Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 51

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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0724353864729 Label: EMI/Virgin Manufacturer: EMI/Virgin Number Of Discs: 2 Publisher: EMI/Virgin Release Date: 2002-03-25 Studio: EMI/Virgin
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Editorial Reviews: Well if you thought the last one was a tough act to follow then check out the track listing for Now That's What I Call Music 51. As ever there's a bit of everything so as not to get too bogged down in the whole teen-pop aesthetic, making it more a collection of popular songs from the "hit parade" rather than a tribute to Britney, the Club et all. So, in no particular order, there's classic rock from the Stereophonics and Nickelback, feisty rock from Sum 41 and Alien Ant Farm which is preceded by a conveniently placed twilight pasture at the end of disc one with Geri and Vicki lumped with the Allstars (a Bucks Fizz cover?!?) and Hear'say (they won 2001's Popstars show). But thankfully the rest is non-stop popular music excitement with number ones from Enrique Iglesias ("Hero"), Daniel Bedingfield ("Gotta Get Thru This"), Aaliyah ("More Than A Woman"), Robbie & Nicole ("Something Stupid") and S Club 7 ("Have You Ever"). Dancey highlights include DB Boulevard, Lasgo and the Chemical Brothers with R&B from queen Mary J Blige and a smidgen of hip-hop crossover from Ja Rule with Ashanti but with far too many "choons" to mention, the best thing would be to have a peek and see for yourself.--Georgina Collins
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: fsdfsa Comment: music is just so bad today compared to the 1990's i cant stand this album i bought this album listened to it once and never listened to it agian. Customer Rating: Summary: Spring is HERE! Comment: So Spring is here and as usual we have a new offering from the Now series. A little earlier this year, presumably timed to coincide with the Easter holidays. And very welcome it is too. CD1 starts off with arguably the biggest hit of 2002 so far (that they decided to include), Enrique Iglesias's big ballad Hero. We then proceed with the latest from Blue, an update of their album track Fly By (or should it be All Rise?), Ali G and Shaggy's marvellous massive film tie-in Me Julie, then Daniel Bedingfield with his rather old but still played hit Gotta Get Thru This, Princess Aaliyah with her fabulous RnB anthem More Than A Woman, Robbie and Nicole's festive offering, the brand new R Kelly smooch-along, and then on to S Club 7 with Have You Ever, which is as their Christmas ballad, is a bit out of place here, although such Christmas leftovers are often hard to place, so it shouldn't be griped about too much. Then onto an array of female 'divas'; Britney, Sophie, Kylie and female vocal lead DB Boulevard and Lasgo with their respective dance anthems. Good to see the Lasgo track here, keeping the disc fresh, as their hit Something is still hanging around. Next we have the god-awful PPK with ResuRection - WHY?, I ask? More Euro-cheese this time from DJ Aligator and his "Project", then onto the glorious True Love Never Dies by Flip and Fill with the vocal talents of Kelly Llorenna. The disc finishes off with some good pop hits from acts who all appear to be on the verge of losing their record deal or have already lost it. 2001's already past-it Popstars winners Hear'say's seasonal hit Everybody, Steps wannabes the Allstars with their excellent interpretation of Bucks Fizz's classic Land of Make Believe, then onto mum-to-be Victoria Beckham with the criminally under-rated A Mind Of Its Own, and then Steps themselves with their finale from December, the absolutely terrible (for want of more explicit words) Words Are Not Enough. The disc finishes with Geri 'diva' Halliwell and the wonderful Calling, and lastly and without doubt least Rik Waller with his beyond belief awful cover of I Will Always Love You. Whitney must/would be crying. Moving on to the second disc, and it starts off rather badly. First Stereophonics with their extremely over-rated and dull festive smash Handbags and Gladrags. Next we have quite possibly the worst and without doubt most over-rated hit of 2002 which I would like personally to disappear off the face of the earth, Nickelback's utter tripe How You Remind Me. Then some crappy nu-metal in the shape of the Alien Ant Farm, who obviously don't have any good original material, and then more vomit-inducing nu-metal by Sum 41 with