Now 84 Official Tracklisting.

13

Comments

  • StigOfTheKrumpStigOfTheKrump Posts: 36,363
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    ^sometimes that can be down to the record/artist co I think, not all of them allow their songs on them... I think

    But the thing is, What About Us hasn't even been released in the UK yet, so it'd probably be more suited to a summer album (that is, if they're going to do one!).
  • MrJamesMrJames Posts: 8,127
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    Ooh this looks quite good. The return of Girls Aloud to a Now album. Although there is a bit of a Stay absence.
  • x+yx+y Posts: 2,257
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    MrJames wrote: »
    Ooh this looks quite good. The return of Girls Aloud to a Now album. Although there is a bit of a Stay absence.

    It's also missing Adele's Skyfall too, which is surprising as they've included all Adele's other big hits in the past.

    It's also missing:
    David Guetta - Just One Last Time
    Justin Timberlake - Suit & Tie/Mirrors
    Stereophonics - Indian Summer
    Mackelmore - Thrift Shop
    The Script - If You Could See Me Now
    50 Cent, Eminem & Adam Lavigne - My Life
    Jake Bugg - Lightening Bolt

    If they included maybe a few of the above, it probably would of made the compilation better instead of including 2 songs by 4/5 artists which they have done.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 5,671
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    Lily_M wrote: »
    Just out of interest, how many of those tracks were written by the artists themselves? Fleetwood Mac's was obviously, but how many others? I'm just curious.
    Calvin Harris feat. Tinie Tempah – Drinking From The Bottle
    Ben Howard – Only Love*
    The Lumineers – Ho Hey
    Biffy Clyro – Black Chandelier
    Fall Out Boy – My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)*
    Bastille – Pompeii
    Taylor Swift – I Knew You Were Trouble*
    P!nk feat. Nate Ruess – Just Give Me A Reason

    Some of these may have been with co writers. Some of the others may have been written by the artists too, I don't know - it's only the songs I like that I have any idea about! :D

    *I'm not 100% sure on these ones, but I think I have heard that the artists wrote them.

    Also Little Mix - DNA, co-written by the group and TMS (producer).
  • EraserheadEraserhead Posts: 22,016
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    I thought in the interests of a balanced critique that I ought to listen to the songs on this latest compilation since I'd only actually heard two of them. So I did. All 43 tracks (I've clearly got too much time on my hands today).

    Now I wasn't expecting much - I'm not a fan of pop music because I find it too middle-of-the-road and dull (even on NOW! vol.1 way back in 1983 I only owned 2 songs out of 30) but the thing which struck me about the music on this one was how utterly homogeneous it all is. There is so little variation in the style, music (what little music there is), tempo and even the artists are pretty much entirely young and physically attractive, as if they've all been hand-picked by committee to a single formula.

    There is no doubt that this is now an industry led by almost entirely by marketing, PR and focus groups aiming specifically at a very narrow target audience. While that's not the worst thing in the world the lack of creativity is. The songwriting is wholly unimaginative, the songs entirely vocal-led with an absolute minimum of instrumentation and what music there is is largely basic, synthetic notes and beats as if every song has been written on a bloody Stylophone, barely extending beyond a single octave - and that includes the handful of artists on there which actually play instruments.

    I hate to say it but the only song on there worth a damn is 1D's mash-up of Blondie's "One Way or Another" and the Undertones' "Teenage Kicks" (the second best song ever written about w*nking) - at least 1D look like they're having fun and not taking it too seriously.

    And the prize for the most retarded piece of crap I've heard in a very long time goes to Dizzee Rascal. Words fail me how utterly moronic that piece of crap is.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,177
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    these Now albums are incredibly popular and almost always, when they are released go straight to number 1 on the itunes download chart. They are great value and you get at least 40 current songs and, although they may not be classics or be very diverse in genre, it just gives a reflection of what is popular today. I personally enjoy collecting the Now cds, the majority complaining about them on here just want something to complain about and are music snobs.

    Long may the Now...! compilations continues, i will certainly be getting this and the ones following :);):) great easter present ;)
  • AudioRebelAudioRebel Posts: 32,201
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    Thrift Shop by Macklemore is independently owned by Macklemore,hence not granted permission by any big record label for inclusion on compilations.
    Maybe Macklemore realised the song's still popular in the UK under it's own steam (still Top 10 this week) and folk would have to download 'Thrift Shop' if they wanted the song instead of finding it on a purchased NOW 84 and not downloading just the song in question ?
  • OpaqueOpaque Posts: 5,286
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    x+y wrote: »
    If they included maybe a few of the above,

    I just looked these up on youtube as I wanted to see which ones they might be (after all you might know a song but not know it's title etc) and turns out I'd only heard one of them before.
  • abrightyzabrightyz Posts: 24,559
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    Eraserhead wrote: »
    I thought in the interests of a balanced critique that I ought to listen to the songs on this latest compilation since I'd only actually heard two of them. So I did. All 43 tracks (I've clearly got too much time on my hands today).

