Meltdown (The Remixes) (2002)

Icehouse's Meltdown remix album presents a diverse collection of reworked tracks that showcase the band's iconic sound through a fresh and contemporary lens. Iva Davies and the group did something similar to this in the 90’s with the remix album Full Circle, which was surprisingly good. Meltdown, on the other hand, is very much not good.

What made remixes and dance tracks so fun in the 80’s and 90’s are that they weren’t just annoying electronic beats with the chorus of the song looped over and over again. Full Circle does a great job at reimagining a lot of the hit Icehouse songs, but Meltdown pretty much makes the majority of the songs unlistenable. There are only three songs that I found to be not too bad. That is mostly for the reason that they are the most true to the original recordings of the songs. What is added to these mixes are complementary to the songs rather than distracting and annoying.

As for the remaining 11 remixes, I found them almost painful to finish. The record is not without energy or “innovation”, but it is just a style that is not at all tailored towards me or more traditional Icehouse fans. Whether you're a diehard fan of the band or a newcomer to their music, this remix album can be skipped entirely. For anyone who appreciates innovative and creative reinterpretations of classic tracks, go listen to Full Circle and do your best to avoid Meltdown. But if you are a “wub-head” or a lover of more modern and aggressive EDM, then maybe this is right up your alley. I’ll let you decide.

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Highlight Song:

• Street Cafe (Smash N Grab Remix)

• Cross The Border (Funk Corporation Remix)

• Man of Colours (Endorphin Remix)

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Own it, Stream it, Forget about it?

Forget about it. Stream if you must, but do not buy.

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Overall Rating:

2 Stars