David Guetta - Nothing But The Beat 2.0
- Written by Richard Wink
So good they released it twice. Nothing But The Beat 2.0 is here baby! Let’s dance.
And that is the key reason for David Guetta’s success - people like to dance, and when they dance they switch off their brains, and get down. It really is Nothing But The Beat. I think back to the message from Footloose when Ren (not arsed if you’re thinking of the Kevin Bacon original or the new version), but the point is that Ren said “from the oldest of times, people danced for a number of reasons”.
But I’m still at a loss as to why David Guetta has gone from journeyman DJ in the eighties and nineties to arguably the biggest frickin’ DJ in the world today. Many staunch dance heads hate the guy. Yet he is insanely popular. Why? Simply because he can put together a catchy tune and he has the ability to collaborate with the right people at the right time. His songs soundtrack Friday and Saturday Nights, and fill Daytime Radio playlists with mid-afternoon pick me ups after lunch has been digested.
As for this release, if you’ve got Nothing But The Beat, you probably won’t need to purchase version 2.0. There are eight new tracks, but you can pick up the ones you like best from iTunes. The craziest collaboration here is with Tegan & Sara. Man, I haven’t heard from these sisters since I saw them support Weezer way way back at the Brixton Academy, and that was years and bloody years ago. ‘Every Chance We Get We Run’ is surreal, how did this happen? It’s a nice little track, but I just can’t get my head around how it came to be. I guess Tegan & Sara are about to hit the big time thanks to Mr Guetta, appearing on an album with Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj no less.
See, David Guetta has the golden touch. Sia has gone from a talented singer, with a few memorable tunes such as ‘Breathe Me’ that featured on the closing sequence of Six Feet Under, to a worldwide recognized songstress on the back of ‘Titanium’. One of the new tracks on this re-release ‘She Wolf (Falling To Pieces)' carries some of the epic qualities of the aforementioned ‘Titanium’ but lacks its radio friendly singalong anthemic quality.
There are some shitty drips here. Akon and Ne-Yo sing over a reworking of Alice Deejay’s ‘Better Off Alone’. It will be a smash because likely the new generation addicted to dance will not be familiar with the original. Really, all this does is show that I’m getting too old for this shit, when I find myself recognizing the original dance samples.
Guetta’s own ‘Watch The Throne’ moment comes when he works alongside Avicii on ‘Sunshine’ and Afrojack on ‘Lunar’. The mutual appreciation society, heavyweight DJs flexing their body rhythm sticks (fingers) and twisting each other’s knobs. Listening to this at nine thirty PM whilst completely sober and relaxed means that I’m not tapping into that mood that you only really get after a few dabs of Molly. I think I like ‘Lunar’ better because I’m thrusting my groin northwards.
You can be a snob about this and say that this is chart fodder for morons, but the need to dance that lies within us all must be satisfied. Guetta’s music drags even the most reluctant to the floor, as the kicking and screaming soon evolves into uncoordinated popping and krumping.