People with souped up sound systems in their cars, people who think the ‘Fast and the Furious’ films are brilliant, people who count shows like ‘Pimp My Ride’ as award winning TV… these are the type who’ll be tuning up their sub-woofers with excitement upon the release of Maximum Bass 3.

CD one is hip hop of the big bass influence and contains some quality tracks from Chris Brown (the ubiquitous ‘Run It’), King Kapisi (‘Raise Up’), Ghostface Killah (Be Easy – great track), Aussie group Hilltop Hoods (Clown Prince – catchy as hell) and even an old classic is Warren G and Nate Dogg’s ‘Regulate’. The only trouble is that for every quality track there’s an average one – Chingy’s ‘Pullin Me Back’ is paint by numbers R&B, Black Eyed Pea’s ‘Pump It’ needs little explanation, and a couple of others that don’t even bear mentioning. The theme here is loud and unsubtle, but that’s the point of the CD, so it’s hard to find fault with it past a couple of average tracks. The main problem with the first CD is the mixing. The transitions here are bland, and on a couple of occasions even non-existent. At a couple of points during the mix one track will stop, then the next will begin. For a DJ with as much talent and production ability as Klaus ‘Heavyweight’ Hill, this mix is below average, and probably an indicator of someone who was handed a bunch of tracks to weave together that didn’t really interest him.

The second CD is electro, house, breaks and drum and bass and finds Klaus in more familiar territory, giving him the chance to shine. Though at first glance the mixing is hard to catch, after a couple of listens you begin to appreciate the minimal approach that gives the tracks the chance to breath. David Guetta vs The Egg kick things off with their anthemic and lyrical take on Tocadisco’s mix of ‘Walking Away’ with ‘Love Don’t Let Me Go’, and from there things stick with four/four beats, with standout tracks including Coburn’s ‘We Interrupt This Program’ and the Switch remix of Coldcut’s ‘True Skool’. The CD closes with a few breaks tracks (Lee Coomb’s remix of ‘She Says’, the wicked Meat Katie & Aquasky track ‘Feathers’ and Klaus’s own track ‘Glo Stix’), before knocking off with two Pendulum drum and bass numbers (their cracking remix of ‘Voodoo People’ and their own track ‘Slam’). Then, just when the mix has come to a natural end, we get the Loose Cannons track ‘Superstars’ tacked on. I’m not sure what could possibly have made this seem like a good idea as there appears to be no attempt to mix it together… unfortunately this detracts from what has been a good quality mix before it.

Having seen Klaus DJ several times, and witnessing his ability to mash crazy beats and send a party wild, I was disappointed with a pair of mixes that didn’t seem to showcase what I believe he is capable of. If you want to hear him more in his element tune into the Title Fight promo mixes on ITM-FM which are top notch. That aside, this is loud, proud bass heavy music for people with big systems. Upgrade your sub woofers and enjoy.