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:''For the roller coaster simulation software, see [[No Limits (software)]]'' |
:''For the roller coaster simulation software, see [[No Limits (software)]]'' |
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''''' |
'''''No Limits''''' (speled No Limits! in some territories) is the second studio album for [[The Netherlands|Dutch]] eurodance band [[2 Unlimited]] and with it they became the only eurodance artist to have a UK number 1 album; a feat that they achieved twice.<ref>[http://freespace.virgin.net/sharon.persky/UK%20number%20one%20albums.html] Sharon Persky's UK Number One albums</ref> |
||
Their record company in the UK ([[PWL]]) felt that the raps of [[Ray Slijngaard]] were, as producer Jean-Paul de Coster put it, "too clumsy for the UK market"<ref>Channel 4's Top 10 Irritating Records of Recent Time broadcast in 2003</ref>. Furthermore, head of the record company [[Pete Waterman]] described Ray's input as "the worst rap I've ever heard".<ref>Entry 685 of ''1000 Number Ones'' by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh</ref> Hence, the UK version of this album featured very little of his input - often having instrumental parts where his raps were originally. |
Their record company in the UK ([[PWL]]) felt that the raps of [[Ray Slijngaard]] were, as producer Jean-Paul de Coster put it, "too clumsy for the UK market"<ref>Channel 4's Top 10 Irritating Records of Recent Time broadcast in 2003</ref>. Furthermore, head of the record company [[Pete Waterman]] described Ray's input as "the worst rap I've ever heard".<ref>Entry 685 of ''1000 Number Ones'' by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh</ref> Hence, the UK version of this album featured very little of his input - often having instrumental parts where his raps were originally. |
||
Revision as of 12:20, 2 February 2008
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
- For the 1980s BBC2 television series starring Jenny Powell, see No Limits (TV Show)
- For the roller coaster simulation software, see No Limits (software)
No Limits (speled No Limits! in some territories) is the second studio album for Dutch eurodance band 2 Unlimited and with it they became the only eurodance artist to have a UK number 1 album; a feat that they achieved twice. [1]
Their record company in the UK ( PWL) felt that the raps of Ray Slijngaard were, as producer Jean-Paul de Coster put it, "too clumsy for the UK market" [2]. Furthermore, head of the record company Pete Waterman described Ray's input as "the worst rap I've ever heard". [3] Hence, the UK version of this album featured very little of his input - often having instrumental parts where his raps were originally.
No Limits yielded five singles and went platinum in several countries.
Background
2 Unlimted had limited success in 1992 with their debut album Get Ready!. It had produced four hit singles, but the album had not performed well commercially, peaking at just #37 in the UK. [4] At the time, many dance acts were able to produce hit singles but were unable to capitalize on this with a commercially successful album. For 2 Unlimited, this was about to change.
At this point in their career, 2 Unlimited were still only known amongst those who followed chart music at the time. With the first single listed from this album, this changed. It went to number 1 in the UK around Valentine's Day, despite the fact that its competition was the more fitting " I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston and spent five week there. This exposure lead to them being parodied by the mainstream media with the TV series Spitting Image parodying the track as No Lyrics due to its repetitive lyrical content.
Second single Tribal Dance was released in May 1993, and then this album followed soon afterwards.
Album name and Artwork
Like all the studio albums by the band, the title of the album was a modification of the title of the lead single to be taken from it.
The artwork for the UK cover was designed by Julian Barton and David Howells. As like all the 2 Unlimited releases, most other territories featured a different album cover to the UK edition of the album.
Writing and Composition
For the debut album, most of the writing had been done by Wilde and de Coster, with some input from Ray Slijngaard and other featured writers [5]. For No Limits, both Ray and Anita had much more input into the song writing process. Anita has writing credits on seven of the album's fourteen songs and Ray has writing credits on ten of them. [6]
Critical Reception
Despite its commercial success, the album was panned by the critics, especially in the UK. In Smash Hits, reviewer Mark Frith described the album as an "across the board techno splurge" and stated that this album contained clues as to why the band were unpopular in "elite dance circles". [7]. In the review of Maximum Overdrive, the magazine reiterated that the band were, "not hard or imaginative and they have no credibility in dance circles."
