COMPILATION REVIEWS: Friends Again, Totally Hits, Game Time
- Bob Gajarsky
The second installment of the Friends soundtrack - this time known as Friends Again (Reprise) - mixes a wide variety of music from the alternative spectrum. The mix of Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong and Penelope Houston on "Angel And The Jerk" works perfectly - even those who aren't fans of Green Day are likely to find themselves humming this song. The bubblegum pop of newcomer Loreta on the album's first single, "Trouble With Boys" proves to be an anomaly from the general spirit of the album; more in the spirit of the soundtrack are two excellent covers, Smash Mouth's take on Let's Active's "Every Word Means No" and Robbie Williams strong version of the Pet Shop Boys "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing". And the Chrissie Hynde / Lisa Kudrow (or Phoebe Buffay) track "Smelly Cat" does provide some comic amusement. A kitschy hip-hop/rap version of the Rembrandt's theme show closes the disc, which was an unfortunate decision. Other than that one track however - no matter how you feel about the television show - Friends Again is likely to receive repeated listens.
Totally Hits (Arista / WEA) is the label's answer to the NOW compilation series. A huge success in its native England, NOW (That's What I Call Music) is up to number 44; the American equivalent is on number 3. Here, Totally Hits incorporates all the musical genres for an 18 track hits selection.
The modern rock artists featured here - Sugar Ray, Santana / Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas, Barenaked Ladies, Third Eye Blind, Sarah McLachlan and Madonna - occupy one-third of the album's cuts. So although people who own Stunt or Ray Of Light won't purchase this album (unless they are collectors of BNL or the Material Girl), the hope is that they might want to purchase the TLC album after hearing "No Scrubs". Or Kid Rock, with "Bawitdaba". Or, to avoid spending $16 on Cher's Believe or Faith Hill's Faith for one song, you can buy Totally Hits and save the money for something more worthwhile.
Fox Sports Presents Game Time (Priority) is targetted right on to the Gen-Xers who prefer Fox's NFL pregame show to the competition on CBS. Again, an 'answer' disc - this time to the Jock Rock series - Game Time covers rap (Puff Daddy, Snoop Dogg, Master P), rock and dance in a non-stop adrenaline rush.
While sports 'anthems' such as Blur's "Song #2" (woo hoo) and Republica's "Ready To Go" are already staples, some tracks such as Moby's "Bodyrock" and JS-16 techno standout "Stomp To My Beat" serve to pave the way for future themes. Yet another album which could serve as a party collection - if you ignore the Fox interludes.
