Laut Sprecher Feat. Katie Skate – Omnibus

Don't you think they kind of stole the melody and the concept of slowing the song down in the middle from Alphaville's "Sounds Like A Melody" ? Surprised nobody mentioned this.

After Darude's "Sandstorm" there was a flood of European dance releases capitalizing on the popularity of that distinctive, er, "Sandstorm sound," including Ratty's "Sunrise (Here I Am)," System One's "Talk About Your Life," and this, the best of the clones, Laut Sprecher's "Omnibus." The charming German language vocals ("Ich fahr Omnibus") which sound like they were chanted by a child, are the song's most distinctive (and, for some, most annoying) feature, but it is the catchy melody and the genius idea of breaking the song down to half-time in the middle in order to begin a slow, crowd-pleasing build back up to the previous tempo that knocks the ball out of the park.

I agree with the observation that this song sounds like "Darude's Sandstorm." In the beginning, the synth lines are the same from 1:20. The same exact 5 sixteenth-notes. It's so funny to note the similarities between the two songs. In the background of "Omnibus," you can hear the pizzicatoish, string-synthish sound that characterizes the acid lines in "Sandstorm." In that one, the lead starts off with the strings and goes along with mainly that, while in this one, the saw wave lead dominates. The two styles are so similar that I used to think they were different versions of the same song. If you've heard one of these songs and you like it, I definitely recommend the other. By the way, does anyone really know why the two songs are so similar?

I absolutely love this song. The train sound effects do annoy some people, although many of my friends get hooked on the German vocals. This song sort of has a "Darude" Sandstorm type sound to it, although I recommend you hear this and give it a try.