The All Music Guide review stated that beyond No Limit and Let The Beat Control Your Body, there was little to recommend this album. [8]
Toby Anstis stated in his review of Faces that he "thought the album sounded all the same" [9].
Nonetheless, the band won the Best Dance Act award in Smash Hits that year [10] as well as the World Music Award for Benelux.
Track listing
Template:Sample box start variation 2 Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end
| # | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | " No Limit" | 3:44 |
| 2. | " Tribal Dance" | 4:31 |
| 3. | "Mysterious" | 4:23 |
| 4. | " Faces" | 3:48 |
| 5. | " Maximum Overdrive" | 3:58 |
| 6. | "The Power Age" | 3:59 |
| 7. | "Break The Chain" | 3:49 |
| 8. | "Kiss Me Bliss Me" | 3:52 |
| 9. | "Throw The Groove Down" | 4:18 |
| 10. | "R.U.O.K." | 4:11 |
| 11. | " Let The Beat Control Your Body" | 4:02 |
| 12. | "Invite Me To Trance" | 4:07 |
| 13. | "Where Are You Now" | 5:01 |
| 14. | "Shelter For A Rainy Day" | 5:15 |
| 15. | "
Get Ready For This (Wilde Mix)" Bonus track on the Continental edition |
5:59 |
| 16. | "No Limit (Automatic Breakbeat Remix)" Bonus track on the Continental edition |
4:48 |
Chart performance
| Chart | Date | Peak position | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | May 1993 | 1 [11] | |
| The Netherlands | May 22 1993 | 1 [12] | Platinum [13] |
| Norway | June 1993 | 2 [14] | |
| Switzerland | June 6 1993 | 3 [15] | Platinum [16] |
| Austria | June 20 1993 | 3 [17] | |
| Sweden | June 2 1993 | 3 [18] | |
| Ireland | May 1993 | 1 | |
| Japan | May 1993 | 17 |
Singles
| Year | Title | UK | Netherlands | Germany | Switzerland | Austria | Spain | France | Ireland | Sweden | Norway | USA | Canada | Japan | Australia | NZ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | " No Limit" | #1 | #1 | #2 | #1 | #1 | #1 | #1 | #1 | #1 | #1 | — | #1 | — | #7 | #40 |
| 1993 | " Tribal Dance" | #4 | #2 | #2 | #2 | #3 | #1 | #4 | #2 | #2 | #4 | — | #7 | — | #5 | #38 |
| 1993 | " Faces" | #8 | #2 | #8 | #19 | #10 | #4 | #16 | #7 | #11 | — | — | — | — | #54 | — |
| 1993 | " Maximum Overdrive" | #15 | #5 | #16 | #23 | #13 | #2 | #35 | #11 | #18 | — | — | — | — | #32 | — |
| 1994 | " Let The Beat Control Your Body" | #6 | #2 | #8 | #11 | #11 | #10 | #10 | #6 | #11 | — | — | — | — | #39 | #29 |
Writing credits
The following personnel all have writing credits on this album.
- Phil Wilde
- Jean-Paul de Coster
- Ray Slijngaard
- Anita Dels
- Filip Martens
- Xavier de Clayton
- Peter Bauwens
- Mike Leahy
- Jan Voermans
- Bieman
References
- ^ [1] Sharon Persky's UK Number One albums
- ^ Channel 4's Top 10 Irritating Records of Recent Time broadcast in 2003
- ^ Entry 685 of 1000 Number Ones by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh
- ^ http://www.everyhit.com
- ^ Get Ready! sleeve notes
- ^ No Limits sleeve notes
- ^ [ link
- ^ [2]
- ^ [ link
- ^ [3]
- ^ EveryHit.co.uk UK Top 40 database Accessed: October 29 2006
- ^ PopInstituut.nl Discography 2 Unlimited Accessed: October 29 2006
- ^ NVPI.nl Dutch certification database Accessed November 4 2006
- ^ NorwegianCharts.com No Limits page Accessed: October 29 2006
- ^ SwissCharts.com No Limits page Accessed: October 29 2006
- ^ SwissCharts.com Certifications 1994 Accessed: October 29 2006
- ^ AustrianCharts.at No Limits page Accessed: October 29 2006
- ^ SwedishCharts.com No Limits page Accessed: October 29 2006
mNo edit summary |
mNo edit summary |
||
| Line 40: | Line 40: | ||
:''For the roller coaster simulation software, see [[No Limits (software)]]'' |
:''For the roller coaster simulation software, see [[No Limits (software)]]'' |
||
''''' |
'''''No Limits''''' (speled No Limits! in some territories) is the second studio album for [[The Netherlands|Dutch]] eurodance band [[2 Unlimited]] and with it they became the only eurodance artist to have a UK number 1 album; a feat that they achieved twice.<ref>[http://freespace.virgin.net/sharon.persky/UK%20number%20one%20albums.html] Sharon Persky's UK Number One albums</ref> |
||
