Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

Dancemania -20th Anniversary Special Edition-
Release Date: 10/11/17
Price: 2160 yen

Edit (8/25/17): As I feared, the release is now showing up as canceled on CD Japan and other retailers. I’m hoping it’s just a delay at worst.

Edit (8/22/17): Well, this is a worrying sign. Universal have removed any mention of the 20th anniversary release from their website. This could mean that they’ve canceled the release outright. However, it’s also possible that they canceled it in favor of something else (perhaps a 2-disc set?) instead. Right now the original release is still available for pre-order at a number of retailers, so we’ll see if those pre-orders get canceled.

Edit (8/14/17): Early list is out, and so far 4 of the 6 songs already appeared on Sparkle and Party. I had forgotten that EMI/Universal had reacquired the AATW license from Avex at some point, and it looks like they’ll be drawing quite a bit from that catalog. The lack of Smile.dk, Me & MY, or Captain Jack is a bit concerning. On one hand, we’ve heard the same songs dozens of times. But it wouldn’t be a proper celebration of Dancemania without them.

01. Mamma Mia / A*Teens
02. Samba de Janeiro / Bellini
03. Jump / Bus Stop
04. Santa Maria / DJ Milano feat. Samantha Fox
05. Eyes on Me featured in Final Fantasy VIII (Almighty Mix) / Faye Wong
06. I Wanna Dance with Somebody / Flip & Fill

Original Post: Dancemania-EX.com lives!!! Apologies for the complete lack of updates, but I’ve been busy the past year. I also lost a lot of motivation for continuing the site given that Universal didn’t bother releasing anything during it’s 20th anniversary in 2016. It seemed that Dancemania was all but dead…

Then today, out of nowhere, I noticed a listing for a new Dancemania album! That’s right, this October will see the release of Dancemania -20th Anniversary Special Edition-. At first I thought the title didn’t make any sense, since the first release was back in April of 1996. But then I realized that if the 1st anniversary was in 1997, then technically 2017 would indeed be the 20th. Of course, this doesn’t explain why the 10th anniversary was celebrated in 2006.

But I digress, the important thing is Dancemania is back! Presumably Atsushi Sekimoto is still at Universal and spearheaded the effort to commemorate 20+ years of Dancemania. Details are sparse on the release. CD Japan’s description mentions it’ll once again feature the best of ’90s dance music. Unfortunately, it’ll only be a single disc release. Since Universal lost the rights to many EMI artists when they bought out EMI, it’ll be interesting to see exactly what tracks they’ll include.

Meanwhile, Japanese Dancemania fans continue to keep its spirit alive. Earlier this year they held another Dancemania Birthday party and even had the one and only Mitsugu “Red Monster” Matsumoto as a special guest. You can see videos of the event here: https://twitter.com/hashtag/dancemaniabirthday?f=videos&vertical=default&src=hash

Pre-order at CDJapan.

Dancemania Springs 2
Release Date: 4/10/16
Total Length: 1:19:42

Happy 20th anniversary, Dancemania! It’s been 20 years to the day since the first release in the series, and while the series hasn’t been too active in recent years the great memories will always remain. Thanks for the music that always kept my spirits up!

Unfortunately, it looks like Universal won’t be releasing an anniversary CD any time soon. Instead, celebrate with a fan mix I did a while back that features the best in bubblegum dance pop. A play on the Summers/Winters series, Dancemania Springs 2 is a bubbly mix of artists like Smile.dk, Me & My, Bambee, and E-Rotic, with some Almighty thrown in for good measure. Apologies in advance for the amateurish production; I originally just did it for something to listen to during my commutes. ^^; If you’ve been following me for way too long you’ve probably already heard it 😉

Also a quick reminder that a special, unofficial 20th birthday event will be held in Japan today: http://tweetvite.com/event/DancemaniaBIRTHDAY

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movie Speed

Release Date: 8/6/03 Unreleased!
Price: 1905 yen

After the apparent success of classical Speed, the second themed Dancemania Speed spinoff was supposed to be movie Speed. Originally scheduled for release on 2003-08-06 with the catalog #, TOCP-64226, it was eventually canceled and reworked into Speed SFX, which came out on 2003-09-18.

