Now That's What I Call Music! #1's

How many times are we supposed to buy the same songs?

Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Compilation Label: Utv Records Parental Advisory: No Edited Version Available: No Release Date: 01/26/2006

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that these songs contain some sexual innuendo, even though they are edited like crazy.

Families can talk about why the same hits are released over and over again in different combinations, at the expense of interesting new artists being heard.

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Kathi Kamen Goldmark

OK, so there's a reason these songs all made it to #1 on the pop music charts. Most of them are great songs -- catchy, fun, well-performed, attentively produced, sometimes even transcendently brilliant. But it's hard to imagine any true Outkast fan not already owning "Hey Ya!" (for example) or a Destiny's Child fan having somehow missed "Survivor," and there is something less-than-appealing about the constant repackaging of the same hit songs, over and over and over again.

The songs themselves range from the ridiculous (Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time" and Creed's "With Arms Wide Open") to the sublime (Outkast's amazing "Hey Ya!" and Nine Days' "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)") -- and from G-rated to R, or at least PG-13.

But products like this send a message that is insidious beyond the surface. The implicit greed in the constant repackaging of sure-fire hits seems so cynical, almost cruel when you think about the expenditure of record-label resources that could be going into developing lesser-known artists, or discovering new musical talent beyond what is spoon-fed, over and over again, by CDs like this one.

So yeah, these are good songs. There are no surprises. But how about this for an idea? Walk into your record store, right past the shelf where the "Now! #1's" are displayed, front and center. Walk to the back, to the dusty bin where hopeful local bands have their CDs displayed, probably sold to the store manager on consignment by the drummer's girlfriend. Buy something. Listen to it. If you like it, tell your friends. You might be committing a small revolutionary act, and that might be a really good thing.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Nelly wants us all to take our clothes off. A bit of other less playful sexual innuendo.
Violence Nothing obvious.
Language Pretty clean -- these compilations are always edited.
Message
	Social Behavior
	Commercialism
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco