#382, in which a cardinal rule is violated

I knew they couldn't all be as good as Now! 5, but I had hoped that many of these compilations would be at least somewhat listenable. I'm no great fan of pop, but if nothing else, I expected that these songs would be catchy and toe-tapping, if reprehensible on some level.

In Now! 20, we find a collection of songs that don't even reach that level. Nearly every moment of this album is utterly forgettable, and if a compilation of pop music isn't even fun to listen to, what's the point?

There are big names on this album, like Backstreet Boys, Ciara, Destiny's Child, Weezer, Fall Out Boy, Franz Ferdinand, and the like, but for the most part, none of the songs particularly stood out. They all sort of blended together into one unremarkable hum to me, and if I'm having a hard time telling apart Destiny's Child and Weezer, the music is pretty generic indeed.

Normally I have a lot to say about these albums, whether how much I loved or hated the music, but the fact that I'm four short paragraphs in and already tapped out I think is indicative of just how dull this album is, so I'll leave you with this: the album kicks off with "Don't Phunk With My Heart," and as repellent a song as I think that is, I wish the rest of the album had been more like it so that I'd at least have something to write about.

My recommendation: don't buy this album, and don't stream it, either. There are so many better ways you could spend 90 minutes of your time, like doing charity work or nailing your hand to a wall. Anything would be more interesting than this.