    Now I wasn't expecting much - I'm not a fan of pop music because I find it too middle-of-the-road and dull (even on NOW! vol.1 way back in 1983 I only owned 2 songs out of 30) but the thing which struck me about the music on this one was how utterly homogeneous it all is. There is so little variation in the style, music (what little music there is), tempo and even the artists are pretty much entirely young and physically attractive, as if they've all been hand-picked by committee to a single formula.

    There is no doubt that this is now an industry led by almost entirely by marketing, PR and focus groups aiming specifically at a very narrow target audience. While that's not the worst thing in the world the lack of creativity is. The songwriting is wholly unimaginative, the songs entirely vocal-led with an absolute minimum of instrumentation and what music there is is largely basic, synthetic notes and beats as if every song has been written on a bloody Stylophone, barely extending beyond a single octave - and that includes the handful of artists on there which actually play instruments.

    I hate to say it but the only song on there worth a damn is 1D's mash-up of Blondie's "One Way or Another" and the Undertones' "Teenage Kicks" (the second best song ever written about w*nking) - at least 1D look like they're having fun and not taking it too seriously.

    And the prize for the most retarded piece of crap I've heard in a very long time goes to Dizzee Rascal. Words fail me how utterly moronic that piece of crap is.



    what's the best again?:eek::p
  • EraserheadEraserhead Posts: 22,016
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    abrightyz wrote: »
    what's the best again?:eek::p

    Orgasm Addict by The Buzzcocks :)
  • tortfeasortortfeasor Posts: 7,000
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    Eraserhead wrote: »
    Orgasm Addict by The Buzzcocks :)

    I agree with that! Who would better that? It's the most brazen of them all, right from the first two lines of the song.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 181
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    Songs that should of been included:

    Rihanna - Stay
    Justin Timerlake - Suit & Tie/Mirrors
    Mackelmore - Thrift Shop
    Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man
    Baauur - Harlem Shake
    Olly Murs - Army Of Two
    Adele - Skyfall
    One Direction - Kiss You
    50 Cent ft Adam Levine - My Life
  • tortfeasortortfeasor Posts: 7,000
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    Eraserhead wrote: »
    ...
    the thing which struck me about the music on this one was how utterly homogeneous it all is. There is so little variation in the style, music (what little music there is), tempo and... [t]he songwriting is wholly unimaginative, the songs entirely vocal-led with an absolute minimum of instrumentation and what music there is is largely basic, synthetic notes and beats as if every song has been written on a bloody Stylophone, barely extending beyond a single octave - and that includes the handful of artists on there which actually play instruments...

    I agree with every point made in your assessment of the standards of the songs on the forthcoming Now album. I think this decade is showing signs of pop music being generally caught in a rut. Admittedly there have always been periods when pop music has sounded formulaic but for the last couple of years it has become too homogeneous and limited in the ways you've listed above. The word 'standard' is appropriate in the sense that quite a lot of songs are just bog standard. By and large new territories are not being broken into.

    For me it isn't a case of listening to something and thinking 'oh that's trash.' It is more a case that I listen and have listened to a lot of the songs featured on that forthcoming Now album and find it difficult to get excited by them in any way.

    I've always listened to older music alongside new releases. However, I've been spending more time rediscovering things I listened to in the late 1990s and early 2000s of late. It wasn't always the best of times for new music but there was definitely greater diversity in the sounds then. I didn't realise it at the time.

    The poor use of synths is something that I particularly find boring. A point others and I have made about a lot of the synths used in current songs is that they sound remarkably like the music for old Nintendo or Sega video games from the 80s and 90s. Admittedly some of the music from old Nintendo and Sega games is to be thought of with fond memories but listening to things like that all day, every day? I'll pass.

    The synths used in a lot of pop songs play the most basic melodies, which are:

    a)very prominent in the mix because there is so little other instrumentation around them;

    b) generally limited to a range of one octave; and

    c) typically similar in sound, almost as though they're on the same setting.