In Too Deep. Quite why that is on here I don't know. Then we move on to the land of hope and glory as far as this disc is concerned: RnB/Dance central with the likes of Puretone with their great hit Addicted To Bass, then the excellent grooves of Christina Milian's AM To PM, Ja Rule's in my opinion terrible overplayed and over-rated hit Always On Time with gues singer Ashanti, City High's Caramel follow up to their 2001 smash, Beverley Knight's breakthrough but rather boring comeback hit Should Woulda Coulda, Sam Mumba's lovely Xmas hit Lately, and then the boring-as-watching-paint-dry noises of the Backstreet Boys and their "hit" Drowning. Ugh. Thankfully we move on to nicer ground with Mary J and Dance For Me, but then it's back on awful noise territory with Afroman and his awful new hit Crazy Rap. Then some nicer stuff: the pop gem from Princess Superstar, Bad Babysitter, then the average hit from More Fire Crew, Oi!, then dance soul from Goldtrix's It's Love, and one which was released some time after the disc itself's release, X-Press 2's Lazy, which has been a very fresh hit. The disc finishes off badly with an array of insipid dance; Jakatta, the Chemical Brothers, Lange and Dreamcatcher. In conclusion, Side 1 is almost perfect while Side 2 is a bit iffy in parts. I would recommend this disc, especially as there are no dodgy edits or versions this time around. Customer Rating: Summary: A little slip at quality control this time? Comment: There are compilations, and there are the "Now" compilations. Usually it's the definitive of all British quarterly chart compilations, but unusually "Now 51" is a little exposed in places. No Will and no Gareth for example - and you can't ignore the Pop Idol phenomenon, love it or hate it - we have to settle for Rik Waller here unfortunately. S Club devotees miss out on "You" in favour of the older "Have You Ever", whilst some of the dance tracks on CD2 are too much in the way of filler compared to the usual high standards of the "Now" series. In its favour are the exquisite "Murder on the Dancefloor", "Shoulda Woulda Coulda" and the irresistible "Lazy"; however it could be argued that there has been a little slip in the quality control department this time, with more obscure dance numbers on CD2 and 2nd division pop fodder from Allstars, Geri and Posh - all in all though, "Now" CDs are a must-have for chart completists and nevertheless we'll eagerly await the next one this summer... Customer Rating: Summary: croos over deluxe of hits Comment: Like I have mentioned in previous encounters of this series, Now 51 really does set the standards. While here in USA Now reaches for Now 9 installment with only 18 tracks, Britain storms to huge value. However; the numeorus cover versions seem to be endless which to my mind certainly opens the door to a whole new wave of writers to be discovered. Somethin Stupid is a good version though I hope you fans out there reading this can start encouraging artists to come up with their own songs. Of course following the baby boomers has created a difficult gap to fill for today's generation.Just look at the stars that have come and gone to confirm that. Now series historically has always covered the times though hopefully by Now 52 we will see more originality like the hilarious Afroman succeed in doing last year as a prime example. Customer Rating: Summary: Very good - could do better Comment: The Now compilation albums always go down well at where I work (we always stick something on to listen to as we stack shelves 'oh so happily.' This one is no different, though in my opinion it isn't as good as the last two. The album starts with Enrique Iglesias' 'Hero,' which I thought was a bit bland and didn't deserve to be at number one for so long. However, the rest of CD1 picks up with a mixture of fun pop and great club tracks, ranging from Kyie Minogue's sizzling 'In Your Eyes,' to Robbie and Nicole Kidman's great take on 'Somethin' Stupid,' to the groovin' DB Boulevard's 'Point of View.' However, it is then let down with a few forgettable hits such as Geri's boring 'Calling,' which are especially highlighted due to the lack of Will Young's, Mis-Teeq's and other recent singles. Things pick up for CD2 however, full of R 'n' B, nu metal, a sprinkling of pop, which certainly went down well - Nickleback, Sterophonics, Sum 41 (and the rest!) make this part easily as entertaining, if not more than the previous one. All in all definately worth the buy, but then Now albums very rarely aren't. More Reviews