Now That's What I Call Music Vol.54 - Various Artists

Now 54. Wow! That makes me feel old! I can remember when this collection was simply called Now That’s What I Call Music. Being only 33, I can assure you this album release is not a yearly venture. Indeed, they seem to come out every few months now and with Summer specials and Dance collections too.

Whatever, a Now CD is almost a pre-requisite for being a teenager who is ‘in’ and knows about music of the day. Of course, ...
...last time I bought a Now CD, I found that what I recalled was correct – CD 1 was the one I liked and would play to death, while CD 2 would remain cosily ensconced in its plastic cover. CD 1 was pop music, my favourite kind of chart stuff while CD 2 was all the dance tracks I hate, that usually give me headaches and cause me to have a spontaneous attack of the ‘Turning-Into-Parents’ syndrome – where you suddenly utter spurious ... more

Now 54. Wow! That makes me feel old! I can remember when this collection was simply called Now That’s What I Call Music. Being only 33, I can assure you this album release is not a yearly venture. Indeed, they seem to come out every few months now and with Summer specials and Dance collections too.

Whatever, a Now CD is almost a pre-requisite for being a teenager who is ‘in’ and knows about music of the day. Of course, music tastes are so short term these days, that each double CD will end up hidden behind your child’s bookshelf by the end of the year, along with Hear’say and little sister’s Bob the Builder single.

The last time I bought a Now CD, I found that what I recalled was correct – CD 1 was the one I liked and would play to death, while CD 2 would remain cosily ensconced in its plastic cover. CD 1 was pop music, my favourite kind of chart stuff while CD 2 was all the dance tracks I hate, that usually give me headaches and cause me to have a spontaneous attack of the ‘Turning-Into-Parents’ syndrome – where you suddenly utter spurious clichés like “I prefer songs with words” and “Don’t they make * real * music any more?” It’s all rather sad really.

Thankfully, Now 54 isn’t like that. Either my musical tastes have been extended overnight or the emphasis of the Now collection has changed. I suspect the latter. I tend to be rather stubborn.

While CD 1 is my favourite of the two, I have also been playing CD 2 quite a lot. My twelve year old daughter (who owns this album and keeps nagging for it to be returned and strewn across her bedroom floor, which is apparently its natural state) much prefers CD 1, but she’s at an awkward age.

Instead of CD 2 being dance orientated, with everything rushed through at a frenetic pace with pumping backbeats and repetitive vocals, it is a nice mix. However, we do have a Scooter track, which epitomises the kind of music I hate.

Even a few pop tracks make CD 2 this time. David Sneddon, Robbie Williams, Erasure and Daniel Bedingfield sit happily alongside the more indie songs (Oasis, Coldplay, Counting Crows). We do have the compulsory dance anthems here (DJ Sammy being the one I have heard of) and several others that previously managed to escape my consciousness – Turin Brakes, Beenie Man, Divine Inspiration et al – sometimes thankfully.

But overall, CD 2 is a pleasure to have coming out of my speakers. The ‘skip’ button is only compulsory for the Scooter track, most others pass by in a nice enough blur and others are excellent tracks. It won’t surprise anyone who knows me that my favourite tracks here are Feel (Robbie Williams), Stop Living The Lie (David ‘hamster’ Sneddon) and Stronger (Sugababes) but – less predictably - I also like Clocks (Coldplay) and Mundian To Bach Ke (Panjabi MC). I love the original of We’ve Got Tonight, but Ronan and Lulu don’t quite make the grade here. Still, it’s pleasant enough to wail along to.

CD 1 is much more familiar territory. Of the twenty-one tracks here, I own a single or album by over half of the artists! In fact, I would list eight of them as being amongst my favourite groups and singers.

The focus of CD 1 is definitely chart pop. Reality TV accounts for quite a few of the acts featured – Liberty X, Girls Aloud, Sinead Quinn, Darius, Zoë Birkett, One True Voice, Kym Marsh and Ainslie Henderson. Whether this is a good thing and gives talent a chance to shine (my view) or whether this shows the sorry state of today’s pop music is a matter for debate.

However, this does not mean the ‘skip’ button remains redundant for the whole of CD 1. I can’t stand Nelly and his duet with Kelly Rowland (Dilemma) must be a contender for the Song You Hate But Can’t Help Singing award. I also hate Busted as much as my daughters love them, so Year 3000 is not a song that gets played near me, if I have anything to do with it. Jay-Z and Beyonce’s ’03 Bonnie and Clyde is also one to avoid, I find.

In the ‘fair to middling’ range, we have Appleton, Justin Timberlake and a substandard effort from Mel C. But these are okay in a background music kinda way. For me, the highlights of this CD are amongst my favourite songs of the year – Sound of the Underground (Girls Aloud), I Can’t Break Down (Sinead Quinn), Rushes (Darius), Treat Me Like A Lady (Zoë Birkett), Alive (S Club) and Keep Me A Secret (Ainslie Henderson). It is worth buying the album just for these, in my opinion.

As it was, we didn’t have to buy this, as my daughter got it free from Peoplesound for completing some surveys there. But for anyone who is interested, you can buy Now 54 from Amazon for £12.99. It was released this April, so expect another one in probably a matter of days!

Meanwhile, be entertained by the following forty two tracks…

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. t.A.T.u. - All The Things She Said
2. Justin Timberlake - Like I Love You
3. Nelly feat Kelly Rowland - Dilemma
4. Richard X vs Liberty X - Being Nobody
5. Room 5 feat Oliver Cheatham - Make Luv
6. Junior Senior - Move Your Feet
7. Girls Aloud - Sound Of The Underground
8. Busted - Year 3000
9. Melanie C - Here It Comes Again
10. Sinead Quinn - I Can't Break Down
11. Darius - Rushes
12. Appleton - Don't Worry
13. Atomic Kitten - Love Doesn't Have To Hurt
14. Blue - U Make Me Wanna
15. Jay-Z feat Beyonce Knowles - '03 Bonnie & Clyde
16. Jaimeson feat Angel Blu - True
17. Zoë Birkett - Treat Me Like A Lady
18. S Club - Alive
19. One True Voice - Sacred Trust
20. Kym Marsh - Cry
21. Ainslie Henderson - Keep Me A Secret

Disc: 2

1. Daniel Bedingfield - If You're Not The One
2. David Sneddon - Stop Living The Lie
3. Robbie Williams - Feel
4. Oasis - Songbird
5. Turin Brakes - Pain Killer
6. Coldplay - Clocks
7. Lulu & Ronan Keating - We¹ve Got Tonight
8. Sugababes - Stronger
9. Beenie Man - Street Life
10. Cam'Ron feat Juelz Santana, Freekey Zeekey & Toya - Hey Ma
11. Nelly feat Justin Timberlake - Work It
12. Panjabi MC - Mundian To Bach Ke
13. Scooter - Weekend!
14. DJ Sammy - The Boys Of Summer
15. Divine Inspiration - The Way (Put Your Hand In My Hand)
16. Queen + Vanguard - Flash
17. Erasure - Solsbury Hill
18. The Mock Turtles - Can You Dig It? (Fatboy Slim & Simon Thornton 2003 Remix)
19. Counting Crows feat Vanessa Carlton - Big Yellow Taxi
20. Richard Ashcroft - The Science Of Silence
21. Massive Attack - Special Cases

 

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