Dance, Dance, Dance Again

The most popular record companies have been releasing compilation albums for years. Many such as Motown have repackaged their most popular acts into greatest hits and the essentials – the must have songs all put together on one album. Stevie Wonder alone has at least seven “essential” compilation albums. Still it is seldom that today a record company will release a compilation album of greatest hits from the stable of their most popular artists with practical unknowns. That’s exactly what Island/Def Jam has done. From Rihanna to Shiny Toy Guns is on Just Dance 3 making it an album full of potential new hits.

The idea is sound put your most popular singers with some lesser known talent and perhaps new fans will emerge. However, the first song on the album (Rihanna’s “Hard”) has been a chart topper on several billboard charts for weeks. If you’re a fan of Rihanna, then you already have her latest album which features this song and several other likable tracks. So where does that leave artists like Inna? Best known in Europe, Inna has yet to break onto the North American music charts. Her dance track “Love” has an infectious beat and her voice is pleasant enough, still if you have the better known artists’ songs you may not feel the need to invest in 13 other tracks from musicians you don’t know.

However, you should give this compilation a try. They’re all dance tracks that will light up a party. Rihanna’s version of “Hard” is on this album and not on latest studio album Rated R. There is even a better version of Mariah Carey’s H.A.T.E.U. that is an improvement than the one on Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel. The trance-like flavor causes remixer Jason Nevins to rejuvenate an otherwise forgettable song.

There’s also Mr. Hudson whose song “Supernova” barely cracked the top 200 billboard chart, but reached number 2 on several musical charts including the United Kingdom’s. This song deserves to be heard by a larger audience and Just Dance 3 is the right vehicle for the ability to reach a larger audience.

What makes this album a potential party favorite is that it goes from one song into another in a near-seamless fashion. Before you can catch your breath from Ludacris’ “How Low” here comes another track that forces you to get on the dance floor and shake your thing.

Overall, this album fulfills its intention of showcasing artists that need to be heard alongside refreshed remixes of current successful singers.