Their record company in the UK ([[PWL]]) felt that the raps of [[Ray Slijngaard]] were, as producer Jean-Paul de Coster put it, "too clumsy for the UK market"<ref>Channel 4's Top 10 Irritating Records of Recent Time broadcast in 2003</ref>. Furthermore, head of the record company [[Pete Waterman]] described Ray's input as "the worst rap I've ever heard".<ref>Entry 685 of ''1000 Number Ones'' by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh</ref> Hence, the UK version of this album featured very little of his input - often having instrumental parts where his raps were originally. |
Their record company in the UK ([[PWL]]) felt that the raps of [[Ray Slijngaard]] were, as producer Jean-Paul de Coster put it, "too clumsy for the UK market"<ref>Channel 4's Top 10 Irritating Records of Recent Time broadcast in 2003</ref>. Furthermore, head of the record company [[Pete Waterman]] described Ray's input as "the worst rap I've ever heard".<ref>Entry 685 of ''1000 Number Ones'' by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh</ref> Hence, the UK version of this album featured very little of his input - often having instrumental parts where his raps were originally. |
||
Revision as of 12:20, 2 February 2008
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
- For the 1980s BBC2 television series starring Jenny Powell, see No Limits (TV Show)
- For the roller coaster simulation software, see No Limits (software)
No Limits (speled No Limits! in some territories) is the second studio album for Dutch eurodance band 2 Unlimited and with it they became the only eurodance artist to have a UK number 1 album; a feat that they achieved twice. [1]
Their record company in the UK ( PWL) felt that the raps of Ray Slijngaard were, as producer Jean-Paul de Coster put it, "too clumsy for the UK market" [2]. Furthermore, head of the record company Pete Waterman described Ray's input as "the worst rap I've ever heard". [3] Hence, the UK version of this album featured very little of his input - often having instrumental parts where his raps were originally.
No Limits yielded five singles and went platinum in several countries.
Background
2 Unlimted had limited success in 1992 with their debut album Get Ready!. It had produced four hit singles, but the album had not performed well commercially, peaking at just #37 in the UK. [4] At the time, many dance acts were able to produce hit singles but were unable to capitalize on this with a commercially successful album. For 2 Unlimited, this was about to change.
At this point in their career, 2 Unlimited were still only known amongst those who followed chart music at the time. With the first single listed from this album, this changed. It went to number 1 in the UK around Valentine's Day, despite the fact that its competition was the more fitting " I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston and spent five week there. This exposure lead to them being parodied by the mainstream media with the TV series Spitting Image parodying the track as No Lyrics due to its repetitive lyrical content.
Second single Tribal Dance was released in May 1993, and then this album followed soon afterwards.
Album name and Artwork
Like all the studio albums by the band, the title of the album was a modification of the title of the lead single to be taken from it.
The artwork for the UK cover was designed by Julian Barton and David Howells. As like all the 2 Unlimited releases, most other territories featured a different album cover to the UK edition of the album.
Writing and Composition
For the debut album, most of the writing had been done by Wilde and de Coster, with some input from Ray Slijngaard and other featured writers [5]. For No Limits, both Ray and Anita had much more input into the song writing process. Anita has writing credits on seven of the album's fourteen songs and Ray has writing credits on ten of them. [6]
Critical Reception
Despite its commercial success, the album was panned by the critics, especially in the UK. In Smash Hits, reviewer Mark Frith described the album as an "across the board techno splurge" and stated that this album contained clues as to why the band were unpopular in "elite dance circles". [7]. In the review of Maximum Overdrive, the magazine reiterated that the band were, "not hard or imaginative and they have no credibility in dance circles."
