Raze. World Wide Message Tribe. And now V*Enna and SHINEmk. What do all of these have in common? Electronic pop. Although WWMT has more of an edge at times and can be more widely appealing, the others tend to cater to the youth-- which of course is important. Producing sounds reminiscent of modern Cher, and groups like NSync and other electronic pop power houses. V*Enna has more of an innocent sound. And at the first listen of their new maxi-single All the Way to Heaven, you'll find an innocent radio-friendly youthful sound geared towards young teens-- girls mainly.

The single kicks off with the title track setting the tone of the disc with danceable beats, harmonious female vocals (delivered by Sharnessa and Lucy), and bouncy synthesizers. "Sunshine and Rain" follows, starting off with a bass beat and keyboards, before becoming a steady beat with tinny cymbals and the girls' vocals joining in.

Following the 2 tracks are several remixes of the 2 songs. 2 being "bonus" karoake tracks. The others being other techno-influenced variations of the original songs. The "urban" and "supertap" remixes of the title track end up being more appealing than the original tune. The prior being slower with a soulful beat and they added a rap vocal mid-song. The latter is more old Eric Champion (anyone remember his disc Vertical Reality?) and WWMT.

The remix of "Sunshine and Rain" is a slower version, with a more repetitious, faster beat (if that makes sense). Another instance where I feel the remix is stronger than the original version (the horn sample is an interesting touch).

For those of you who like Raze, SHINEmk, WWMT, and the secular likes of Cher and others in the electronic pop genre, I suggest checking out V*Enna and their new single. Their full project is due out late summer of this year. Check it out. (And the enhanced portion features a 4-minute-plus video clip entitled "Meet V*Enna")

- Review date: 3/14/00, written by John DiBiase