    It's almost as though advances made in getting synths to produce a huge variety of sounds, some of which were so close to acoustic instruments, never happened.
  • SuperAPJSuperAPJ Posts: 10,402
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    19 Christina Perri – A Thousand Years

    Any idea why this is on the CD? It was released over a year ago, as a song from one of the Twilight soundtracks. The only time I'd heard it in recent months was when Fifth Harmony sang it on The X Factor USA.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 181
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    SuperAPJ wrote: »
    Any idea why this is on the CD? It was released over a year ago, as a song from one of the Twilight soundtracks. The only time I'd heard it in recent months was when Fifth Harmony sang it on The X Factor USA.

    It peaked at No.13 last year and was featured on the Twilight soundtrack but still its probably more of a "filler" track it kind of looks like NOW had a little trouble getting singles this time around for the album
  • ScrubberScrubber Posts: 4,106
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    Tracklisting is pretty dire, the only song I like on the first cd is Bastille.

    Well done for paying your music and not illegally downloading as some idiot suggested.
  • RocketpopRocketpop Posts: 1,350
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    Eraserhead wrote: »
    Orgasm Addict by The Buzzcocks :)

    What about 'Pictures of Lilly'?
  • MasterjonboiMasterjonboi Posts: 1,122
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    yep thats me buying cause i dont do illegal downloads. Always prefer to pay for my stuff :)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 118
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    yey two pink songs, Now knows where its at ;)
  • performingmonkperformingmonk Posts: 20,086
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    kadylou wrote: »
    yey two pink songs, Now knows where its at ;)

    Though two One Direction songs also show something else...:yawn:
  • Billy HicksBilly Hicks Posts: 475
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    Meanwhile, twenty years ago and the tracklisting of the equivalent Now 24 looked like this:
    Disc one

    The Bluebells : "Young at Heart"
    Take That : "Could It Be Magic"
    Sub Sub feat. Melanie Williams : "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)"
    Snap : "Exterminate!"
    Sister Sledge : "We Are Family"
    Snow : "Informer"
    Shabba Ranks with Chevelle Franklin : "Mr. Loverman"
    Shaggy : "Oh Carolina"
    East 17 : "Deep"
    Stereo MCs : "Step It Up"
    Arrested Development : "Tennessee"
    Robin S : "Show Me Love"
    Lulu : "Independence"
    West End featuring Sybil : "The Love I Lost"
    2 Unlimited : "No Limit"
    Cappella : "U Got 2 Know"
    Sunscreem : "Pressure Us"
    Monie Love : "Born 2 B.R.E.E.D."
    Hue & Cry : "Labour of Love"

    Disc two

    Duran Duran : "Ordinary World"
    Annie Lennox : "Love Song for a Vampire"
    World Party : "Is It Like Today?"
    k.d. lang : "Constant Craving"
    Tasmin Archer : "In Your Care"
    PM Dawn : "Looking Through Patient Eyes"
    The Beloved : "Sweet Harmony"
    Dina Carroll : "This Time"
    Simply Red : "Lady Godiva's Room"
    Genesis : "Invisible Touch (Live)"
    Lenny Kravitz : "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
    Depeche Mode : "I Feel You"
    Peter Gabriel : "Steam"
    Ugly Kid Joe : "Cat's in the Cradle"
    Faith No More : "Easy"
    Bryan Ferry : "I Put a Spell on You"
    Ultravox : "Vienna" (yeah don't know why either :confused: )
    Paul McCartney : "Hope of Deliverance"

    And ten years ago? Here's what early 2003's Now 54 had:
    Disc one

    t.A.T.u. : "All the Things She Said"
    Justin Timberlake : "Like I Love You"
    Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland : "Dilemma"
    Richard X vs Liberty X : "Being Nobody"
    Room 5 featuring Oliver Cheatham : "Make Luv"
    Junior Senior : "Move Your Feet"
    Girls Aloud : "Sound of the Underground"
    Busted : "Year 3000"
    Melanie C : "Here It Comes Again"
    Sinéad Quinn : "I Can't Break Down"
    Darius : "Rushes"
    Appleton : "Don't Worry"
    Atomic Kitten : "Love Doesn't Have to Hurt"
    Blue : "U Make Me Wanna"
    Jay-Z featuring Beyoncé Knowles : "'03 Bonnie & Clyde"
    Jaimeson featuring Angel Blu : "True"
    Zoe Birkett : "Treat Me Like a Lady"
    S Club : "Alive"
    One True Voice : "Sacred Trust"
    Kym Marsh : "Cry"
    Ainslie Henderson : "Keep Me a Secret"

