"Maximum Overdrive" is a song by Belgian-Dutch Eurodance band

2 Unlimited 2 Unlimited are a Belgian/Dutch dance music act, founded by Belgian producers/songwriters Jean-Paul De Coster and Phil Wilde in 1991 in Antwerp, Belgium. From 1991 to 1996, Dutch rapper Ray Slijngaard and Dutch vocalist Anita Doth fronted the ...

, released in November 1993 as the fourth single from their second album, '' No Limits!'' (1993). The UK release was the first UK single to maintain all the rap lyrics from Ray used in the European release. The song reached number 15 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, and was also a number-one hit in Finland and on the

European Dance Radio Chart The European Dance Radio Chart (also known as European Dance Radio Top 25) was a weekly chart compiled by pan-European magazine '' Music & Media''. After dance music had played a more dominant role on the magazine's Eurochart Hot 100 in the beginn ...

by '' Music & Media''.

Critical reception

In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton stated, "In as much as it is possible to classify things like this,

are the most successful dance act ever." In Pan-European magazine '' Music & Medias review of '' No Limits!'', they viewed the song as a "potential single", "with a racing car breaking all speed limits." Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' commented, "He raps, she sings, the music ponds in typical pop/ rave style...yes, the usual 2 Unlimited hallmarks are present and correct, though melodically this is perhaps the weakest single they've released yet. Even so, this will probably scrape into the Top 10." James Hamilton from the '' RM'' Dance Update described it as "typical rapped and chanted revving

techno-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

". Alex Kadis from '' Smash Hits'' gave the song three out of five, writing that "it all hangs together in such a pleasant, catchy way that you're spirited to the record shop in a most unhesitant manner."

Chart performance

The release scored chart success in many European countries, topping the chart in Finland as well as '' Music & Medias

. It peaked at number two in Portugal and Spain. And at number four in Belgium and number five in the Netherlands. On MTV's European Top 20, it reached number three. The single was also a top 20 hit in Austria (13), Denmark (14), Germany (16), Ireland (11), Sweden (18), and the UK. In the latter, it peaked at number 15 in its second week at the

, on 21 November 1993. "Maximum Overdrive" stormed into the Eurochart Hot 100 on 28 November at number 19 and peaked three weeks later at number seven. Outside Europe, it made it to number 32 in Australia.

Airplay

"Maximum Overdrive" entered the European airplay chart Border Breakers at number 19 on 14 November 1993 following crossover airplay in North West-Europe. It peaked at number five on 18 December.

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was produced to promote "Maximum Overdrive", directed by British director David Betteridge. The concept of the video is a

Wacky Races Eccentricity (also called quirkiness) is an unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive. Eccentricity is contrasted with nor ...

style chase with rivals on skateboards and pogo sticks. It was filmed in a warehouse in Northern London in the fall of 1993 and released on 8 November. The video received

heavy rotation In broadcasting, rotation is the repeated airing of a limited playlist of songs on a radio station or satellite radio channel, or music videos on a TV network. They are usually in a different order each time. However, they are not completely ...

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

and was A-listed on Germany's VIVA. In December 2013, it was also published on 2 Unlimited's official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel. As of December 2022, the video had generated more than 500,000 views. Betteridge had previously directed the videos for "

Get Ready for This "Get Ready for This" is a song recorded by Belgian/Dutch music group 2 Unlimited. It was released in 1991 as the lead single from their debut album, ''Get Ready!'' (1992). Originally, the single was produced as an instrumental, titled the "Orche ...

", " Twilight Zone", "

Workaholic A workaholic is a person who works compulsively. A workaholic experiences an inability to limit the amount of time they spend on work despite negative consequences such as damage to their relationships or health. There is no generally accepted ...

" and " The Magic Friend".

Track listings

* UK 7-inch single # "Maximum Overdrive" (Radio edit without intro) – 3:21 # "Maximum Overdrive" (X-Out In-Trance) – 4:53 * Belgian 12-inch maxi # "Maximum Overdrive" (extended) – 5:18 # "Maximum Overdrive" (album version) – 3:58 # "Maximum Overdrive" (Speedaumatic remix) – 5:45 # "Maximum Overdrive" (X-Out In Trance) – 4:53 * UK CD single # "Maximum Overdrive" (radio edit without intro) – 3:28 # "Maximum Overdrive" (extended) – 5:20 # "Maximum Overdrive" (Speedaumatic remix) – 5:45 # "Maximum Overdrive" (X-Out In-Trance) – 4:51 * Australian CD maxi # "Maximum Overdrive" (radio edit) – 3:43 # "Maximum Overdrive" (extended) – 5:18 # "Maximum Overdrive" (Speedaumatic remix) – 5:46 # "Maximum Overdrive" (X-Out In Trance) – 4:55 * Netherlands CD maxi # "Maximum Overdrive" (radio edit) – 3:43 # "Maximum Overdrive" (extended) – 5:18 # "Maximum Overdrive" (album version) – 3:58 # "Maximum Overdrive" (Speedaumatic remix) – 5:45 # "Maximum Overdrive" (X-Out In Trance) – 4:53

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maximum Overdrive (Song) 1993 singles 1993 songs 2 Unlimited songs Byte Records singles English-language Dutch songs Music videos directed by David Betteridge Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Spain Pete Waterman Entertainment singles Songs written by Anita Doth Songs written by Ray Slijngaard Songs written by Phil Wilde ZYX Music singles