No Limit (2 Unlimited song)

"No Limit" is a song by Belgian-Dutch Eurodance group 2 Unlimited, released in January 1993, by Byte Records. It was their fifth single in total and the first to be released from their second album, No Limits! (1993). Co-written by the group's Ray Slijngaard and Anita Dels, the song became one of their most commercially successful singles, topping both the Dutch Top 40 and Single Top 100 charts. Internationally, "No Limit" topped the charts in 35 countries, including Austria, Denmark, France and the United Kingdom, and peaked within the top ten of the charts in several others, including Australia, Germany and Italy.

Like previous releases, the UK version of the single removed all of the raps from Slijngaard, leaving just Dels' vocals. One word from the rap was kept, the word 'Techno' (from the line "I'm making techno and I am proud") which was looped and repeated during the middle of the song, turning the line into "Techno! Techno! Techno! Techno!" and giving the song an extra vocal hook. Its accompanying music video was directed by Nick Burgess-Jones, depicting the group inside of a giant pinball machine. It received heavy rotation on MTV Europe.

Composition

"No Limit" started as an idea to do a high-speed techno track and was written in one evening by Dels and Slijngaard. Dels told in an interview, "When we made 'No Limit', we were working on the LP. We'd done everything but one bit, and we didn't know what to do — Ray and I made up the title quickly and then wrote the song in one evening. We didn't expect anything, and we were surprised when the producer wanted to release it as the first single."

Producer Phil Wilde explained to Melody Maker in 1994, "Like most techno, 2 Unlimited's material floats somewhere between 125 and 148bpm; 'No Limit' came in at 144." Wilde programmed the rhythm with hand claps every four beat. He had the groove and went searching in his sound library, starting jamming with sounds. He explained in the same interview, "For 'No Limits' we started jamming with sounds. Then I got the sound which we used for the main melody in that song...it's mostly a combination of sounds. It's so important to have a good sound, and not so easy to fine one. On 'No Limits', the sound came, then the melody. We already had the bass and the drums, and the sample for the lead sound in the end was just a sample. But I'm not going to tell you what it was."

Critical reception

Larry Flick from Billboard magazine wrote, "After several weeks at the top of Britain's pop charts, European rave duo is ready tackle the U.S. radio market with a bright ditty that melds techno, hi-NRG, and rap elements. The hook is irresistible, and the pace is heart-racing. Will please fans of last year's hit, 'Twilight Zone', while reeling in newcomers." Per Reinholdt from Danish Gaffa called it a "dance-powerhit", noting its "inciting up-tempo" and a rhythm and theme "with the same temper as a dressed beeswarm". He also named the song a "piece of pop art". In a Guinness World Records review, the sound of 'No Limit' was compared to "the sound giant dinosaurs might make stomping on cities". A reviewer from Irish Independent described it as "a humungous global hit".

In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton wrote, "Of all the techno-rave dance acts, 2 Unlimited are the most successful, notching up 5 hits in a row with all making the 20. 'No Limit' being the latest and most frantic". The Stud Brothers of Melody Maker praised it as "magnificently kitsch". Alan Jones from Music Week viewed it as "obvious pop fare". James Hamilton from the Record Mirror Dance Update named it "madly catchy" and a "tuneful techno pop galloper" in his weekly dance column. Johnny Lee from Smash Hits called it a "stormtrooper", adding that it has "a keyboard that sounds like it's being played by a robot with boxing gloves." Australian student newspaper Woroni complimented the song as "tremendously exciting and highly recommended", naming it an "obvious highlight" of the No Limits! album.

Chart performance

"No Limit" peaked at number one in 35 countries. Finland, France, Spain, Sweden, Iceland, and Italy. "No Limit" debuted on the Eurochart Hot 100 at number 13 on 6 February after charting in Ireland, Sweden and the UK. It peaked at number one six weeks later, on 13 March, and stayed at the top for nine consecutive weeks. During the same period, it topped the European Dance Radio Chart.

In Canada, the song peaked at numbers one and two on The Record Retail Singles chart and the RPM Dance chart, respectively. It also reached number 21 on the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart. The song was awarded with a gold record in Australia, Austria, France and Germany, a silver record in the UK, and a platinum record in the Netherlands and Switzerland. In 2003, "No Limit 2.3" peaked at number 41 on the German Top 100 singles chart.

