Summer is normally a good time for songs released in the music industry, and every one of us will remember a song, which we always associate with the Summer months, whether it be for boozy barbecues, clubbing or just chilling on the beach with a CD playing beside you.

Spoilt for choice this year, with the huge range of compilation CD’s released to help you conjure up that bit of sunshine, I plumped for “The Best Summer Album 2003”. A double CD, which can be purchased from CD Wow for the remarkable price of £9.99, the album features 40 tracks.

The front of the album has a summery blue background, with a huge ice cream sundae, topped with a cherry and a pompadour wafer.

I begin to wonder – Dannii Minogue. The track starts off with an echoing lyric, which is rapidly joined by a fast guitar and drum beat, together with synthesizers. This was Danni’s comeback track earlier in the year, after a long absence from the music scene and tells of the monotony of life and the routine it brings, and how we can suddenly pull ourselves up short, to ruminate about where we are going and for what. A great dance track with an almost 90’s feel about it.

My rating: 8/10

Stuck in a Groove – Puretone. The track starts of with tracks that echo and sound distorted. The female vocal on its own is not particularly strong, but with the introduction of the drums and rapid guitar playing, this is masked well enough to create a foot tapping song, before slowing down again to the echoing vocals that sound as though they are being sung from within a tin can.

My Rating: 7/10

Get Down Saturday Night – Oliver Cheatham. What a track! Originally released in the early 1980’s, this has always been a favourite of mine. A remixed version “Make Luv” by Room 5, has been released this year, after the huge success of the Lynx advert, and the track conjures up memories for me of getting ready to go out with the girls when I was footloose and fancy free. The track begins with backing vocals, before Oliver’s voice comes in, and was so ahead of its time when it was first released – well, I thought it was!

“Everybody’s busy, cant wait for the night to begin
You work all day long, work your fingers to the bone
Friday’s at an end, I can’t wait for Saturday to begin”

My Rating: 10/10

Livin la Vida Loca – Ricky Martin. A fantastic track, with a salsa feel, and very fast. The presence of trumpets in the song add to the salsa experience and it makes you want to get up and dance. The song is about meeting a girl who changes your whole life with her fantasies and insatiable sexual appetite. The whole track is so full of energy and life, and everybody sounds as though they are having a ball, it is a shame when it ends.

My rating: 9/10

Club Tropicana – Wham! For the children of the Eighties, the introduction to this track will bring back vivid memories of 1983, with the sound of crickets chirping, a car pulling up, a door slamming, and the sound of footsteps on a gravel path, before the introduction of George Michael’s vocals. A poppy number, with lots of whooping and backing calling, which conjures up feelings of being on holiday somewhere exotic, sitting by a pool and sipping cocktails, and tells the story of a club where drinks are free and everybody is out to have a good time.

My Rating: 10/10

Things that make you go Hmmm – C&C Music Factory – The track begins with the murmurings of a crowd, before the introduction of bongo drums, guitars and drums. The vocals are mainly spoken, rather than sung and before the introduction of the chorus the word “Girlfriend” is spoken by a female voice. A silly song really, but anyone who’s heard it will remember it for its novelty value, as it tells about things that can happen in life, that will leave you scratching your head in puzzlement.

“My girl's best friend had paid me a visit.
Sly as can be, tight dress and all”

My rating: 8/10

My favourite things – Big Brovaz. The song has recently been released in the UK, and is taken from the film “Mary Poppins”, but the lyrics have been altered. Big Brovaz burst onto the scene last year with “Nu Flow” and have now released their first album. The song has the three female singers singing the main lyrics, and ranges from singing to talking, with the males providing the rap and the backing vocals. Has anyone noticed how one of the males looks like Nigel Benn in the video for this and what are “dropped out compressors” anyway? These moans aside, a good track, and the track has a fairground feel to it.

My rating: 8/10

Hot in Here - Nelly. The track, released earlier this year, begins with the fast drum beat, and a lot of female sighing, before Nelly’s lyrics proclaim “It’s getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes”. There is a lot of background talking, shouting, and rapping throughout the track, but I adore Nelly’s music, although I wouldn’t say he is the most proficient singer out there, by any means, and of course this track sold because of it’s lyrics, and the younger generation loved it.

My rating: 9/10

Jenny from the Block – Jennifer Lopez. Originally released in 2002, this is Jlo’s attempt at trying to convey that she isn’t a diva and will always be true to her roots in The Bronx. A dance track, with a dance beat, Jennifer tries her hand at rapping in this track and also has the audacity to use the backing of “I’m Real” an earlier track of hers. All that aside, this is a catchy track and even though it has been overexposed, both on television and on the radio, I can still sing along to it.

My rating: 8/10

Gotta have your Love – Liberty X. This group are well known from being the losers in one of the Pop Idol series, but they have managed to have the most success. Although this track was originally covered by Mantronix in the 1990’s, it was a hit for Liberty X also. The track begins with the distinctive Mantronix drum beat, before the merger with the cymbals and is another dance track. The first few lines are sung in turn by female and male vocals but I can’t help feeling the male vocals aren’t strong enough for the song.

“I can feel your sweet caress,
Wash away all the loneliness that I once felt”

My rating: 7/10

Overload – Sugababes. The girl’s first single, which didn’t propel them to mega-stardom, but when played at their concerts now, is greeted with rapturous applause. The beginning of this always reminds me of The Specials, before the introduction of the vocals. It has almost a tribal feel throughout the song, which tells of having too many things going on before reaching overload in your life.

“Train comes I don't know its destination
It's a one-way ticket to a madman's situation”

My rating: 9/10

Gimme the light – Sean Paul. Recently released from his latest album, the track has strong reggae overtones, and is sung with a Jamaican feel. I don’t profess to know what “pass the dro” means but I think I have a rough idea. I love this track, but can’t help feeling after listening to Mr. Paul’s album, that most of his songs sound the same!

My rating: 8/10

I was expecting an album of songs from this year, but instead this has a mixture of Summer songs old and new. It was great to hear the old 80’s classics by Wham!, The Jacksons “Can you feel it?”, and Bananarama singing “Cruel Summer” as well as more recent numbers by Destiny’s Child (“Bootylicious”, Jurgen Vries (“The Theme”) and Jamieson (“True”).

Of course, albums such as this are always going to have a couple of tracks that you would not class amongst your favourites, and mine on this compilation would be “The Ketchup Song” purely because Amber has it, and has played it so much, I could happily never listen to it again.

I always think the danger with compilations concentrating solely on songs from a certain period of time, is that they become boring and “samey”. However, with this album, there is such a massive choice, from so many different time periods, and all of the songs being upbeat songs, that will make you want to sing along with them, it will be on my CD player for many years to come, in the Summer or the Winter.

All lyrics courtesy the artists.

www.summer2003.net for full track listing.