by Jose F. Promis
After scoring a massive European and U.S. hit with the club anthem "The Rhythm of the Night," Italo-house project Corona issued a fine dance album with more of the same. Nearly every song on this set, save for the bizarre "Get up and Boogie," is catchy and memorable, resulting in one of the best house/dance/pop albums of the 1990s. Corona was similar to other dance acts of the time, such as Black Box, Real McCoy, and La Bouche, except that there's no rapping (save for on a remix of the title track), there are no ballads, and the singer's voice is rich and powerful while keeping vocal histrionics to a minimum. Standouts include the album's aggressive second single "Baby Baby," the catchy Euro hit "Try Me Out," the irresistible "I Don't Want to Be a Star," "I Want Your Love" (which recalls the Emotions' "Best of My Love"), and the slower paced "In the Name of Love" (which recalls Eruption's take on "I Can't Stand the Rain"). Towards the end, however, this non-stop Euro-dance party tends to get a little repetitive. Just as one's head begins to throb, the album offers the fine cool down semi-instrumental "You Gotta Be Movin'" before heading into remixes of "Baby Baby" and the title track, which undeniably stands as one of the best dance tunes to come out of the 1990s. This album, which has aged surprisingly well, is perfect for fans of 1990s Italo-house/pop music.