Published on Sep 12, 2000
The original release of
Now That’s What I Call Music might have been a new concept
to some people (except in Britain, where such collections of
popular songs have been commonplace for some time), but as fellow
reviewer Mike Ehret reminded me, it was something the contemporary
Christian music scene had been doing for a few years with their
Wow collections. Thanks, Mike, I had forgotten about
that.
Mike said in his e-mail, though, that it has gotten to a point
where these compilations are being beaten to death. The same could
be said of
Now That’s What I Call Music 2 (hereafter called
Now 2), a bland follow-up to the first disc and one which
threatened to send the series into an uncontrollable tailspin.
One saving grace for the disc is that, of the 18 selections,
only three are from artists who were on the original
Now disc – Spice Girls (“Goodbye”), Everclear (“Father Of
Mine”) and Backstreet Boys (“I’ll Never Break Your Heart”). What’s
depressing is that none of these tracks are anything special, and
it’s almost like they make token appearances. (As much as I like
Backstreet Boys, do I really need to hear from them on
every volume? Keep reading for the reviews of the remaining
volumes; you’ll see what I mean.)
There are some wonderful selections on
Now 2, though, that dare to hold out the hope of promise for
the disc in general. Appearances from Sheryl Crow (“My Favorite
Mistake”), Fatboy Slim (“Praise You”), Cake (“Never There”) and
98° (“Because Of You”) all impress, and are definite
highlights. Even the appearance from rapper Jay-Z (“Hard Knock Life
(Ghetto Anthem)”) is enjoyable, as is “Take Me There” by
Blackstreet & Mya featuring Ma$e & Blinky Blink (probably
because I’ve heard it so many times watching
The Rugrats Movie with the four-year-old).
Unfortunately, the bulk of
Now 2 is pretty much fomulatic. It’s not surprising to hear
appearances by Britney Spears (“…Baby One More Time”), Garbage
(“I Think I’m Paranoid”) or U2 (“Sweetest Thing”), but they fail to
really impress. What’s discouraging is the inclusion of Sublime’s
“What I Got” — a song which was a hit years before this
compilation was put together. Amidst the other selections, this
sounds like an antique.
Now 2 almost seemed like it was a rushed product, meant to
capitalize on the popularity of the original disc. Because it was
so haphazard, it could well have killed the series — who would be
willing to give future volumes the benefit of the doubt if they’ve
been burned once? Fortunately, there are enough decent performances
on this one that save the disc — but this one is definitely not a
must-own.