And yet it was popular. You see, originally Scooter was known as The Loop!, one of the most popular remix teams in Germany. Eventually tiring of simply remixing others' works, they formed Scooter (the origins of the name remain unknown to this day) and, after the release of a purely instrumental single, it wasn't until they played their first live show in Spring 1994, where frontman H.P. Baxxter improvised some shouts to the otherwise instrumental happy hardcore sound of Hyper Hyper, that the crowds started to take notice. And it was declared good by the masses, and the single (with H.P. included) hit #2 on the German single charts.

But to me, the song is, well, not up to snuff. Starting with Hyper Hyper (Faster, Harder, Scooter), the first version of the track featured, the mystery announcer happily introduces Scooter to the sound of a wild crowd. H.P. brings us in over an acid bassline shouting typical things like "Hyper Hyper" and "C'mon!" while a weird vocal clip plays over and over in odd harmony. Things do change up a bit with additional synths later, but this still doesn't make the track noteworthy in the annals of musical history. The extra sounds of the classic TB-303 and the additional piano work near the end help to give the tune some credibility, but it's nothing overly catchy. It should be noted, however, that this is NOT the main version of the song, but instead a strange offshoot later featured at the end of their debut album as "Faster Harder Scooter" (not to be confused with a different single in 1999 of the same name). Then we're treated to Hyper Hyper (On A Spanish Fly Tip), which is Hyper Hyper to a tee, except with a different MC rapping in Spanish. But this actually resembles the original track: another acid bassline, some trance synths, and that weird chipmunk voice chunk... And then, just as H.P. will eventually do in the original, he'll give a shoutout to 30 different DJs in Germany at the time. (Most of them have faded into obscurity.)

But the main event is, oddly enough, planted in the middle of the disc: the Original Version is the one we're after; it's the exact same as the previous song but with H.P.'s English shouts instead (and the shoutout). But no matter what, we're still missing any discernible melody that could possibly help to raise the song from background noise status at a rave. The Video Edit just takes all that lack of excitement and squeezes it into a shorter time frame. Now, I must admit, I am listening to this in 2012 from the standpoint of someone loafing on their couch. At an actual rave, the reaction might be different with 10,000 other crazies waving their arms in the air, screaming, and fiddling with expensive glowsticks. But, if I have this single at home, it should be worth listening to there. And it really isn't that great outside of the dance arena. Luckily, there's a bonus at the end: the B-Side, Rhapsody In E. A more psy-trance-based affair, this one keeps it simple but holds onto a dark and edgy sensation. Eventually adding acid synths and a piano melody, this one stands out, delivering quite the contrast between itself and the other material featured on the single. If you're going to get this single, it should be for Rhapsody In E because it feels like there was much more effort put into this modest trance track.