REVAMPED - A CLASSIC, 15 Years On
Elite Force – Revamped (2010): A Deep Dive, 15-Years On
March 8th marks the 15-year anniversary of the release of my ‘REVAMPED’ album, which defined an era in music production. I thought this would be a great opportunity to do a deep dive into some of the stats behind the album, including a little backstory, quotes from magazines at the time, and the way the album was received by music critics.
It was certainly a gamechanger for me!
Release Timeline & Milestones
• Late 2009: Elite Force (Simon Shackleton) begins unveiling his “Revamped” project with a series of free bootleg mash-ups (dubbed “Revamps”). These re-edits combined elements from tracks by artists ranging from Caspa and Benga (dubstep) to Deadmau5 (electro house) and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (indie rock). The free releases quickly gained traction – one Deadmau5 “refix” alone exceeded 50,000 downloads – building significant buzz ahead of the album.
• Early 2010: Shackleton offers a teaser of the upcoming album via singles and previews. The pre-album single “Party Phenomenon” (a tech-funk mashup involving Krafty Kuts, Dylan Rhymes, Tim Deluxe and others) hit #1 on Beatport’s Breaks chart within 48 hours of release . Another track, “M.A.D.”, was previewed on SoundCloud in February 2010, foreshadowing its anthemic impact.
• March 8, 2010: Revamped is officially released (via U&A Recordings), initially as a digital album of 15 tracks plus a continuous DJ mix . It was made available through an official Elite Force online store (which offered a CD, vinyl, and bonus content) and as a Beatport exclusive for digital downloads . The album’s concept was unique – each track (“revamp”) was a brand-new production constructed from samples and elements of older tracks by Elite Force and his contemporaries.
• March–April 2010: Revamped ignites the charts. Upon release, the album’s tracks dominated Beatport in unprecedented fashion. All 14 unmixed tracks from Revamped stormed into the global Beatport Top 50 simultaneously – a rare feat for any album. In the Breaks genre chart, Revamped was even more dominant: its tracks held the entire Top 12 positions for nearly a month straight . Multiple cuts took turns at #1 on the Breaks chart, with the electro-infused single “M.A.D.” alone spending a cumulative 5 weeks at the #1 spot . By this time, Revamped wasn’t just a successful release – it was rewriting record books for breakbeat on Beatport.
• Mid/Late 2010: Off the back of the album’s success, Elite Force toured extensively, headlining major breakbeat and electronic events. He performed “Revamped” sets at festivals and mega-parties worldwide – from Breakfest in Perth to the Burning Man festival in Nevada, even a gig at the Olympic Stadium in Sevilla . As the year went on, Shackleton also continued the series with additional free “revamps.” In December 2010, he capped the campaign with a “Final Revamps 2010” EP, offering one last batch of genre-blending mash-ups (this series finale referenced that the Revamped project had been running for about a year).
• Early 2011: The accolades rolled in. In March, Beatport announced “M.A.D.” as the Top-Selling Breaks Track of 2010, earning Elite Force a 2011 Beatport Music Award for Best Breakbeat Track of the Year . At the Breakspoll International Breakbeat Awards 2011 (held March 5, 2011), Elite Force received long-awaited recognition from the breakbeat community – he was voted “Best Producer”, and his label U&A Recordings won “Best Label” . The Revamped album itself was a finalist for “Best Album” at Breakspoll, underscoring the impact it had on the genre’s fans and DJs (it ultimately lost to a Krafty Kuts compilation, but simply being nominated among the top 5 spoke volumes). Revamped tracks also figured into other Breakspoll categories; for example, one of its mash-ups (“The Law of Life”) was nominated for Best Track and an associated remix for Best Remix.
Chart Performance & Sales Statistics
Elite Force’s Revamped made breakbeat history on digital charts, especially Beatport. Upon release in March 2010, the album’s 15 mash-up tracks achieved an unprecedented clean-sweep of Beatport’s Breaks charts. At one point, Revamped tracks held the #1 through #12 spots on the Breaks Top 100 for nearly a month – effectively locking out any other artist from the top dozen during that period. No breakbeat album had ever exerted such dominance in Beatport’s rankings before.
Crucially, this success wasn’t confined only to the niche genre chart. Revamped crossed over into the overall charts in a big way. Fourteen of the album’s tracks (essentially all of them, barring the continuous mix) appeared simultaneously in Beatport’s overall Top 50 tracks chart . In other words, nearly a third of the world’s top 50 downloads (across all genres) at one time were Elite Force “revamps” – a remarkable crossover achievement for breakbeat music.
