This review covers the Euro House track Garfield – Cool Cat (Radio Mix).
This track was released in 1995 as a single. It was released along with 3 other versions.
The track starts off with some some vocals ans synths. The vocals then disappear and are replaced with some keys. After this, the vocals come back for another round before the track quickly reverts back to an instrumental section.
The track then goes into the main chorus. This is capped off with a synth section backed by bongo’s of all things. After this, additional vocals come in.
From here, there is another round of the main chorus, only this is slightly altered in terms of lyrics. The track then goes quickly into the next verse. This verse is capped off with an instrumental section with a sprinkling of vocals.
At this point, the track pulls back for a brief moment as the vocals go into the next round in the main chorus. The various elements come back in quickly after a line or two.
After this, the track then offers additional vocals before the track ends with a synth effect.
Back in the mid 90’s various Garfield merchandise was everywhere. People had the famous suction cup Garfield, stuff plush caricatures of the various characters, video games, coffee cups, do not disturb door hangings, whole cartoon TV series, and, of course, the comic strips. The marketing push for the famous fat cat was really quite a marvel to behold in some respects for something as mundane as a comic strip. Apparently, part of the marketing push involved music production which I did not know about until somewhere in the 2000s.
So, from a music critic point of view, my expectations are very low for this. This is just yet another random piece of a much larger marketing push from way back when. When I finished listening to the track, I find myself saying “WTF?” Some stupid piece of marketing should not sound this good. It makes zero sense to me that a one off thing should sound so great. This is especially true for something that is supposed to be satirical and silly.
The vocals sound crisp and the backup vocals really boost the quality of the sound. Compounding things is the fact that the lyrics just work so well for the comic book character.
Making the track sound better are the various synth sounds and effects. It gives that sense of satire without sounding ridiculous. The key elements that are added sounds great and really adds variety.
Another great thing is the flow. This track can sound full and larger than life. Meanwhile, some parts of the track pull back nicely and gives this track such a great flow.
The mastering, meanwhile, is great. There is so much going on, yet nothing gets drowned out or overpowering. Everything just sits so nicely in its place.
Overall, the idea of something that is ultimately a silly piece of marketing sounding so great is absurd to me. Yet here I am with this track that sounds great. The lyrics work, the vocals sound great, and the various synth and key elements work so well. So, I’m going to flick my papers in the air and say this is an excellent track.
Score
9/10
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Google+.