The first tentative track list sent to retailers shows just how many of the tracks on Speed SFX were originally intended for movie Speed. And did you ever wonder why Speed Giga 2 ~ Dancemania Speed Evolution had random movie themes on it? It turns out they were originally made for movie Speed!

But perhaps most shocking is “Moero Dragon Theme,” aka “Theme from Enter the Dragon,” which at the time everyone assumed wasn’t actually produced. Imagine our surprise when it finally showed up on Speed Buyuuden three years later in 2006! If you wondered why Speed Buyuuden had a single new track from Runaway Productions/CJ Crew, it’s because it was likely made for movie Speed.

Two tracks, “Beverly Hills Cop Theme” and “Speed Theme,” have never been released as far we know.. It’s unknown if they were ever actually made. They don’t appear in the Saifam or LED catalogs, and I believe Runaway told me they don’t recall producing them.

1. My Heart Will Go On (Titanic) [from Dancemania Speed 2] -> Speed SFX
2. I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing (Armageddon) [from Dancemania Speed 2] -> Speed SFX
3. There You’ll Be (Pearl Harbor) [from Dancemania Speed 8]
4. Star Wars Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
5. I Will Always Love You (Bodyguard) [from Dancemania Speed 2]
6. Soul Bossa Nova (Austin Powers) [from Dancemania Speed 9]
7. Mission Impossible Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
8. 007 Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
9. Beverly Hills Cop Theme -> Unreleased?
10. Speed Theme -> Unreleased?
11. Spider-Man Theme [New Track] -> Speed Giga 4 ~ Dancemania Speed Evolution
12. Batman Theme [New Track] -> Speed Giga 2 ~ Dancemania Speed Evolution
13. Jaws Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
14. Indiana Jones Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
15. Moero Dragon Theme [New Track] -> Speed Buyuuden
16. Unchained Melody (Ghost) [New Track] -> Speed SFX
17. Pretty Woman [New Track] -> Speed Giga 2 ~ Dancemania Speed Evolution
18. Godfather Theme -> Speed Giga 2 ~ Dancemania Speed Evolution

A second tentative track list was sent to retailers which subtracted tracks 9 and 10 from the original list while adding four new tracks. “Flashdance” was probably a repeat from Dancemania Speed 3/9. Meanwhile, “Gonna Fly Now” and “Up Where We Belong” ended up being used on Speed Giga 2 instead.

That brings us to “A Man and a Woman.” For years it was thought that the song was never produced, until Luigi Stanga surprised us in 2008 by releasing the full song for purchase on Juno Download. It is also available to stream/buy on Apple Music as part of Coverland 2.

1. “Titanic” ~ My Heart Will Go On
2. “Armageddon” ~ Miss a Thing
3. “Pearl Harbor” ~ There You’ll Be
4. Star Wars no Theme
5. “Body Guard” ~ I Will Always Love You
6. “Austin Powers” ~ Soul Bossa Nova
7. Mission Impossible no Theme
8. 007 no Theme
9. Spider-Man no Theme
10. Batman no Theme
11. Jaws no Theme
12. Indy Jones no Theme
13. Moero Dragon no Theme
14. “Ghost” ~ Unchained Melody
15. Pretty Woman
16. Godfather no Theme
17. Rocky no Theme -> Speed Giga 2 ~ Dancemania Speed Evolution
18. A Man and a Woman Theme -> Unreleased*
19. An Officer and a Gentleman -> Speed Giga 2 ~ Dancemania Speed Evolution
20. Flash Dance [from Dancemania Speed 3/9]

The final tentative list was even more different than the previous ones. It was at this point where you can see how it eventually became Speed SFX, as 16 of the tracks on this list ended up on SFX. No, I don’t know why Star Wars was listed twice.

The “Gojira/Godzilla Theme” never did end up on a Speed album. Again, we don’t know if it was ever even made.