Several individual tracks saw exceptional performance:
• “M.A.D.” – Perhaps the album’s biggest hit, this high-octane mashup was a fixture at #1 on the Breaks chart for weeks. It spent a total of 5 weeks in the top spot and was among the store’s top-selling downloads across all genres during spring 2010 . Its strong sales over the year earned “M.A.D.” the title of Beatport’s Best-Selling Breaks Track of 2010 (announced in the 2011 Beatport Awards) . Notably, “M.A.D.” also cracked into the broader charts; it was so popular that it won fans outside the usual breakbeat crowd.
• “Party Phenomenon” – Released just ahead of the album, this track quickly hit #1 on the Breaks chart within 2 days of its debut . It effectively set the stage for the album’s release, signaling that the Revamped project would be a chart juggernaut. While “Party Phenomenon” was not part of the main album tracklist on digital stores (it was offered separately and via the Elite Force store), its success fed directly into Revamped’s momentum.
• Other Revamps: Virtually every track from the album entered the Breaks Top 10 in 2010. Many took turns swapping top positions due to high download sales each week. For example, tracks like “Annihilate,” “Bring The Panic,” “The Final Whistle,” and others all populated the upper ranks of the Breaks chart for weeks. The sheer volume of sales was massive for a breaks release – one Beatport write-up noted the album’s domination was “in an unprecedented manner,” emphasizing that Revamped’s sales performance broke records for the breakbeat genre.
In terms of sales benchmarks, hard numbers weren’t widely publicized, but some context gives a sense of scale. The initial free “Pre-vamped” bootlegs had tens of thousands of downloads (50k+ for one track) , indicating a huge listener base. Once the album went on sale, thousands of fans purchased the official tracks, propelling them to the top of charts. By year’s end, Elite Force was the highest-selling breakbeat artist on Beatport thanks to Revamped – a fact reflected in his receiving the Beatport award and holding multiple genre chart records . The album’s success even spilled over to other platforms: for instance, Revamped reportedly remained high on download store charts like Juno and Amazon MP3 for some time in the breaks/electro categories (though Beatport was its primary arena).
Awards & Recognition
Revamped and its tracks garnered significant awards and accolades, reinforcing the album’s status as a milestone in breakbeat music:
• Beatport Music Awards 2011: Elite Force’s “M.A.D.” won the official Best Breakbeat Track of 2010 award (based on Beatport sales data) . This honor meant that M.A.D. was the top-selling breakbeat single in the world for that year on Beatport’s store. It was a major achievement given Beatport’s central role in electronic music distribution. (Note: Beatport did not have a “best album” sales award at that time, but if it did, Revamped would likely have been a contender given the aggregate sales of its tracks.)
• Breakspoll (International Breakbeat Awards) 2011: The breakbeat scene’s yearly awards gave Elite Force two of its highest honors. He was voted “Best Producer”, and his label U&A Recordings was voted “Best Label” of the year – a direct nod to the impact of releases like Revamped. The album itself was nominated for “Best Album” , placing among the top 5 breakbeat albums in the public vote. While it did not win (the award went to a different release), the nomination alone highlighted Revamped’s prominence. Additionally, some tracks related to the album were recognized: “M.A.D.” was shortlisted by fans in the Best Track category (and another Revamped track, “The Law of Life,” made the final nominee list for Best Track as well) . An Access Denied Remix of an Elite Force revamp was also nominated for Best Remix . These multiple Breakspoll nominations and wins underscore how Revamped became the talk of the breakbeat community in 2010.
• Other Accolades: Beyond formal awards, Revamped earned widespread critical acclaim (see next section), which can be considered a form of recognition in itself. For instance, it received five-star reviews in leading dance music publications . It also achieved two #1 positions on Hype Machine (the blog aggregator) through the “Pre-vamped” bootleg series that preceded the album , indicating massive listener approval in the broader electronic music blogosphere. While not an official trophy, being a Hype Machine topper twice is a testament to the project’s popularity and viral reach among fans.
• Legacy Acknowledgement: In later years, Revamped is frequently cited in breakbeat circles as a landmark release. For example, Elite Force’s own artist biography notes the album’s unprecedented chart accomplishments and the Beatport award it earned . The project’s concept (the “revamp” mashup approach) even spawned imitators and became a point of reference for creative remix albums. Although not a traditional award, this lasting legacy is a form of recognition from the industry – Revamped set a benchmark for what a breakbeat album could achieve both creatively and commercially.
