Culture Beat (vocalist Tania Evans, rapper Jay Supreme, and German musicians Torsten Fenslau and Peter Zweler) achieved massive club success in 1993 with the single "Mr. Vain," an engaging house tune that also hit the Top 20 on the pop chart. "Mr. Vain" utilized the same technique as
Snap's club classic "Rhythm Is a Dancer" and
Real McCoy's Top Ten hit "Another Night": generic female vocals punctuated by the occasional light rap interlude, accompanied by a throbbing bassline and an instantly memorable keyboard hook. The group's 1994 album,
Serenity, predictably surrounds "Mr. Vain" with similar sounding club anthems, but none of the tunes are as instantly memorable as the hit. Still,
Serenity is an okay listen, albeit a repetitious one. "Got to Get It" is a virtual rewrite of "Mr. Vain," and the beat-heavy tracks "World in Your Hands" and "The Other Side of Me" are unremarkable but competent and entertaining.
Serenity may lack substance, but the album should please fans of pleasant, non-threatening dance music. ~ William Cooper