Various Artists - Now That's What I Call Music! 5

The U.S. version of the Now That's What I Call Music series is often pegged as strictly kid stuff. There's no denying that many or most of the singles collected on volume 5 are beloved teen and preteen faves; even with a title cleanup, though, Mystikal's James Brown tribute "Shake It Fast" provides plenty of grownup kicks. As do Destiny's Child, Mya, and Kandi, whose delicious pop-R&B tracks trump the over-30 rock of Everclear's "Wonderful" and Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" for sheer radio wisdom. At the same time, the CD's reliance on cuts stamped from a small handful of templates suggests that a new mainstream revolution is just about due. Till then, the likes of "Don't Think I'm Not" and "Jumpin' Jumpin'" will do just fine. --Rickey Wright Amazon.com

Now 5

This CD is awesome! The songs are different [well, most, except for all the teen pop ones, but they're ok too :)], and it sounds like you're just listening to the 2000 radio. I especially love "Wonderful" by Everclear (a totally rockin' tune), "I Wanna Be With You" by Mandy Moore (breathy, great for nighttime), "Case of the Ex" by Mya (great beat, Mya's awesome voice), and pretty much every other song on the album. It's hard not to like this CD. You'll be addicted to it, because you never get bored of it. The best way to listen to it: Random. That way, you don't have to listen to all the teen pop songs in a row (why do they do that?) or all the rock songs in a row (at the END of the album :() If you liked the music of 2000, this CD is the ultimate pick. February 14, 2007

The Best NOW CD There Is

In my opinion, NOW 5 is the best one of the series...and I've listened to a bunch of them. It's my favorite because the year 2000 had some great music. These songs are from Summer 2000 mostly and they bring back a lot of great memories for me. I love it. My favorite tracks include Lucky, Wonderful, Una Noche, and It's My Life. Listen and see for yourself! September 5, 2006

A good stay-in-touch sampler for 2000, at least

This series is a great one for people like me. I'm middle-aged and I absolutely refuse to listen to commercial radio (because of the ridiculously narrow, repeated playlists and the commercials). Still, I don't want to be completely out of touch with new pop, so these discs give me what's happening and most popular at the moment in a nutshell, as a sampler that might encourage me to buy a whole CD by some of the artists, as I have done.

Track 1, "It's Gonna Be Me" by *Nsync 5/5
For bubble-gummy pop bands of the late 90s, *Nsync is one of the better ones, I think. They always have interesting production. This song grooves, and it has a nice melody. I've picked up a couple *Nsync discs because of this song and I've been happy with them.

Track 2, "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)" by 98 degrees 2.5/5
The 16th note groove in the verses should work better than it does for me, but it's okay. The block-harmonized melody in the chorus is a bit too stereotypical for my tastes. Okay, but not great.

Track 3, "Jumpin' Jumpin'" by Destiny's Child 2/5
I keep mentioning groove, but that's about all this song has going for it. There's a melody in the vocals, but it's not very interesting or memorable, and otherwise this is pretty tuneless. Tuneless can work, but this sounds like an incomplete drums/percussion and vocals track, which also makes it overlong.

Track 4, "Don't Think I'm Not" by Kandi 4/5
The opening guitar part sounds like a rip-off of something that I can't quite place. I think it's part Air Supply's "Even the Nights Are Better" and maybe part Christopher Cross' "Arthur's Theme". I haven't heard either for a long time. Anyway, it's changed enough, and I don't mind conspicuous influence in general. Great singing on this track, and a nice, surprising chorus--the strong contrast doesn't seem like it should work, but it does.

Track 5, "I Think I'm in Love with You" by Jessica Simpson 3/5
Of course, this is more than conspicuous influence, the verse and chorus music is a hip-hop drumbeat under a sample of John Cougar Mellencamp's song, "Jack and Diane". I think it works better for the chorus than the verse. I would have rather heard something original on the verses. Simpson can definitely sing, though. This song is nice and catchy, but seems pretty much calculated to be a pop hit, rather than existing because of an artistic desire to express something.

Track 6, "Faded" by Soul Decision 1.5/5
Banal, but with a couple hints of something more interesting wanting to pop out, particularly in the chorus, but I can't get over the lame bass and drum part, the hokey rap break, or the hokey 16th-note "chingy" guitar part. This stuff should only be done this way as a joke by this point.