1. Star Wars Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
2. Matrix Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
3. Terminator Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
4. I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing (Armageddon Theme) [from Dancemania Speed 2] -> Speed SFX
5. Lord of the Rings Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
6. Harry Potter Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
7. ET Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
8. Jurassic Park Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
9. Indiana Jones Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
10. Ghostbusters Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
11. Men in Black Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
12. 007 Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
13. Gojira Theme -> Unreleased?
14. Neverending Story [New Track] -> Speed SFX
15. Soul Bossa Nova (Austin Powers Theme) [from Dancemania Speed 8]
16. 2001 A Space Odyssey Theme [New Track] -> Speed SFX
17. Batman Theme [New Track] -> Speed Giga 2 ~ Dancemania Speed Evolution
18. Ghost (Unchained Melody) [New Track] -> Speed SFX
19. Star Wars
20. Charlie’s Angels [New Track] -> Speed SFX

EDM Anthem -The Ultimate-
Release Date: 5/11/16
Price: 2200 yen

EDM Anthem gets a reboot for its 2016 entry. In other words, another excuse to use repeats. To be fair, the early tracklist has quite a few new tracks, and the description claims it’ll only feature the best EDM from 2015-2016. 25 tracks in all.

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EDM Anthem -The Ultimate-
Release Date: 5/11/16
Price: 2200 yen

EDM Anthem gets a reboot for its 2016 entry. In other words, another excuse to use repeats. To be fair, the early tracklist has quite a few new tracks, and the description claims it’ll only feature the best EDM from 2015-2016. 25 tracks in all.

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Anison Mix Laboratory ~Second Report~
Release Date: 5/27/15
Price: 3800 yen

About a month after the CD came out, Universal made both Second Report and the First Report available in FLAC on Mora.jp. It’s cool to see them embrace lossless, but unfortunately, they charge double compared to the 320kbps AAC versions.

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Anison Matome
Release Date: 6/24/15
Price: 1350 yen

Digital collection featuring full versions of various Akiba Koubou covers. Some of these are quite rare, and I believe haven’t been offered as full versions before.

Available on iTunes Japan and other digital storefronts.

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Melodic Lover Digital Album
Release Date: 2/22/16
Price: 2400 yen

Melodic Lover was a CD originally released in 2008. It received an iTunes digital release on the same day as the CD. Now, almost eight years later, Universal randomly decided to release another digital album with longer edits and more songs, some of which originally appeared on FARM’s Love Para series. Right now it’s only available on Amazon JP and a few other Japanese stores.

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Super Anime Remix Super Best
Release Date: 7/22/09
Price: 10,000 yen

Super Anime Remix Super Best originally came out in July of 2009, but about a year later it was discontinued and any trace of it was expunged from Dreamusic’s site. The 2CD+DVD set became quite a rarity. Then in 2015, SARSB randomly popped up on iTunes with all 50 songs completely intact in non-stop mix form. The kicker, however, was that they didn’t allow for the album to be purchased as a whole, meaning you’d have to buy each of the tracks individually for 200 yen. That means 10,000 yen for the entire album. Yeah, good luck with that.

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Rave Mix 02 -Best Hit EDM-
Release Date: 6/24/15
Price: 1200 yen

Two months after the revival of the Rave Mix series, Avex went on to release another digital non-stop mix by Remo-con. Unfortunately the series went back into hibernation after the second release, and it doesn’t look like Avex have any plans to revisit again anytime soon.

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Rave Mix 01 -Best Hit EDM-
Release Date: 4/29/15
Price: 1200 yen

Avex’s Rave Mix 001 came out in August of 2013, but despite the numbering it seemed destined to be a one-off release. Enter 2015, when Avex randomly decided to revisit the series, this time with a digital non-stop mix mixed by the one and only Remo-con.

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Vocalo EDM Super Hits
Release Date: 6/24/15
Price: 2000 yen
Total Length: 31:38

EDM arrangements of popular Vocaloid songs. A bit expensive at 2,000 yen for only 8 songs. Also available on iTunes Japan and other digital storefronts for slightly cheaper, at 1,400 yen.

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EDM Wave -Best Hits- mixed by DJ Fumi*Yeah!
Release Date: 1/27/16
Price: 1800 yen
Total Length: 1:17:04

New tie-in series from Universal Japan, celebrating the best of the EDM Wave events. Mixed by DJ Fumi*Yeah! Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there’s a digital version available.

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EDM Ultimate Hits
Release Date: 9/17/15
Price: 700 yen

Special digital release to coincide with Ultra Japan 2015. Features full versions of EDM hits.

Available on iTunes Japan.

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EDM Greatest Hits
Release Date: 6/17/15
Price: 1300 yen

Digital release to accompany EDM Anthem – Best Mix. Features full versions of songs from the CD. However, due to licensing issues some songs have been replaced.

Available on iTunes Japan.

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