    Disc two

    Daniel Bedingfield : "If You're Not the One"
    David Sneddon : "Stop Living the Lie"
    Robbie Williams : "Feel"
    Oasis : "Songbird"
    Turin Brakes : "Pain Killer"
    Coldplay : "Clocks"
    Lulu & Ronan Keating : "We've Got Tonight"
    Sugababes : "Stronger"
    Beenie Man : "Street Life"
    Cam'Ron featuring Juelz Santana, Freekey Zeekey and Toya : "Hey Ma"
    Nelly featuring Justin Timberlake : "Work It"
    Panjabi MC : "Mundian to Bach Ke"
    Scooter : "Weekend!"
    DJ Sammy : "The Boys of Summer"
    Divine Inspiration : "The Way (Put Your Hand In My Hand)"
    Queen + DJ Vanguard: "Flash"
    Erasure : "Solsbury Hill"
    The Mock Turtles : "Can You Dig It?" (Fatboy Slim & Simon Thornton 2003 Remix)
    Counting Crows featuring Vanessa Carlton : "Big Yellow Taxi"
    Richard Ashcroft : "Science of Silence"
    Massive Attack : "Special Cases"

    24, 54 or 84 - which is your fave? Think it's got to be 24 for me, loving that early 90s sound!
  • joshua_welbyjoshua_welby Posts: 9,017
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    Yes, I will be buying it most probably as a Download off ITunes, as I am a collector of the Now CD/Tapes/etc

    Their offical website is www.nowmusic.com
  • joshua_welbyjoshua_welby Posts: 9,017
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    Hutchy258 wrote: »
    Songs that should of been included:

    Rihanna - Stay
    Justin Timerlake - Suit & Tie/Mirrors
    Mackelmore - Thrift Shop
    Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man
    Baauur - Harlem Shake
    Olly Murs - Army Of Two
    Adele - Skyfall
    One Direction - Kiss You
    50 Cent ft Adam Levine - My Life
    nooneoo wrote: »
    Also Little Mix - DNA, co-written by the group and TMS (producer).
    x+y wrote: »
    It's also missing Adele's Skyfall too, which is surprising as they've included all Adele's other big hits in the past.

    It's also missing:
    David Guetta - Just One Last Time
    Justin Timberlake - Suit & Tie/Mirrors
    Stereophonics - Indian Summer
    Mackelmore - Thrift Shop
    The Script - If You Could See Me Now
    50 Cent, Eminem & Adam Lavigne - My Life
    Jake Bugg - Lightening Bolt

    If they included maybe a few of the above, it probably would of made the compilation better instead of including 2 songs by 4/5 artists which they have done.

    I totally agree with you, especially Little Mix with DNA, Adele with Skyfall and Baauur with the Harlem Shake and of course Eminem
  • Bill ClintonBill Clinton Posts: 9,389
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    Now 24 was my era too in the early 90's when I first got into chart music and whilst I agree that it does feel more special in previous eras it's hardly the NOW series fault, it's like blaming Sky Movies for Hollywood's output, yet there are still chart hits from time to time that are absolute classics it features Olly Murs' Troublemaker which is a very good guilty pleasure for anyone, I'm glad they chose this over the newer one due to how standout it is, same with the Bruno Mars choice. Early 2013 has been a hit and miss for good chart music though so for NOW to miss out too many makes this one a bit poor, but for me quite a big low was during the early noughties from 50-54 or so when the Hits series was competing and not much seemed to make the NOWs along with not many memorable hits.


    The only genuine bug you could have with the NOWs is that they never fail to miss some big hits out so it works a little less effectively as an anthology of pop/chart history. NOW 84 misses Skyfall despite Adele's other big hits managing to make other previous ones. Also the Harlem Shake has been a sensation so why is the hit not on NOW 84? Now whether this is intentional because it would affect sales of some current songs or whether rights are too big an obstacle for some inclusions is open to question, one other thing that goes on I've heard is the inclusion of some filler type tracks that aren't strictly popular hits but to promote some artists that the record industry will crack it big. You can to be honest spot which tracks these are likely to be and it's been going on since the 90's at least.

    I have every one on CD from 8 but I'm not able to collect NOW 4 on CD which is too rare and expensive, I've recently been ripping the tracks into custom sound compression presets to boost them for the car/mobile listening.

    Long may they continue but they will continue to reflect chart music.
  • pothuthicpothuthic Posts: 47,099
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    They have to save some for now 85, I expect Harlem Shake (which I detest but still), Thrift Shop, My Life,Mirrors, If you could see me and maybe Kiss You on there
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