My Amazon Reviews: Various Artists "Now That's What I Call Music 43"

Oh How I Miss K-Tel
3 Out Of 5 Stars

I only own a few of these "Now That's What I Call Music" sets, and usually it has to have a song on it that I either refuse to buy an album for, or that there's a song you can't get anywhere else. The 43'rd disc in this series fits that bill on two counts. First, Carly Rae Jespen, who has one hit wonder written all over her, has "Call Me Maybe." The catchiest song of the summer, followed only by Goteye's "Someone That I Used To Know," is here. I doubt that I'd ever buy an album by her (or One Direction, here with "One Thing" and their by the numbers BoyBand TeenPop), so the appearance on a compilation is worth it.

The second is Maroon 5's "Payphone," which is catchy as all get out, but ruined by a useless Wiz Kalifia rap. On this set, the rap is gone as are the superfluous profanities. It's a rare case where the radio edit is better than the original, something that drives me crazy as an album buyer.

So what's left? There's the giddy punk-pop of Neon Trees' "Everybody Talks." The heard on a commercial "Midnight City" by M83. An obligatory country entry by the tolerable Luke Bryan, "Drunk On You." I also likes Ellie Goulding's "Lights" and (so shoot me) Jusitn Beiber's "BoyFriend." The rest is just poptunes state of the 10's, which means heavy on the synthed out beats (Usher), candy rap (Pitbull, with a rap from "Men In Black III") and stuff to do aerobics to. Your tastes, and therefore, results of satisfaction, will vary.