Bonkers Part 9

 

When Bonkers 9 was released at the end of 2002 I'd more or less given up on modern hardcore music. I'd conceded that the 90s was my era and in the 21st century it was all about rap and R&B for me.

In 2004 when I gave the music another go, this was the only Bonkers album of the 21st century that I didn't buy. The reason was simply because I'd not seen it for a cheap enough price and there was some overlap in tunes with this and the new Hardcore Heaven compilation which came out shortly after this which I owned. Thanks to YouTube though I've been able to listen to it.

First up as always was the Hixxy mix. What stands out on the track list is 4 remixes which are clearly on there with commercial appeal in mind. The opening track is a remix of "Set You Free" by N-Trance, a tune pretty much everyone knows.

Then there's remixes of "Heart Of Gold" by Kelly Llorenna and "Field Of Dreams" by Flip & Fill. The notable thing here is that it's not the Force & Styles versions being remixed, it's the commercial dance versions being converted back into hardcore.

Finally at the end of the mix is a remix of "Wonderful Days" by Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo which was a big hit in Holland in the 90s.

In terms of new original material it's very Raverbaby heavy with all bar 2 of the remaining tracks coming from the label. The first of these is "Connection" by UFO fr MC Marley. If ever you needed proof you shouldn't have an MC on a hardcore track then this is it. 

The only one of these I find half decent is "Fire In The Sky" by Dougal & Gammer but even that seems to be missing something. The "Wonderful Days" remix is the best track on the mix by far.

The Sharkey mix on the other hand is actually a big improvement over what we'd been used to. The music was starting to sound more interesting than the sped up trance sounding music we'd previously been introduced to as freeform. 

Despite this though, I reach the end of the mix wondering what I'd just listened to. It's good in small doses but if it's a whole mix I switch off somewhere along the way.

The final mix came from a Bonkers debutant, Scott Brown. He was arguably the biggest hardcore DJ from Scotland in the 90s and was also successful in Holland. Although his tunes were well known, he never played at the likes of Helter Skelter or Dreamscape. However, in the 21st century he was regularly playing at the likes of Slammin Vinyl.

There are 15 tracks in the mix, the first 10 are hardcore and the last 5 are gabber. To me this is by far the best mix. As expected a lot of it comes from Evolution records, but that's basically why I like it. There is some cheesy vocal crap like a remix of "You're Shining".

But on the whole, the hardcore section is more fun and less cheesy than the Hixxy mix and the gabber part shows that it's not changed much since the 90s which is no bad thing.

Whilst Bonkers 8 was more of a statement that hardcore was back, I'd say Bonkers 9 was forming it's identity for the 21st century. The Hixxy mix is the cheesy commercial sounding mix with mass appeal in mind, the Sharkey mix is freeform for those who want something more serious and the Scott Brown mix shows that its not all cheese and freeform and that gabber still exists.

Next up is Bonkers 10 which I actually own.