Lia and her staff have really outdone themselves with enigmatic LIA 3. It features a lot of stellar remixes of songs from her previous albums (mostly from her latest one, new moon) done in a completely different electronic dance style.

The first disc boasts artists from around the world ("Remixers from 7 different countries!" as the promotional material boasted, a fair amount of them handpicked by JAKAZiD.)

I can't speak of disc 1 without talking about JAKAZiD, for his remix of Toki wo Kizamu Uta is amazing. His handling of this very beautiful song was superb and has kept the vocal's power while bringing an energetic dance beat to it. It's one that definitely stands out as absolutely amazing in a CD of seriously good stuff. JAKAZiD's second remix is of a vocal cover of Vivaldi's Winter from the Four Seasons. It is very cheesy, and sometimes I feel I can't listen to this song without wanting to singalong in an exaggerated manner. I feel that it's a bit too cheesy to take seriously.

Other remixes that really stand out are the teranoid remix of Crystal World, Al Storm's remix of New Moon and Spy47's remix of Torch.

teranoid keeps the nu-style gabba flavour that he's known for in the Crystal World song and it's definitely a step up from his previous two contributions in the enigmatic Lia series. The only thing is that Crystal World was such an arbitrary choice of song because the lyrics are happy and light hearted and to hear that in a nu-style gabba track is a little disjointed to hear "So every day lookin' for lovely day and music / My shinin' day comin' wonderful day and music" to a gabba tune.

Al Storm's remix of New Moon has a really good buildup and has such a great energetic atmosphere about it. The softness and sincerity of Lia's vocal is kept but it is partnered with a strong beat and really interesting bits which really makes it stand out.

Torch is a melodic speedcore remix by Spy47 very reminiscent of DJ Sharpnel, a standout "doujin" remixer who shows that he's capable of handling proper vocal parts but still keep the style he's known for from his bootlegs.

The only songs that I felt were weak compared to the rest were the songs composed soley for this album. The World and Pure Rain featured DJ Zet, and while interesting musically - it failed to leave much of an impact on me. Fly high again... seemed a little too protracted for my tastes and I'd have to say the best of the bunch was Shimamura's contribution - The Never Ending Love.

Disc 2 on the other hand, featured artists from the Hardcore Tano*C circle. The art for this disc gets a mention as it is the Hardcore Tano*C logo superimposed over a world map, which never fails to get a chuckle from me.

It leads off with a remix of Kimi wo Nosete, a cover of the theme song from the popular Hayao Miyazaki movie Laputa: Castle in the Sky. REDALiCE's remix seems to give this song a soaring feeling, which is appropriate considering the lyrical themes of the song.

I have mixed feelings about Disc 2. While it's all interesting musically, the treatment of Lia's varies from track to track. There are times in which I feel that the track and the music feel disjointed - such as in Betwixt & Between's remix of "You Are..." I also feel that certain remixes seem watered down because it is a more commercial release compared to the previous two enigmatic Lia albums.

Interestingly enough, Saya's Song is remixed twice - on the first disc by Nu Foundation and on the second disc by REDALiCE. Nu Foundation's remix has a more subdued & melancholic feel to it while REDALiCE has given it a happier & upbeat feel. Lyrically, the song has elements of both and it is interesting to compare from a lyrical perspective.

I highly recommend this album for anyone who would enjoy a high energy dance sound combined with Lia's beautiful and distinct vocals. (Because lord knows that there are very few of those kinds of tracks.)