Impact and legacy

NME ranked "No Limit" number one in their list of "Top Five Euro-Hits of All Time" in December 1993. NME editor Paul Moody wrote, "The ultimate piece of pop existentialism as Anita and Ray suggest the whole world is one huge playground of hedonistic excess. All to a video set within a huge pinball machine. Sublime." Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger felt the track's "echoey hi-hat hits and the union of steam-hammer bass and rubber-ball synths" carry the industrial, "piston-powered aggression" of Belgian rave music. He also noted the presence of a cowbell in the back of the track. In 2015, Graham Clark from The Yorkshire Times stated that "the track at the time sounded unlike anything else but you can hear how it has influenced so many of today's electronic dance music tracks".

Music video

The accompanying music video for "No Limit" was directed by Nick Burgess-Jones and filmed in London. It features group members Anita Dels and Ray Slijngaard performing inside what appears to be a giant pinball machine, "No Limit" received heavy rotation on MTV Europe in March 1993.

| 1

!scope="row"|Denmark (IFPI)

| 1

!scope="row"|Europe (European Dance Radio)

| 19

!scope="row"|Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)

| 1

!scope="row"|Greece (Pop + Rock)

| 22

!scope="row"|UK Dance (Music Week)

| 7

!scope="row"|UK Club Chart (Music Week)

| 17

!scope="row"|US Dance Club Play (Billboard)

| 21

!scope="row"|US Maxi-Singles Sales (Billboard)

| 25

!scope="row"|Zimbabwe (ZIMA)

| 30

!scope="row"|Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)

| 4

!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)

| 7

!scope="row"|Canada Dance/Urban (RPM)

| 26

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

| 1

!scope="row"|Europe (European Dance Radio)

| 12

!scope="row"|Germany (Media Control)

| 5

!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)

| 42

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)

| 3

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)

| 2

!scope="row"|Sweden (Topplistan)

| 7

!scope="row"|Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)

| 4

!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)

| 4

Decade-end charts

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+Decade-end chart performance for "No Limit"

!Chart (1990–1999)

!Position

!scope="row"|Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)

| 94

Certifications and sales

Release history

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+Release dates and formats for "No Limit"

!scope="col"|Region

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Format(s)

!scope="col"|Label(s)

!scope="col"|

!scope="row"|United Kingdom

|18 January 1993

|PWL Continental

!scope="row" rowspan="2"|Australia

|30 January 1993

|12-inch vinyl

|rowspan="2"|Liberation

|8 February 1993

!scope="row"|Japan

|25 March 1993

|CD

|Mercury

The Smurfs covers

A Dutch cover version by Irene Moors en de Smurfen topped the Dutch charts for six weeks in 1995. A French version by Les Schtroumpfs, titled "No No No No Limit", was also successful in France and the Walloon region of Belgium, peaking in the top ten in both territories.

Standard CD single

"No Limit"– 3:05
"Ga Je Met Ons Mee (Naar Smurfenland)"– 2:53

CD maxi-single

"No Limit" (radio edit)– 3:05
"No Limit" (Smurf the House mix)– 4:46
"No Limit" (karaoke)– 3:05
"Die Dal Dee"– 3:28

French CD maxi-single

"No No No No Limit" (radio version)– 3:12
"No No No No Limit" (extended version)– 5:20
"Le monde merveilleux"– 2:53

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+Weekly charts

!Chart (1995)

!Peak<br/>position

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

|align="center"|57

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+Year-end charts

!Chart (1995)

!Position

!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)

|align="center"|46

!scope="row"|France (SNEP)

|align="center"|51

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)

|12

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)

beFour cover

thumb|beFour (2008)

"No Limit" was covered by German band beFour on their fourth studio album Friends 4 Ever, and as a single in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The song entered the German Singles Chart in 2009.

Track listings

CD maxi

"No Limit" (Single version) (3:25)
"No Limit" (Remix) (3:41)
"All Around The Planet" (3:53)
"No Limit" (Video) (3:25)

Digital download

"No Limit" (Single version) (3:25)
"No Limit" (Remix) (3:41)
"All Around the Planet" (3:53)

Charts