Track Listing

1. Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani
2. Switch - Will Smith
3. 1 Thing - Amerie
4. Oh - Ciara with Ludacris
5. Slow Down - Bobby Valentino
6. Mockingbird - Eminem
7. Girlfight - Brooke Valentine with Big Boi & Lil Jon
8. Girl - Destiny's Child
9. La Tortura - Shakira
10. Baby I'm Back - Baby Bash with Akon
11. How To Deal - Frankie J.
12. Ordinary People - John Legend
13. Breathe - Anna Nalick
14. Making Memories Of Us - Keith Urban
15. Incomplete - Backstreet Boys
16. Let Me Go - 3 Doors Down
17. Be My Escape - Relient K
18. Mr. Brightside - The Killers
19. Speed Of Sound - Coldplay
20. Feel Good Inc. - Gorillaz

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8487 in Music
• Released on: 2005-07-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Customer Reviews

Contains some of the best songs of 2005!
Most NOW compilations are hit and miss affairs (more often miss than hit), but NOW 19 has the distinction of having four of the best songs of 2005, regardless of your taste in music. Obviously, "Hollaback Girl" was unavoidable in 2005, and it had the added benefit of teaching everyone how to spell "Bananas." The second song of note was "1 Thing" by Amerie. Rich Harrison sampled the most amazing drum break of the year from The Meters and it elevated this song above so much other R&B. John Legend's "Ordinary People" was excellent in its simple piano and real life lyrics about relationships. And finally, the song of the year, whether you're tired of it or not, had to be "Feel Good, Inc." by the Gorillaz. It combined so many different elements into absolute musical perfection. These four songs, plus a few good others, make NOW 19 an essential purchase for anyone trying to feel the pulse of music in 2005.

This Is Just Really Great Music
This CD is probably one of the best of the NOW series because it features some really good songs. Here's a track-by-track review:

1. Gwen Stefani-Hollaback Girl: This is an okay hook, but that "bananas"
part is weird and the bleeping gets annoying. It was overplayed. B-

2. Will Smith-Switch: Nice to see Will make a comeback and this is the
perfect comeback single, with a terrific hook. A-

3. Amerie-1 Thing: The beat is the only thing that saves this otherwise
lackluster Amerie tune. C+

4. Ciara feat. Ludacris-Oh: This was overplayed, but Luda is awesome and
the hook is better than the one on "Goodies". B

5. Bobby Valentino-Slow Down: I'm not much for ballads, but this is an
okay song, pretty average at best. C

6. Eminem-Mockingbird: I like Eminem's slower songs and this is pretty good. The lyrics are very touching. A

7. Brooke Valentine-Girlfight: This was overplayed, but it has a good hook. Lil Jon is annoying, though. B

8. Destiny's Child-Girl: This is better than "Cater 2 U", but not
"Soldier". It's an okay song(for Destiny's Child). C

9. Shakira-La Tortura: Shakira's voice bothers me, but the beat is okay,
I guess. A little simplistic. So-so. B-

10. Baby Bash feat. Akon-Baby I'm Back: Some of this guy's other material
is alright, but this is just a smug, stupid song. C-

11. Frankie J-How To Deal: I don't like ballads and I hate this. F

12. John Legend-Ordinary People: This is an okay song, since it has
meaningful lyrics and the piano is good. B+

13. Anna Nalick-Breathe(2 AM): This is an okay song. That's all I can really say about it. B-

14. Keith Urban-Making Memories Of Us: I hate wuss country. F

15. Backstreet Boys-Incomplete: The beginning hinted at something better, but this just evolved into a sapfest. D

16. 3 Doors Down-Let Me Go: This is an okay rock song. A little whiney, but what 3 Doors Down song isn't? A-

17. Relient K-Be My Escape: A little bad, but I'll still give it a decent
rating. B

18. The Killers-Mr. Brightside: I really like this song a lot. It has a good new wave beat. A

19. Coldplay-Speed Of Sound: Okay, this was overplayed, but I still like it a lot because it's a good Coldplay song. A+

20. Gorillaz-Feel Good Inc.: Another of my favourites. This song is just plain addictive. A+

Overall, this is one of the better NOW entries and if you're going to invest your money into just one of these CDs, I would choose this.

An average Now compilation.
I think this is one of the better Now compilations to be released in recent times, but I think some artists were left off that should have been on here. Also, some of these songs have been way overplayed yet again (I guess that means they are hits, so then it would be appropriate to include them here)

Great tunes (although most were overplayed): Hollaback Girl, Switch, Oh, Mockingbird, Girl, La Tortura, Baby I'm Back, Breathe (Anna is actually really good), Incomplete, Let Me Go

I would say if you are not a fan of pop, you most likely wouldn't care for this CD since it's almost all in that genre. Overall, 10 out of 20 songs doesn't really seem to be worth a purchase for me, but it has a better chance of being purchased than the last Now CD.