The wistful electronic pop duo
the Beloved (
Steve Waddington and vocalist
Jon Marsh) released a moderately successful debut album
Happiness in 1990. Following the lead of successful European dance-pop bands like
the Pet Shop Boys and American dance divas like
Paula Abdul,
the Beloved capitalized on their initial success (which was greater in Europe than in America) by releasing an album of remixes.
Blissed Out, also released in 1990, is made up almost entirely of remixes of tunes from the first album, though it does contain two tracks ("Pablo" and "It's Alright Now") that didn't appear on
Happiness. Since the new songs are far from spectacular, most of
Blissed Out's appeal comes from the new mixes of
the Beloved's dancefloor hits like "Hello," "Your Love Takes Me Higher," and the rave classic "The Sun Rising."
Blissed Out isn't the best introduction to the music of
the Beloved (
Happiness fits the bill just fine) and the group's fans might find the album redundant, but
Blissed Out is a decent collection, and the remixes are interesting. Fans of the genre should find it appealing. ~ William Cooper