The Stunned Guys – Part III EP

An Australian and an Italian go to a Dutch record label...... sounds like the start of a joke! The idea that in a series of records Part III would come out before Part II is really weird, either that or Darrien Kelly and The Stunned Guys are playing silly buggers. Plus Part II on Forze 11, II looks like 11, ok that's making something out of nothing..... Their first record together was a success, so a follow up was inevitable and all three of them are best mates with the owner of the label, Paul Elstak.

Main Mutherfucka's is the only track on this record that doesn't end with an exclamation mark! Probably the most played track on Forze 11, a nice midtempo track with a DJ friendly intro and filtered Alpha Juno synth lines. The hard rap samples have been taken from Real Muthaphuckkin Compton G's by Eazy E, Dresta and BG Knocc Out. This was a massively brutal diss song in Hip Hop squarely aimed at Dr. Dre and Snoop (Doggy) Dogg, hearing it in a Gabber track is odd to me but works well in the track itself. The main sound is a catchy riff with a darker Juno feel to it. The harder kick in the middle is a welcome addition, the slightly broken drum beat and downward synth line is OK as well. Solid tune.

My personal favourite from this record is one of those tracks that slowly grows on you over time. Hey DJ is a slower mid tempo so the TR-909 sounds extra crisp. Leading into the first breakdown and into the mid section is this simple high pitch stab that works nicely alongside somebody shouting "ooowwwwww" like they have hurt themselves. The second half has a more rougher Rotterdam synth riff in the style of Paul Elstak. The last breakdown has another simple stab section. Maybe its the simplicity of Hey DJ, but I like it, Darrien Kelly's solo tune, nice one. The first and only time I've heard this song is when Pavo (of course Pavo!) plays Hey DJ at a Mystery Land or Mystery World party in 1997 in a Thunderdome video.

Now is a noun, adverb, adjective, conjunction and happens to be the third track on this record. The main melody seems to take heavy inspiration from Naked Steal - Vive La , and to be fair, it sounds decent. The more boring synth in the second half is well... boring, sounds a bit ugly and uninspiring. Easily the weakest of the four tracks.

Party Rico actually got played a fair bit as well considering its a B2 track. The first time I heard it was when Gizmo plays it at the infamous Thunderdome 97 party/VHS. Fastest track on the record so it would have appealed to the hard as nails Gabbers. The simple Juno stabs are standard although they are slightly changed as the track progresses, to the point they "sound slower" in the mid section. Later on there's a more trademark Stunned Guys loopy Juno synth riff which sounds lovely. The name of this song and the sample is interesting. The sample is from Frankie Cutlass - Puerto Rico although I'm 100% certain its been lifted from Funkmaster Flex - The Mix Tape Volume 1 (60 Minutes Of Funk). Nice track to finish off the record.

As an Aussie, its always nice to see one of us doing so well in the Gabber scene. Possibly the best record Darrien Kelly ever did. Forze 11 also shows the change in direction of the label, going from Happy Hardcore to serious Rotterdam Hardcore. Part III was the next Forze release after Hardcore To Da Bone, geez no pressure! So with that in mind and the Thunderdome 97 party (Darrien Kelly happily shows off this record in the VHS!) this must have been released in the early part of 1997. A great Australian-Italian-Rotterdam record.

Main Mutherfucka's is pretty decent on this quite harder but nice samples of Easy-E

The Back over says: "Part III ep of a special collaboration between Darrien Kelly & The Stunned Guys ...Look out for Part II on Rotterdam Records !!!!"
But "Part II" has never been released on Rotterdam Records or any other label.