Off the Hook

The success of the Now series of compilations, which have responded to the decline of singles by providing radio fans with collections of near-contemporary hits, naturally has inspired imitators, and this album is one of them. Released by , it is in fact a joint venture with , , and , and the only distinction between it and a Now disc is the more limited range of musical styles: is an / album. Among its 20 tracks, clocking in at over 79 minutes, are 13 songs that were still lodged in the Hot 100 and/or the Hot Singles & Tracks chart on the day of release, although the selections date back as far as early 2001, the oldest tune being 's Only a few of these numbers were really big hits -- featuring (presented here in the "Murder Remix") was a number one hit, while ' topped the charts and and (heard here in the "All Cities Remix") made the Top Ten. The rest, except for the non-charting by , placed lower in the charts, although such major stars as are included. The music ranges from hard-edged (from which the curse words have been surgically removed in the peculiar Swiss-cheese process known as the "clean edit") to creamy love , giving a good sense of the sound of , circa 2001-2002. Listening to is like hearing nearly 80 minutes' worth of an radio station without the commercials. ~ William Ruhlmann