Amy T. (simplyamy) from DAKOTA DUNES, SD Reviewed on 8/16/2007...
All the "Now"s are great music!
CD Reviews
Now! Vol. 10
Mark | Saugus, CA United States | 05/18/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It must be difficult for the guys working behind "Now That's What I Call Music!". Since its debut (here in the States anyway- over in the UK they're already up into "Now 40" or something like that) in 1998, "Now!" has become the most successful compilation series in history for its timely up-to-date collection of the biggest hits. Four years into the groove, it's become more of a seasonal collection rather than a year or half-yearly collection. As a result, there aren't enough genuine hits to pad the constant flow, and the quality of "Now!" albums has certainly fallen recently. "Now! Vol. 10" is no exception to this rule- most of the songs were only minor hits or made no impact whatsoever. But it's the tracks that did get attention at radio that make the disc work so well. For starters, it truly does sound like an album from the summer of 2002. A couple of the songs had passed their peak, i.e. Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head" (she was already onto her next single "Love At First Sight" by this time) or Ja Rule's "Always on Time", but these spring hits still had resonance throughout the summer. And the big songs on here are genuinely good songs. "Can't Get You Out of My Head"- arguably the biggest dance song of the year next to DJ Sammy's "Heaven"- showed Americans just what they had been missing out on all these years that Minogue was a mega-superstar overseas, Enrique Iglesias' "Escape" is catchy in its own right, and the late Aaliyah's "More Than A Woman" is just as confident and sexy as her previous hits. Like any album attempting to summarize pop music in this generation, there are several weak spots (Marc Anthony's "I've Got You"? Honestly, now). But for those, especially teenagers, who lived through this period and paid attention to popular music, it's a wonderful time capsule and the perfect summary of the best- and worst- of 2002 Top 40."
Very fun upbeat album! One of the best NOWs!
Preston | nc | 03/08/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"They made it to a 10th volume of Now in 2002! And this album is such a fun, upbeat album! It is high energy numbers the first 11 songs before slowing it down a bit and picking back up. Britney Spears' funky Overprotected weaves very well into Kylie Minogue's Can't Get You Out of My Head! Then another pair comes in as rival Latin stars Enrique Iglesias and Marc Anthony's songs come on tracks 3 and 4. Some Now collections have some hits and misses, but this collection is so consistent. It's good when certain songs balance well back to back such as Jennifer Lopez, Paulina Rubio, Baha Men, Aaliyah, B2K and Ja Rule's songs do. Musiq's smooth Halfcrazy and Lenny Kravitz's moving Stillness of Heart are the strongest ballads on here. Nickelback's How You Remind Me closes the album out in a big way too! This is just as strong as Now 5 two years before it. I still listen to it sometimes, yet manage to keep up with 2004 and 2005 albums as well. Fun, bouncy, addictive!"
Vol. 10
Damian Gunn | I am everywhere | 07/18/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"With it's tenth installment 'Now!' gives us a taste of the good, the overplayed and the downright ugly side of popular music. There's the whiny Latino (Enrique), the overprotected vixon (Britney Spears) and the absence of Backstreet Boys which is unheard of in popular music right?!?!?!
First lets take the Ugly...
Baha Men take the cake here with their disgusting 'Move it like This'...I mean, 'Who Let the Dogs Out' was enough...they should have just hung it up, or been hung up, after that one. Lenny Kravitz just fails miserably here mostly because it sounds like everything else he's ever done...Paulina Rubio is annoying and not even the beautifully talented Ashanti can save the mess Ja Rule handed her, just puke.
Now for the overplayed...well I mean most of this is overplayed but the really overplayed and don't want to hear it anymore...
Enrique really impressed me with 'Balamos' but this drivel is just overplayed and over exposed. The beat is to uppity and the whole feel is just blah...When it first came out I could take it, but now, it's just been abused to the point of no return. 'Uh Huh' while a decent pop/r&b track was so overplayed I began to think it was the ONLY song B2K ever did...although it was the only song they ever made huge...Still a good song, just played out. Shakira delivered another good song, nothing close to 'WHenever Wherever' but still decent, although it recieved even more exposure than her first and began to get irritating. As did 'A Thousand Miles' by Vanessa Carlton. I think she even got sick of her own voice, maybe that would explain her too-long hiatus. But the winner here of most overplayed song goes to 'How You Remind Me' by Nickleback. This song is still played way too much, as is everything this band turns out!
And then there's the good...
'Can't Get You Out of My Head' is the best Kylie Minogue song ever and is perfect for this album, as is Britney's Overprotected, which is not as good as 'Slave' but still is lightyears ahead of 'Not a Girl, not yet a Woman'...Marc Anthony actually delivers a worthy track in 'I've Got You' and Aaliyah (RIP) gives us her last single 'Rock the Boat' and for that alone she soars.
The three main highlights here though are the N'Sync and Nelly fused hit 'Girlfriend' which is just really really good, and the Nas and J. Lo fused hit 'I'm Gonna Be Alright' which is just really really good not to mention the hidden gem 'halfcrazy' by Musiq which was never overplayed and always underappreciated so here it fits perfectly and stands out as the best addition to this 'Now!' disc.
There are a few that are okay, neither bad nor good, like 'Sugarhigh' or Moby's latest and then there's the wonderful Celine who offers a brilliant track that feels very out of place on this type of comp. disc. Blink delivers again, but that's to be expected...they should have closed out the CD and left Nickleback out of it."