Eurobeat

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SUPER EUROBEAT Vol.160 Cover Art - © Avex Trax, Japan.

Eurobeat is a music sub-genre closely related to Hi-NRG and disco. It is also very closely related to the Japanese Para Para dance culture.

Eurobeat, as the name implies, is a music genre from Europe. Stemming from Italo disco, it is generally held to have originated in Italy in the late '70s and early '80s. Despite being European in origin, its main market has always been Japan, where its synthetic and emotionally upbeat stylings are popular. Even though many Europeans and Americans have heard Eurodance, Eurobeat is still a largely unknown genre in Europe where other types of music are dominant.

Although highly popular in Japan, Eurobeat has become more and more popular in the Western world in the past few years. The anime Initial D, based on the manga by Shuichi Shigeno, uses Eurobeat music regularly in its episodes during racing scenes between the characters, and because of this it has come to the attention of some anime fans outside Japan.

Eurobeat's sound is its main link to its italo disco origins, where it was just one of many different experiments in pure-electronic dance. There are certain synth instruments that recur across the entire genre: a sequenced octave bass, distinctive brass and harp sounds, and tight, predictable percussion in the background. These sounds are layered with vocals and natural instruments(guitar and piano are common) into complex, ever-shifting melodies that, at their best, burst with energy.

1 Eurobeat genre
2 The Eurobeat formula
3 Popular Eurobeat artists
4 Eurobeat compilations
5 Eurobeat labels
6 External links

[edit] Eurobeat genre

Eurobeat can create a number of different genres, while still keeping its own originality intact. In the late 1970s and early 1980s there were many new genres emerging from the creation of electronic music. Disco was the beginning of a whole new era in music, with popular artists such as George Clinton and Earth, Wind & Fire. However when disco music quickly became unpopular in North America, it remained in the limelight in Europe.

While modern music is often recognized by its lyrics, Eurobeat is recognized not primarily by its lyrics, but by its synthesized chorus known as the Sabi (short for Sabishigaru, not to be mistaken for the Japanese Wabi-sabi), which means "to remember someone or something" in Japanese. This of course refers to the generally acknowledged fact that you mostly remember the Sabi as opposed to the stanzas of the Eurobeat song. This broad genre can create a great number of different "sub-genres" within it because of this combination of harmony and rhythm. Sometimes it can still sound like the old disco music we know, sometimes it can be very "fast and happy" like Happy Hardcore or Speed Music, and occasionally it even uses guitars as a method of Saiba.

One peculiar thing about Eurobeat is the fact that each artist is often credited with a variety of different aliases (See "Popular Eurobeat Artists" below for details). Artists usually adopt different stage names according to the mood of each song, or depending on who wrote their lyrics. For instance, Ennio Zanini has stated on the SCP Music website that he goes by the name of "Fastway" on songs which are more upbeat and sprinkled with high-pitched female backing vocals, and goes by "Dusty" on his more "serious" tracks. Also a popular theory is that Eurobeat artists such as Clara Moroni and Giancarlo Pasquini manufacture the same acts under many different names in order to "compete with themselves". (Compare to legendary House producer Thomas Bangalter, who is infamous for the same practice).

Eurobeat also has notoriety for name recognition, lifting titles from popular songs and using them as the names of Eurobeat tracks. Examples are "Like a Virgin", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", and "Station to Station." The Eurobeat songs that reuse song titles typically have nothing to do with the song it lifted its title from (i.e., not a cover).

[edit] The Eurobeat formula

Like most musical genres, (modern) Eurobeat has a fairly specific formula to it:

intro → riff → a melo → b melo → sabi → riff → outro

The intro is the introduction into the song, the riff is the musical part without voices. The a melo, or a-melody is the first verse in the song, the b melo (b-melody) is the bridge of the song, and the sabi is the chorus of the song. The outro is the ending. There will also be a c melo (the second a melo) after the first sabi, as well as another a/b melo variant after the second sabi.

Eurobeat is notorious for its complex rhythm, always attempting to throw the listener in another direction, but the flow is usually a one way ticket. After the synth, the song usually repeats the verse, bridge, and chorus (although with different lyrics most the time) and then goes into a "breakdown" where there can be a variety of new parts to the song including a guitar solo, the dropping and adding of percussion, or a plain instrumental version of the track. Typically though, this only encompasses the verse and bridge; the chorus is usually sung once again, and then the synth and extro play. The extro can either be the synth played again, or something reminiscent of the intro. Another thing to note is that the intro is somewhat like an instrumental rendition of the verse, bridge, and chorus, while the synth is a lot like a synthesized version of the chorus. They don't have to sound completely similar, but they do in fact fit on top of each other most of the time.

Another theory is that in order to possibly qualify as a Eurobeat, a song must have one or more of the following in the title or somewhere in the song's lyrics - Love, Baby, Fire.

There's a particular style of formula when it comes to the different "labels" of the Eurobeat world:

A Beat C: Typically follows the formula above, rarely straying away from a different type. This label is considered by the majority of the Eurobeat world to be the most "mainstream" label, taking a little bit of everything and adding it to their own style. They also have the largest amount of singers, which gives them variety.

Boom Boom Beat: This label can resemble house music very much if you listen closely. They typically use the formula of adding a new section of percussion, bass, and synth after every 4th measure. After the last synth (sometimes after the chorus is goes straight to the following) there is typically a percussion drop until there are only 4 measures of a "kick" or "hat" left. As with Vibration, BBB can be somewhat unpredictable, but they don't tend to stray away from this formula.

Delta: Usually drops percussion during the breakdown while the singer sings the first verse and bridge again. Synths are typically very "harsh"-sounding, and bass is relatively low depending on the producer of each track.

Hi-NRG Attack: As with Delta, percussion usually drops during the breakdown. The thing with this label is that it's known for its relatively "quirky" lyrics and rhythm. Synths are known to be very wild, sometimes playing a different note at every 1/4 beat.

Time: The interesting thing about Time is that most of the label's music includes a very long Intro and typically ends with a fade-out of the synth instead of an extro (which most labels don't do too often). To many, their synth can either be very intense, or can be a rather subtle, somewhat duplicated synth from previous songs.

Vibration: This label can surprise you. Sometimes they'll put in a simple percussion drop during the breakdown, and sometimes there is a very intense guitar solo or even new lyrics. Very unpredictable.

SCP Music: SCP almost always follows A Beat C's formula. Rarely is there ever a percussion drop, but instead you can find a guitar solo or "ad-libbing" of lyrics or synthesizers. The interesting thing about SCP is that their music closely resembles Trance but still doesn't stray away from that authentic Eurobeat sound.

[edit] Popular Eurobeat artists

Main article: List of Eurobeat artists

[edit] Eurobeat compilations

There are many Eurobeat compilations series, the most famous (and longest running) are Super Eurobeat and the various "Super Eurobeat presents..." compilations by Avex Trax. Other notable compilations include: