Cascada: Natalie Horler (vocals); Yann Peifer, Manuel Reuter.

Fronted by photogenic singer Natalie Horler, the German trio Cascada presents a catchy set of dance-pop songs on its debut outing, PERFECT DAY. Marked by pounding beats, epic-sounding synths, and exuberant vocals, these tracks are club tunes primed for mainstream success, as evinced by the driving hit single "What Hurts the Most."

Perfect Day is Cascada's second album of 2007 (although Everytime We Touch was originally released in 2006) and it sounds like she thought she had found a winning formula. The opening track and Top Ten single "What Hurts the Most" begins as a ballad backed by an acoustic guitar for the first 40 seconds, with the only hint of the electro-pop to come being the reverb on Natalie Horler's vocal. But then the drum beat kicks in and indeed you have another Cascada album after all, with Europop electronic beats and the production of DJ Manian and Yanou at the fore, although Horler's voice is never dominated by the music. Avril Lavigne's "Sk8er Boy" and Pink's "Just Like a Pill" have all their inherent anger extracted, and the Cascada versions become pleasant tunes to dance to. As with her previous album, Perfect Day ends with a chillout version of the first single, subtitled "Yanou's Candlelight Mix." ~ Sharon Mawer

Perfect Day is Cascada's second album of 2007 (although Everytime We Touch was originally released in 2006) and it sounds like she thought she had found a winning formula. The opening track and Top Ten single "What Hurts the Most" begins as a ballad backed by an acoustic guitar for the first 40 seconds, with the only hint of the electro-pop to come being the reverb on Natalie Horler's vocal. But then the drum beat kicks in and indeed you have another Cascada album after all, with Europop electronic beats and the production of DJ Manian and Yanou at the fore, although Horler's voice is never dominated by the music. Unfortunately, it sounds as if the beat and tempo on the cover of Patti Smith's "Because the Night" came first because Horler really struggles to fit all the words in in the time-per-line allowed. Avril Lavigne's "Sk8er Boy" and Pink's "Just Like a Pill" have all their inherent anger extracted; so much so that parts of the originals and the Cascada versions are simply pleasant tunes to dance to. But how could anyone keep up the pace of these songs for a whole track, let alone a complete album, when the pumping beat is relentless and Horler, together with the production, contrives to make every song sound identical? Even backed by piano and strings, the album's one ballad, "Could It Be You," sounds as if it could have been improved had the drum machine kicked in. As with her previous album, Perfect Day ends with a chillout version of the first single, subtitled "Yanou's Candlelight Mix," but in complete contrast, that song is almost too slow, at least for this CD. ~ Sharon Mawer