Benny Benassi – Satisfaction (Hardwell & Maddix Remix)

• Guetta’s version wasn’t exactly a masterpiece
• Missing chance to showcase their new styles
• Techno kick, long buildup

“Satisfaction” by Benny Benassi is one of those classics which we all are familiar with hearing in live sets often, owing to its simpler and effortlessly catchy setup that has remained timeless. Personally, the vocals aren’t what allured me to this record, but during recent years I have grown an appreciation towards the infamous Electro lead. It has been reworked recently by David Guetta (bland work I must say, just minor tweaks in the breakdown and a cleaner kick). This ‘rework’ of a rework doesn’t change things all that much either.

After receiving success on their “Bella Ciao” remix, then switching from Big Room to Techno (or Festival Techno if to be precise), Hardwell and Maddix are reunited on a common ground… Yet once again it’s not satisfying. Their first team-up “Smash This Beat” was forgettable despite brandishing Maddix’s signature, while “Bella Ciao” was a generic endeavor at jacking the Netflix series’ wild virality at the time, and this “Satisfaction” rework… Let’s see.

It’s pretty easy to evaluate this category of a rework: usual pattern from the original, harder Techno kickdrums in the drop which is ironically similar to the 2002 version, and an annoyingly longer build-up. Following the genre conventions, where the wait for the drop is a key component, “Satisfaction” has nearly thirty elongated seconds of build-up, before the kicks start. In a live show, it works. In personal settings, it is mildly bothersome.

And that’s how I feel about “Satisfaction”. Guetta didn’t put a whole lot of effort into it. Hardwell & Maddix, who usually aren’t afraid of experimenting with their new styles, resorted to the same. I acknowledge that it’s such a linear design to work upon, but other artists such as Jewelz & Sparks handled the remix duty much more interestingly. Generic Techno isn’t the most creative task, and an unremarkable job from these stand-out aliases.

You can listen to “Satisfaction” here:

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