Now getting toward the end of the CD, I’ve pretty much had enough; it’s all very minimalist and sounds like Satisfaction. The music is so similar that one could imagine that Benny Benassi is either limited in his kit or limited in his imagination. Sure, trying to create a unique sound is a great way to get noticed and make some waves in the music industry but when a whole album except maybe three tracks sound all the same it’s really hard to give credit to the creative process. Each track in it’s own right is great with fantastic clean production; it’s just that there is no real deviation from his signature sound.