*** Various Artists

ULTIMATE DANCE PARTY 1997

(Arista)

At last, a US compilation that celebrates fast-moving, high-octave Eurobeat, dance music's most joyous sound. Although not as sublime as European collections of the style (for example, Barcelona's two-CD Rambo Mix, on the Blanco y Negro label), the stratospheric sounds of No Mercy's "Where Do You Go," Real McCoy's "Another Night," and La Bouche's "Be My Lover" work hard at going happiness-crazy. In pursuit of the swift and ethereal, music with the angel-baby tones of Abba -- and beats that echo freestyle -- course through the mix: Ace of Base's "Beautiful Life," Amber's "This Is Your Night," Livin' Joy's exultant club hit "Dreamer." But techno screams out too, in Reel 2 Real's "I Like To Move It." And Nicki French's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and Aretha Franklin's "A Deeper Love," as remixed by C&C Music Factory, contribute their moments of big-bodied bliss to the trip. Then, with Robert Miles's Cerrone-like "Children" and Los Del Mar's star-swimming "Macarena," it's back to the rapid wordless rapture that only Eurobeat's 140 BPM (and faster) knows how to depict.

-- Michael Freedberg