Barnes & Noble
The biggest songs of 2007 (and a couple of late-2006 vintage tunes) find their way to the Grammys and this indispensible guide to the most inescapable music of the year. A couple of deep album cuts also get the nod -- Corrine Bailey Rae's Joni Mitchell cover and Green Day's Lennon tribute hail from thematic productions -- giving this collection a little longer shelf life than the latest installment of Now That's What I Call Music.
All Music Guide
Another year, another Grammy compilation. In keeping with tradition, this disc offers a slightly skewed view of 2007's musical trends, highlighting a handful of genuine radio smashes while forgoing others in favor of songs that received little, if any, airplay. On that note, this year's "huh?" award goes to U2, whose slapdash rendition of "Instant Karma" received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance (as well as a spot on this CD) despite never being released as a single. Other selections are more predictable, including Plain White T's' ubiquitous "Hey There Delilah," Bon Jovi's lifeless "(You Want To) Make a Memory," Amy Winehouse's unintentionally ironic "Rehab," and a piece of countrified sass from Carrie Underwood. Despite the hodgepodge of genres, most of these tracks are grouped together in a way that's both sensible and stylistically cohesive. Christina Aguilera and Nelly Furtado are tracked back to back, while three of the album's hard rock bands -- Green Day, DAUGHTRY, and Nickelback -- are grouped together. But the Foo Fighters' position in the track list (sandwiched between Beyoncé and Maroon 5) and the absence of some of the year's biggest hits are among the disc's puzzling aspects. Andrew Leahey