Critical Reception & Industry Reaction
Upon release, Revamped was met with widespread critical acclaim and strong support from DJs and industry tastemakers. Reviews in major music magazines were overwhelmingly positive, often 5/5 or “star” ratings, praising Elite Force’s innovative approach:
• iDJ Magazine lauded Revamped as a revolutionary take on mash-ups, stating that “thanks to Elite Force, we have entered a whole new paradigm in mashupology” . The reviewer noted that Shackleton had “created a collection of numbers that sound like original compositions, such are the intricacies of his tailoring,” meaning the mash-ups were so well-crafted they felt like fresh originals . This was a significant point – Elite Force wasn’t just splicing tracks together roughly; he was effectively pioneering a new level of sophistication in mash-up production.
• Mixmag (UK) was similarly impressed, emphasizing Shackleton’s role as “the originator of the anti-genre DJ style ‘tech-funk’” and commending how Revamped took cross-genre production to new heights. In a glowing review, Mixmag declared “in a nutshell, this kicks. 5/5” . They highlighted the album’s power and seamless blend of styles, reinforcing that it was a must-hear release at the turn of the decade.
• DJ Magazine praised the album’s energy and scope: “From dubstep to tech-funk, this electrifying bunch of ace mash-ups mixed into a coherent, genre-traversing blend is a must-have,” wrote DJ Mag in their album review . This quote underscores how Revamped traversed multiple genres (breaks, dubstep, electro, house, techno) yet managed to feel like a cohesive listening experience. Many critics noted that despite drawing from many sources, the album flowed like a unified set.
• InTheMix (Australia) went so far as to call Revamped “one of the single most important, captivating and crucial albums of the new decade” . Such high praise framed the album not just as a great breakbeat record, but as a pivotal release in electronic music as a whole. Knowledge Magazine (UK) echoed these sentiments, calling it “hands down the most powerful release at the turn of the new year” . When multiple respected outlets are using words like “crucial” and “powerful” to describe an album, it’s clear Revamped made a deep impression.
The industry reaction mirrored the critical reception. A wide array of radio DJs and producers threw support behind Revamped:
• On radio, influential DJs across the spectrum hammered the tracks. BBC Radio 1’s breakbeat champion Annie Nightingale supported it, as did Eddy Temple-Morris (XFM), Rob Da Bank (Radio 1), Nick Grimshaw (Radio 1), and Lauren Laverne (BBC 6Music), among others . Even DJs known for other genres – e.g. Kissy Sell-Out (electro/house) and Jay Cunning (breaks) – were spinning Revamped tracks, showing its cross-genre appeal. Such radio play helped expose the album’s tunes to broader audiences, beyond the core breaks scene.
• Fellow breakbeat DJs in clubs were quick to adopt Revamped tracks as peak-time weapons. Many of the mash-ups combined familiar hooks or riffs (from classics by the likes of Stanton Warriors, Plump DJs, Bassbin Twins, etc.) with new twists, which made them crowd-pleasers. It wasn’t uncommon in 2010 to hear several Elite Force revamps dropped in a single breakbeat DJ set – essentially, Elite Force was competing with himself on dancefloors because so many of his tracks were hot at once.
• The “tech-funk” producer community (artists who blend breakbeats, house, techno, electro) widely celebrated the album. Revamped featured source material from many of these artists – including tech-funk stalwarts like Meat Katie, Lee Coombs, Dylan Rhymes, Vandal, and the Rogue Element – effectively paying homage to the scene’s key players. Those artists, in turn, praised Elite Force for the quality of the reworks. The project fostered a sense of unity and excitement in the breakbeat community; it showed how collaboration (even if indirect) could push the genre forward.
The commercial success of Revamped also sent a message to the industry: there was still a strong market for breakbeat music when presented in fresh ways. The album’s Beatport feats caught the attention of promoters and festival organizers. Off the strength of Revamped, Elite Force booked high-profile gigs worldwide (as noted in the timeline), often appearing as a headliner.
In interviews around that time, Simon Shackleton expressed some surprise at how big the project became. He approached it initially as an experiment in creative re-editing and a way to refresh his DJ sets, but it struck a chord far beyond expectation. The overwhelmingly positive reception from both fans and peers affirmed the risk he took in making Revamped. As one quote in the album’s press release summed up: “We have Elite Force to thank… he has created something that sounds like an original composition” – essentially, he blurred the line between remix, mash-up, and original track. This was a new approach, and the industry embraced it wholeheartedly.
