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JennYVarious Artists - Now That's What I Call Music! 29 Review
November 24th 2008 05:39
Genre: Pop
Label: Universal
I remember back in my early teenage years, I used to buy the Now That's What I Call Music! series. I hadn't yet discovered the joys of music downloading, and this was a perfect way to have all the chart-topping songs in one place. How the times have changed. I originally wanted to post this review two weeks ago but the pop overdose in this album made me put off this review several times. I just couldn't listen to all these songs in one go. It was way too sugary for me. So, without further ado, here's my review of the 29th edition of the Now! series.
Pop singer Pink gets the first track of the compilation with So What, the first single of her fifth album, Funhouse. The song hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Top 100, making it her first number-one single in the United States. So What isn't that impressive. The juvenile lyrics don't bring any appeal the over-twenty crowd (at least that's what I think). The chorus is the only thing that's close to being good, but the lyrics there are still awful.
Katy Perry follows Pink with Hot N Cold, the second single of her sophomore album, One Of The Boys. Although the song has a singalong chorus, it isn't a great track. Its success in the charts really feels like a follow-up to "I Kissed A Girl." What I mean is, I don't think Hot N Cold would have been as big if "I Kissed A Girl" hadn't succeeded before it.
The ever-annoying When I Grow Up from the Pussycat Dolls comes in third. Released as the lead single of their sophomore album, Doll Domination, it's perfect for tween girls, major headache for the rest of us.
The compilation continues the dance-pop theme with Rihanna's Disturbia which was written by another artist on this compilation, Chris Brown. The song is the third single of Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad Reloaded album, its upbeat tempo reminded me of Kylie Minogue's “Can't Get You Out Of My Head.”
Ne-Yo's Closer comes up next. The track is the first single of his third album, Year Of The Gentleman. It's the first decent song of this record - a smooth dance pop track; not really my style, but I have to find some positives here. But now I'm wondering if it's the video that I really liked rather than the song on its own.
R&B sensation Chris Brown follows Ne-Yo with his huge hit titled Forever, the fifth single from his second album, Exclusive. Chris' voice is heavily manipulated with the auto-tune effect here, and the background beat/loop is eerily similar to Justin Timberlake's “SexyBack.”
Kardinal Offishall's Dangerous featuring Akon is the seventh track of the compilation and the first single of Kardinal's Not 4 Sale album. This song got some heavy rotation during the summer, becoming the season's unofficial anthem here in Canada. Everywhere you went, you could hear it out of someone's car radio. It has an infectious chorus that will probably stick in your head whether you like it or not. But then, that's usually the case with songs featuring Akon.
Next up is T.I.'s Whatever You Like. The song was released as the first single for his sixth album Paper Trail (which we reviewed HERE). It seems like ever since T.I. did "My Love" with Justin Timberlake, he figured out there was more money in shallow sugar-filled pop/R&B songs for the ladies and dove right in it. Whatever You Like is a great example of this transformation.
The rap continues with Got Money from Lil' Wayne featuring T-Pain. The latter's name brings only one thing to mind – auto-tune. As for Lil' Wayne, I really don't like his voice when he raps. He sounds like his lungs are full of blood or something. Got Money is the third single of Lil' Wayne's sixth studio album, Tha Carter III (reviewed HERE).
New Zealand's own Savage makes an appearance with the infamous Soulja Boy Tell 'Em on a song called Swing. The version on the compilation is actually a remix of Savage's original song which served as the lead single for his debut album, Moonshine. The original version can be heard during the club scene in the movie Knocked Up. As for the remix, it's quite decent with a nice simple beat... until Soulja Boy comes along and wrecks it.
Put On by Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West is the eleventh track of this CD. The song is the first single of Jeezy's third album, The Recession (reviewed HERE). This song is the prime example of how the use of the auto-tune effect has spread into the music industry like a disease. When Kanye West goes ahead and uses it during his verse, you know that this has gone too far.
Newcomer Yun Berg continues that trend with his fourth single, The Business (featuring Casha), taken from his debut album Look What You Made Me. The song isn't properly balanced in my mind because Yun's rapping flow is way too fast for the beat and fits only at certain points during the song.
A compilation of chart-topping hits wouldn't be complete without the presence of an American Idol or two. Sixth season winner Jordin Sparks fills that gap with One Step At A Time, the third single of her eponymous debut album. The song reminds me of the bubblegum pop era when Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, Christina Aguilera, and Jessica Simpson all had a considerable following.
Even the Brits get some music time here with Leona Lewis' Better In Time, the second single of her debut album, Spirit. It's a nice piano-driven song which sounds somewhat upbeat thanks to the drum machine.
Rock music finally gets its chance to shine with American band Boys Like Girls. Thunder is the third single from their eponymous debut album. It's a decent rock ballad which sounds like a mix between one-hit wonder band The Calling (remember “Wherever You Will Go?”) and Yellowcard.
Saving Abel's Addicted confirms the trend of rock band catering more and more to the casual/teenage girls crowd. This is bubblegum pop music disguised under edgy-looking dudes who play as a band. Addicted is Saving Abel's debut single. I think it's safe to say that they'll get as much respect as Simple Plan if their sound stays like that.
A second Idol contestant gets a song on this compilation – Chris Daughtry and his band (called Daughtry) with the seventh single of their debut album, a song called What About Now. The track is pure adult contemporary rock, a great song (which should come as no surprise since it was written by Ben Moody, the mastermind behind Evanescence's “My Immortal,” one of my favorite songs). The Backstreet Boys took this sound when they came back in 2005.
Matt Nathanson slows things down to a crawl with Come On Get Higher, the second single of his sixth studio album, Some Mad Hope. It's a nice slow song with an acoustic guitar. It reminded me of John Mayer's debut album.
Come On Get Higher Video
Finally, Now! 29 concludes with two country songs, Don't Think I Don't Think About It by Darius Rucker, and I Still Miss You by Keith Anderson. I was surprised to see some real country songs in a pop music compilation. Don't Think I Don't Think About It is the first single of Darius Rucker's second solo album, Learn To Live. It's a guitar-driven song that's way better lyrically than the pop stuff at the beginning of this compilation. I Still Miss You is the second single from Keith Anderson's second album entitled C'mon! Unlike Rucker's song, I Still Miss You is a piano-driven song, but it's also better than all the pop stuff.
Don't Think I Don't Think About It Video
In the end, this issue of the Now! series gets a 2.5/5 from me. It gets better towards the end, hence the .5 but I definitely don't recommend buying it unless you're making a collection or something. You only have to turn on the radio to hear most of these songs, and you can easily download those that are good.
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