Various - In The Mix 96 album

Finally getting around the reviewing these heavyweight cds, mixed by two absolute masters of mix cd compilations Charlie Brook and Simon Walsh. "In The Mix at 6:30" on BBC Radio One was what got my into DJing during 1995 and both Charlie and Simon were responsible for sending over that half hour mix for Mark Goodiers radio show each Wednesday and Thursday. The mixes were put together from Mark's production studio 'Wise Buddah' by the duo who had just been sent the songs. These mixes for BBC radio started in 1995 and continued on, eventually spawning this CD compilation CDs. I wish I had known at the time as many of the transitions from the radio mixes are used in this series (which is a nice bit of nostalgia as I sit and remember hearing them being played on the radio). As it is, I didn't actually buy one of these until In The Mix 98 (which by that time the DJ torch had been handed over to new in-house engineer, and commercial mixer extraordinaire, Richard Evans.CD1 - The tracks on the first CD are a bit hit and miss (part of me always wonders just how much control the DJs had over the tracklisting, or whether it was often the case that they were given what the listing was to be, and that was that. I suspect that is the case, to be honest!The mix seems to flip flop between hard housey handbag house and eurodance/piano house. I would have dropped the harder, more perculiar stuff, which does add a little bit of salt to mix but there are some proper uplifting dance tracks like Inner City's - Your Love / Got Myself Together and Motiv 8s remix of Common People. These are offset by the rather naff remixes of Sunshine After The Rain, Naughty North and Little Britain. Renegade Master and Boombastic should have probably just been left off altogether. So yes, there are a few that feel out of place and bring the mix down a peg or two.The mixing is for the most part spot on. Charlie and Simon always went to alot of effort in their mixes to get songs to fit, and have a bit of fun at the same time, using loops from other parts of the song to make the transitions more interesting.CD2 is better than CD1 I think, there are less 'duds' on it, but it starts off a bit wierd for a cd that claims 36 non stop Dance hits. The first few tracks are hip hop before dropping into a pretty repetative, dire, dance track "size 9 - I'm ready" anyone who was happy about the hip hop is going to be bitterly disapointed when that track kicks in at the end of the hip hop section; as even dance heads like me don't enjoy that track. It's hit and miss for a few tracks and then starts to improve dramatically with the Rollo mix of Fairground. Wierd that they dropped Mr Wendal (Perfecto Mix) which is from 1992...at that point they should have ditched all the rubbish tracks and included some awesome classics pre-96. I suppose that might be where the thought for "In The Mix 90s Hits" came from, which If I remember correctly is the best one of the entire series...closely followed by In The Mix 98. But perhaps my mind will change after listening to these all back to back! Haha, as I write this there is the transition from Wham Bam into happy hardcore stomper I wanna be a hippy. They handled that pretty well considering they had to ramp the tempo from 130 to 170!Its not bad, but it's not the first ITM cd I would pull off the shelf. Considering the era, the track selection should have been much better, the mixing of course, is on point! I can't work out whether it's a 2 or 3 star. it's a 2.5.My own rating system:(258 out of 500)

This was the very first 'In The Mix' released to the public, back in early 1996. It definitely showcased a few goodies that you would never hear today, perhaps songs that haven't aged so well but are still amazing.Looking at CD 1, the very first track by Bobby Brown is an example, or Bombastic by Shaggy to name a couple. The songs are mixed quite good and while I had not heard of a various selection presented, they were all fantastic and definitely reminiscing the spectacular years of 1995-96. It was definitely a fantastic idea considering that the 'In The Mix' series would continue into the late 2000's. I really enjoyed De Lacy's Hideaway which has always been a top hit for me, along with Got Myself Together by The Bucket heads, I Believe by the Happy Clappers, Donna Giles' And I Am Telling You, La Luna by The Ethics, Evoke's Runaway and My Friday Night. For that, it is incredible, and definitely worth every penny. There was not one track here that I would have considered skipping, as all are memorable.Normally first CD's take the bait of being amazing, and the second contains the not-so-good leftovers. Was that the case here? Absolutely not. The second is just as memorable, though I would argue a little better. There were many recognizable hits that were amazing, most of them were club remixes that make their original counterparts look mediocre. An example of this would be Too Hot by Coolio, and then you can really hear the songs transition from slow to fast in Size 9's I'm Ready and then it's purely entertainment from track 5 - Arrested Development's Mr Wendal to The Chemical Brothers, Gat Decor's Passion, Ruffneck's Everybody, Fairground by Simply Red, I Luv U Baby by The Original, Reach by Judy Cheeks, Don't Give Me Your Life by Alex Party and of course a club version of Corona's Baby Bay. The rest are still diverse and very good. So, the bottom line - great CD and better than the first because of the inclusions.Overall, it all comes down to your taste in music but this, but for me, nothing can top 90's mixes, so this album has perfect mixing and two amazing discs.

Wow 96 was such a great summer. England did well in the Euros and a mate had just bought me this for my 13th birthday. Sound track to the 90s right here. Listening to it now and it wasnt badly mixed either.