Track 7, "Shake It Fast" by Mystikal 4/5
Nice. If James Brown did hip-hop. Too bad he hasn't kept out of jail and kept current like that. This is an example of how to do sparse (like the Destiny's Child track) right--it's not tuneless, just minimalistic.

Track 8, "Case of the Ex" by Mya 4.5/5
This has a creative structure with some very interesting orchestration. The whole song, except for the bridge, is the same chord sequence/groove repeated over and over, but the subtle orchestration builds it and develops variations that avoid monotony. The bridge is equally creative and unusual. The vocals are far more traditional but very well done.

Track 9, "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)" by Aaron Carter 1.5/5
The many samples are put together competently, but there's nothing very special or interesting about them. Carter is pretty useless as a rapper. Overall, it sounds like a bad skit from the New Mickey Mouse Club.

Track 10, "Lucky" by Britney Spears 5/5
Spears isn't anything special (or rotten, either) as a singer, but she tended to have excellent producers, songwriters and musicians working for her. These guys thoroughly know their craft. This song is no exception. Very catchy, with great, unusual production and very solid musicianship. I've picked up a couple Spears CDs, too, and like them a lot.

Track 11, "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" by Backstreet Boys 3.5/5
Also solid craftsmanship, but a bit too traditional, over-the-top early 1980s styled Adult/MOR production for my tastes. It tends to sterilize things. Still, this is a decent, well-written song.

Track 12, "Incomplete" by Sisqo 2.5/5
The very beginning is so hokey-syrupy that it's scary, but it quickly recovers some authenticity. Okay song, but too by-the-numbers. A computer program could have written it.

Track 13, "I Wanna Be With You" by Mandy Moore 5/5
Very melodically and rhythmically interesting vocal, sung well by Moore. This has a surprising, almost kd lang-ish feel, and I love lang. You can also hear a heavy, almost trippy 1960s pop influence at times. Yet, it is able to still remain very commercial. Well done.

Track 14, "Doesn't Really Matter" by Janet Jackson 5/5
I liked Jackson long before hearing her here. Impressive singing with a difficult melody as always, with very creative grooves, production, song structure and effective harmony/chord progressions.

Track 15, "Back Here" by BBMak 5/5
A great combination of styles, from slightly Beatles-esque, folky verses to the very artfully written hip-hop/new country choruses. I need to hear more from this artist.

Track 16, "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" by Nine Days 4/5
A bit derivative and typical, but a good, catchy song. The prechoruses and the short bridge (before the guitar solo) work the best.

Track 17, "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down 2/5
Why does the production on this sound horrible? Anyway, the beginning is orchestrated unusually, but doesn't do anything for me--the chord progression and drums are way too banal, the bass (when it arrives) is on autopilot, and that's the case for the whole song. Not much of a melody either.

Track 18, "Wonderful" by Everclear 2.5/5
Argh. Another insipid chord progression and groove. The choruses are better, but not enough.

Track 19, "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi 3/5
More banality harmonically on the verses, but the production makes up for it a bit. Also a nice, typically effective, melodic and anthemic chorus for Bon Jovi. July 27, 2006

Vol. 5

Something happened here! They gave us one of the worst things that has ever happened to music since that guy from Miami Vice tried to cut an album. AARON CARTER!!! Please god shoot me now. So, if you work your way around that disgrace you may actually find a decent comp. album here. N'Sync makes their first appearance with 'It's Gonna Be Me' which is a great way to start off the album. N'Sync serve up a great song that came off their best album to date. Next up is fading giants 98% who delivered with 'Give me Just one Night (Una Noche)' and it's actually good enough to make you miss them.

Pop/R&B sensations Destiny's Child make the grade with 'Jumpin' Jumpin', and while it's not the best song on the album (Bug-a-boo was) it still deserves to be heard. As does Kandi's 'Don't Think I'm Not' which I had all but forgotten about until slipping this in the other day and reliving the fun and energy in this great track. Simpson before she sucked...well, she still wasn't anything great but at least she could carry a tune.

LOVE 'Faded' and always will, just a great song with a great vibe and some dirty lyrics while still remaining somewhat clean! Mystikal is great, but 'Shake it Fast' should never be cleaned up, it just loses EVERYTHING! Loved Mya when 'Case of the Ex' was released, and while she's lost something with me over the past few years this song will always be one I enjoy.

