Pity the underachieving compilation CD.
To do so, you may find it helpful to first anthropomorphize the underachieving compilation CD – perhaps imagine it with arms, legs, and a little CD face. Done? Now, pity it. Well done.
You know the CD I’m talking about. You’re digging through the used bin and you come across it – a clever name, perhaps, and maybe a worthwhile beneficiary – say, the International Association to Reduce Moderate Irritability in Gym Teachers. You dig some of the artists, haven’t heard of others, and figure you might as well give it a try. You buy it, put it in the CD player, frown vaguely, and never listen again.
The problem with most compilation CDs is that they’re filled with leftover tracks, the ones that weren’t good enough to even be the filler tracks on the artists’ real albums, or else they’re throwaway covers of songs you didn’t like the first time around.
Happily, these flaws are not endemic in kids’ music compilations. Some, as you’ll see below, represent the only kid-appropriate tracks done by the artists, while others are somehow able to get artists to contribute killer non-leftover tracks. Check them out: Read the rest of this entry »