The All Music Guide review stated that beyond No Limit and Let The Beat Control Your Body, there was little to recommend this album. [8]
Toby Anstis stated in his review of Faces that he "thought the album sounded all the same" [9].
Nonetheless, the band won the Best Dance Act award in Smash Hits that year [10] as well as the World Music Award for Benelux.
Track listing
Template:Sample box start variation 2 Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end
| # | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | " No Limit" | 3:44 |
| 2. | " Tribal Dance" | 4:31 |
| 3. | "Mysterious" | 4:23 |
| 4. | " Faces" | 3:48 |
| 5. | " Maximum Overdrive" | 3:58 |
| 6. | "The Power Age" | 3:59 |
| 7. | "Break The Chain" | 3:49 |
| 8. | "Kiss Me Bliss Me" | 3:52 |
| 9. | "Throw The Groove Down" | 4:18 |
| 10. | "R.U.O.K." | 4:11 |
| 11. | " Let The Beat Control Your Body" | 4:02 |
| 12. | "Invite Me To Trance" | 4:07 |
| 13. | "Where Are You Now" | 5:01 |
| 14. | "Shelter For A Rainy Day" | 5:15 |
| 15. | "
Get Ready For This (Wilde Mix)" Bonus track on the Continental edition |
5:59 |
| 16. | "No Limit (Automatic Breakbeat Remix)" Bonus track on the Continental edition |
4:48 |
Chart performance
| Chart | Date | Peak position | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | May 1993 | 1 [11] | |
| The Netherlands | May 22 1993 | 1 [12] | Platinum [13] |
| Norway | June 1993 | 2 [14] | |
| Switzerland | June 6 1993 | 3 [15] | Platinum [16] |
| Austria | June 20 1993 | 3 [17] | |
| Sweden | June 2 1993 | 3 [18] | |
| Ireland | May 1993 | 1 | |
| Japan | May 1993 | 17 |
Singles
| Year | Title | UK | Netherlands | Germany | Switzerland | Austria | Spain | France | Ireland | Sweden | Norway | USA | Canada | Japan | Australia | NZ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | " No Limit" | #1 | #1 | #2 | #1 | #1 | #1 | #1 | #1 | #1 | #1 | — | #1 | — | #7 | #40 |
| 1993 | " Tribal Dance" | #4 | #2 | #2 | #2 | #3 | #1 | #4 | #2 | #2 | #4 | — | #7 | — | #5 | #38 |
| 1993 | " Faces" | #8 | #2 | #8 | #19 | #10 | #4 | #16 | #7 | #11 | — | — | — | — | #54 | — |
| 1993 | " Maximum Overdrive" | #15 | #5 | #16 | #23 | #13 | #2 | #35 | #11 | #18 | — | — | — | — | #32 | — |
| 1994 | " Let The Beat Control Your Body" | #6 | #2 | #8 | #11 | #11 | #10 | #10 | #6 | #11 | — | — | — | — | #39 | #29 |
Writing credits
The following personnel all have writing credits on this album.
- Phil Wilde
- Jean-Paul de Coster
- Ray Slijngaard
- Anita Dels
- Filip Martens
- Xavier de Clayton
- Peter Bauwens
- Mike Leahy
- Jan Voermans
- Bieman
References
- ^ [1] Sharon Persky's UK Number One albums
- ^ Channel 4's Top 10 Irritating Records of Recent Time broadcast in 2003
- ^ Entry 685 of 1000 Number Ones by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh
- ^ http://www.everyhit.com
- ^ Get Ready! sleeve notes
- ^ No Limits sleeve notes
- ^ [ link
- ^ [2]
- ^ [ link
- ^ [3]
- ^ EveryHit.co.uk UK Top 40 database Accessed: October 29 2006
- ^ PopInstituut.nl Discography 2 Unlimited Accessed: October 29 2006
- ^ NVPI.nl Dutch certification database Accessed November 4 2006
- ^ NorwegianCharts.com No Limits page Accessed: October 29 2006
- ^ SwissCharts.com No Limits page Accessed: October 29 2006
- ^ SwissCharts.com Certifications 1994 Accessed: October 29 2006
- ^ AustrianCharts.at No Limits page Accessed: October 29 2006
- ^ SwedishCharts.com No Limits page Accessed: October 29 2006