Impact and Significance
Revamped’s impact on the electronic music landscape – and breakbeat in particular – was profound. By all accounts, this album injected a surge of energy and innovation into a breakbeat scene that, by 2010, was arguably in need of a jolt. Here are a few key aspects of its significance:
• Redefining the Mash-Up/Bootleg Artform: Prior to Revamped, mash-ups and bootleg remixes in DJ culture were often seen as fun dancefloor tools or web freebies, but not something that would constitute a cohesive artist album. Elite Force changed that perception. He coined the term “revamp” to denote his polished, multi-source creations – “glorified mash-ups” that were produced with as much detail as original tracks . This approach elevated the art of the mash-up. After Revamped, other producers were inspired to experiment with similar multi-track fusion projects, but few reached the bar that Elite Force set in terms of quality and impact. The album essentially set a blueprint for how to do a remix/mash-up album that feels like a creative statement rather than a gimmick.
• Cross-Genre Fusion (Tech-Funk Movement): Revamped is often cited as a pinnacle of the tech-funk movement, a crossover style Shackleton championed which fuses breakbeats, house, techno, and electro . By sourcing from big beat, electro-house, techno, dubstep, and breakbeat classics, Revamped broke down genre silos. It brought the heavy bass and breaks to house/techno fans and brought electro/dubstep flavors to breakbeat fans. This cross-pollination broadened the audience for breakbeat music. As DJ Magazine noted, the album was “a coherent, genre-traversing blend” – a rare achievement that helped listeners who might normally stick to one style to appreciate others. In the wake of Revamped, the lines between breaks and other bass-heavy genres continued to blur, paving the way for the modern “bass music” scene. It’s not a stretch to say Revamped helped keep breakbeat relevant by aligning it with the exploding electro-house and dubstep sounds of that era.
• Commercial Benchmark for Breaks: The album’s record-breaking chart performance proved that breakbeat releases could still achieve commercial success on par with other genres (at least in 2010). At a time when traditional breakbeat was thought to be fading in popularity, Revamped showed that innovation could drive demand. Its sales triumphs (e.g. monopolizing Beatport’s charts) gave confidence to labels and artists in the breaks community to continue investing in bold projects. It also demonstrated the power of digital distribution and hype – by leveraging blogs, freebies, and Beatport exclusives, Elite Force charted a new model for releasing an underground album with maximum impact.
• Influence on DJs and Production Style: Many DJs (across breaks, electro, and even drum & bass) incorporated Revamped tracks into their sets, which in turn influenced the dancefloor sound of 2010. The high-octane, genre-blending style of Elite Force’s revamps – heavy breakbeat rhythms mixed with electro basslines or rock riffs – became a sought-after vibe. Producers noticed this and started to emulate the tech-funk formula in their own productions. In particular, younger breakbeat producers like Hedflux (who won Best Track in 2011 Breakspoll) and others in the psy-breaks or tech-breaks subgenres took inspiration from how Revamped merged psychedelic, electro and breakbeat elements. The album thus had a ripple effect, encouraging more experimental breakbeat compositions.
• Enduring Legacy in Breakbeat Culture: Years later, Revamped is remembered as a classic of breakbeat. It frequently appears in discussions of influential breakbeat albums. The fact that Elite Force compiled an entire “Unreleased Revamps Collection” and fans still seek out those tracks speaks to the lasting appetite for this material. For the breakbeat community, Revamped stands as a high-water mark of the 2010s – a reference point for quality and creativity. It’s also a time capsule of that moment when breakbeat intersected with the broader EDM boom. By bridging styles, Revamped arguably future-proofed breakbeat to some extent, showing that breakbeats could evolve and coexist with other dominant genres.
In summary, Elite Force’s Revamped (2010) was more than just a successful album – it was a scene-defining event. It pushed technical boundaries in production, achieved feats on the charts never seen before by a breaks release, and garnered awards and praise as one of the standout electronic albums of its era. Importantly, it influenced both creators and listeners, reinvigorating the breakbeat genre and contributing to the fertile cross-genre sound that would characterize electronic music in the ensuing years. As one contemporary review aptly put it, Revamped was “a must-have” release that “takes the realms of cross-genre production to another level” – its story is now an integral part of breakbeat history.