Skip the yuck that is Carter.

Britney should have puked on 'Lucky' when they handed her this crap, instead she sung it and we all had to listen to it. Thank god she became a skank. I can take or leave Backstreets offering, just not the best for them. Sisqo should have never left Dru Hill, or was it that they should have never taken him back...I always forget. Mandy gives us more of what we like (although she's a far better actress than singer...but a far better singer than the other teen queens) and Janet finally gives me a track to be proud of...I just love this little ditty! BBMak, Nine Day, 3 Doors Down, Everclear and Bon Jovi (!) close out the album with it's rock/poprock set and they do a decent job, everyone of them, although Everclear and Bon Jovi stand out as the vetrans and the more polished artists, although I will mention that BBMak's track was very good for a new artist.

All in all it's good but I don't know if they can really be forgiven for giving us 'Aaron's Party'! July 17, 2006

Now 5

Now 5! Is really good. Though the songs are kind of old, this is still an awesome Cd to listen to. Here is the list of tracks: (1.) It's Gonna Be Me by *N Sync - I don't like this song at all. (0/10 stars) (2.) Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche) by 98 Degrees - great, cool song with a Latin feel to it! I love this song and 98 Degrees has got some good, solid vocals. (10/10 stars) (3.) Jumpin' Jumpin' by Destiny's Child - I used to not like this song so much because it got overplayed. Don't get me wrong - I love Destiny's Child - but this is just not one of their better songs. (9/10 stars) (4.) Don't Think I'm Not by Kandi - a really good song by an R&B artist I never even heard of until I heard this song. Really good. (9/10 stars) (5.) I Think I'm In Love With You by Jessica Simpson - one of her better songs off of her 'Sweet Kisses' album. Very uptempo with good lyrics and vocals. (10/10 stars) (6.) Faded by SoulDecision - I like this song a lot! It's very good and SoulDecision is a great, underrated boyband. (10/10 stars) (7.) Shake It Fast by Mystikal - I don't like this song at all. (0/10 stars) (8.) Case Of The Ex by Mya - Mya's best! I'm a big fan of Mya and I think her music is great. (10/10 stars) (9.) Aaron's Party (Come Get It) by Aaron Carter - this song is really cool. It just didn't get the radio exposer it should have gotten. That's the only reason that most people probably didn't like it. (10/10 stars) (10.) Lucky by Britney Spears - not Britney's best. Even though I like Britney Spears, this song is a little boring. (7/10 stars) (11.) Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely by Backstreet Boys - the best ballad on the entire Cd! Strong lyrics and vocals. This song is the best and never gets old! (10/10 stars) (12.) Incomplete by Sisqo - I like Sisqo a lot but this is not his best song and wasn't even a very big hit. It would have been better to put The Thong Song on here. (8/10 stars) (13.) I Wanna Be With You by Mandy Moore - though I don't really think of Mandy as one of my favorite artists, this is definitely one of her best songs. (9/10 stars) (14.) Doesn't Really Matter by Janet Jackson - one of my favorite Janet songs! It can be found on the Nutty Professor II soundtrack and her new album, All For You. This song is wonderful. (10/10 stars) (15.) Back Here by BBMak - a great song by a cool boy band. These guys write all their own music and play instruments. Awesome. (10/10 stars) (16.) Absolutely (The Story Of A Girl) by Nine Days - I'm not normally into rock music, but this is a pretty good song. (9/10 stars) (17.) Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down - best rock song on this whole Cd. Has not gotten boring. (10/10 stars) (18.) Wonderful by Everclear - I don't normally like Everclear but this is a pretty good song. (8/10 stars) (19.) It's My Life by Bon Jovi - best Bon Jovi song after Thank You For Loving Me. This song is great and I love the beat. (10/10 stars)

So as you can see, this has something for everybody: pop, R&B, hip-hop, rap, and even rock. It has everything from boy bands to teen pop soloists to rock bands. I recommend you buy this Cd, although I definitely recommend that you skip the *N Sync song and go right to track #2. Almost every song from track #2 on is worth listening to. Buy this Cd if you haven't yet already! November 17, 2005

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