Search - Various Artists :: Now, Vol. 52

For once, the US NOW is better...

Pat Kelly | Here, There & Everywhere | 07/31/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Normally, I rave about how much better the UK NOW albums are than the US NOW albums. But not this time. With an overabundance of often forgettable pop/dance tunes, I'd say that the US NOW 10 outshines it's British counterpart.To be fair, NOW 52 does have what are probably the 2 biggest US hits of the year - Ashanti's "Foolish" and Nelly's "Hot In Herre" - which may or may not show up on NOW 11. Here's the full tracklisting:1. Ronan Keating - If Tomorrow Never Comes (remake of the Garth Brooks country classic by Ireland's version of Nick Carter)2. Liberty X - Just A Little (ok pop from the last five singers eliminated from UK Popstars)3. George Michael - Freeek! (same old same old - too much like TooFunky)4. Sugababes - Freak Like Me (The Adina Howard rap track with music from Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric?" - bizarre but good.)5. Kylie Minogue - Love At First Sight (for some reason, a likely US hit)6. Enrique Iglesias - Escape (US hit so no intro should be needed)7. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Get Over You (unremarkable dance)8. S Club Juniors - One Step Closer (12 year olds boys and girls singing about love - cringe-inducing)9. Nigel & Marvin - Follow Da Leader (another mix: the classic soca song with music sampled from Chocolate Puma's "I Wanna Be U")10. Scooter - The Logical Song (imagine a death-metal disco band with Alvin and the Chipmunks on vocal covering Supertramp)11. Dee Dee - Forever
12. Flip & Fill - Shooting Star
13. Paffendorf - Be Cool (3 more unremarkable dance songs)14. Kelly Llorenna - Tell It To My Heart (descent remake of Taylor Dayne's hit)15. Shy FX & T-Power feat. Di - Shake UR Body (I think this starts by sampling the theme from Sex & the City, but that's as interesting as it gets)16. Tim Deluxe feat. Sam Obernik - It Just Won't Do
17. Shakedown - At Night
18. Moony - Dove (I'll Be Loving You) (still more interchangeable dance)19. Intenso Project - Luv Da Sunshine (keeps the melody and most of the lyrics from 10CC's "Dreadlock Holiday", but changes the title and chorus. Why?)20. 4 Strings - (Take Me Away) Into The Night (yawn)
21. Mad'House - Like A Prayer (Yes, Madonna's been around long enough that she's inspiring covers. Not the best mix of this track that I've heard)

Disc: 2
1. Atomic Kitten - It's OK! (Coincidently, my review of the song)2. Britney Spears - I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman (for both of you who still care)3. Ashanti - Foolish (10 weeks at #1 on Billboard)4. Mary J Blige - No More Drama (best thing she's ever recorded. Samples "Nadia's Theme (The Young and The Restless)")5. *Nsync - Girlfriend (Album Version - meaning no Nelly. You were warned.)6. Christina Milian - When You Look At Me (An American who does better on the UK scene)7. Nelly feat. Dani Stevenson - Hot In Herre (Current US #1, but about to be kicked out by the next Nelly track.)8. Ms. Dynamite - It Takes More (yes, it does)9. Omero Mumba - Lil' Big Man (remember Samantha Mumba? This is her kid brother channelling Lil' Bow Wow or Lil' Romeo or any of the other Lil's except Kim)10. Aaliyah - Rock The Boat (She died for this song?!?)11. The Reelists - Freak Mode (third and least of the "freak" track on the set)12. 1 Giant Leap - My Culture (intriguing mix of world sounds that US radio won't touch. Too bad.)13. Amy Studt - Just A Little Girl (England's answer to Avril Lavigne, and not bad either.)14. Sheryl Crow - Soak Up The Sun (US hit and THE summer song of 2002)15. Doves - Pounding (included because they thought it would be a bigger hit - ok rock)16. The Space Cowboy - I Would Die 4 U (totally bland remake of Prince)17. Idlewild - American English 18. Puddle Of Mudd - Blurry (US rock-radio #1 song)19. Moby - We Are All Made Of Stars (if you loved Play, you'll like this)20. Oasis - Stop Crying Your Heart Out (yet another remake of Oasis' "Wonderwall")"

One too many boring songs.

Weather Warden | Auckland, NZ | 10/12/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Brilliant stuff. 42 songs, what great value. Brief rundown with marks out of five:1. If Tomorrow Never Comes - OK song. A bit boring and slow. 2/5
2. Just A Little - Brill song. Liberty X are cool. 5/5
3. Freeek - I don't like George Michael. This is catchy, though. 2.5/5
4. Freak Like Me - I love this! Dancy and cool. 5/5
5. Love At First Sight - Kylie Minogue is annoying. This is alright. 3/5
6. Escape - I hate Enrique. But this has a catchy chorus. 3/5
7. Get Over You - I like this song. Very dancy. 4/5
8. One Step Closer - S Club Juniors [are bad]. This song is boring. 1/5
9. Follow Da Leader - Catchy and cool. 3/5
10. The Logical Song - Boring! I hate dance music. 2/5
11. Forever - Skipped this, cuz it sounded boring. 1/5
12. Shooting Star- Alright song. 3/5
13. Be Cool - Another ok song. 3/5
14. Tell It To My Heart - Boring song. 1/5
15. Shake UR Body - Catchy and cool. 4/5
16. It Just Won't Do - Alright I guess. 3/5
17. At Night - A dance song I actually like. Cool. 4/5
18. Dove - WAY overplayed. Catchy but annoying. 3/5
19. Luv Da Sunshine & 20. Into The Night - Boring. Skip them usually. Both 1/5
21. Like A Prayer - Boring song. I's better then the last two. 2/5
22. You - I love this! Cheesy, but catchy and cool. 5/5
23. It's OK - AK's best single yet. Very cool. 5/5
24. Not A Girl - The worst of Britney's single. Nice chorus. 3/5
25. Foolish - I love it! Very cool music and vocals. 5/5
26. No More Drama - Overplayed. But still catchy. 3/527. Girlfriend - I prefer the version wih Nelly. 2/5
28. When You Look At Me - Cool catchy song. I like Christina. 5/5
29. Hot In Here - Catchy, but got annoying after awhile. 3/5
30. It Takes More - Cool R&B song. 4/5
31. Lil Big Man - Cool song. Very cool. 4/5
32. Rock The Boat - Sexy song. I like it a lot. 5/5
33. Freak Mode - Don't like it much. 2/5
34. My Culture - Robbie sounds cool in this. 3/5
35. Just A Little Girl - Boring song. It's alright. 2.5/5
36. Soak Up The Sun - The beginning is cool I'm sick of it. 3/5
37. Pounding - Boring song. 1/5
38. I Would Die 4 You - Bad message. Lol. Don't like it. 1/5
39. American English - It's alright. 2/5
40. Blurry - Good song. I like a rock song! :O 3/5
41. We Are All Made Of Stars - I like this. Catchy. 3/5
42. Stop Crying Your Heart Out- I HATE Oasis. 1/5I reviewed the whole CD. It's alright, some good tracks some [bad] tracks. Buy it anyway."