It’s one thing for a writing or production team to have a signature sound, quite something else when someone basically writes 100 versions of the same song, right?
At least back in the day, folks had a sense of humor about it, right? Motown stuck so close to formula on the first few Four Tops hits (“I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” and “Reach Out, I’ll Be There”) that the next song they did was called “It’s The Same Old Song” (wink, wink…nudge, nudge).
This process started getting really stale in the late Eighties, when every faceless dance act released a second single that sounded exactly like the single before (Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” and “Together Forever”, Real McCoy’s “Another Night” and “Run Away” and Ace of Base’s “All That She Wants” and “The Sign” being just a few examples), but the Norwegian production team of Stargate has gone just a wee bit overboard. Although for some reason I can’t quite pinpoint, I actually *like* all of these songs!!
Compare for yourself:
Ne-Yo’s “So Sick”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hvI9kAUTKA
vs.
Lionel Richie’s “I Call it Love”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx-PJfsvR5Q
and Elliott Yamin’s “Wait For You”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEskpfHOTAk
AND
Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFtICBASrpY
vs.
Chris Brown’s “With You”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqumjziPTzk
and Ne-Yo’s “Go On Girl”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49P8X438NZk
What do YOU think??