Kelly’s dirge and Geri showing us yet again that talent is something that she’s lacking can’t prepare me for Lolly, The Vengaboys, Martine McCutcheon and Gabrielle.

Can I pop the Now 44 love fest for one reason – the dreadful hatchet job on the sublime Diving Faces. Candy-pop-with-a-funky-edge smash” was how Entertainment Weekly’s Beth Johnson described the Britney tune. This is another example of how Now is an authority strictly only on what currently is and isn’t music; when it comes to foreseeing the shifting landscape of the pop genre, Now is weirdly hopeless. The series is then moved forward again, with the release of Now Yearbook 1992 in July 2023 (an Extra followed in August).

Now 60 is the worst-case scenario for that strategy, as it features an irrelevant song from the “All About That Bass” girl, a useless track from the “livin’ like we’re renegades” band, and an even worse song from the guy who sings in seven-year intervals. Since its inception, the series has captivated audiences in numerous countries, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, expanding its reach far and wide. Thanks for that info – the total sales of Now 44 are over 2M according to one source – but very impressive. The 48th volume even became a pivotal plot point in an episode of Peter Kay's Car Share, when supermarket employee Kayleigh Kitson (Sian Gibson) declared it was her favourite album. As far as I can tell, Now is FAR BETTER at selecting the best pop songs, and when they miss on the back half of the albums, they really miss.

To appropriately rank the Now albums, I devised a formula to take into account the commercial success, accolades, and feeling of essentialness of each song featured. Growing up: Gabrielle’s wonderfully positive Sunshine followed by Honeyz’s soulful Never Let You Down featuring the voice of Mariama Goodman for the first time. Sixpence None the Richer - Kiss Me: Great country inspired track, though it should have been on Now 43, as it was a hit in May/June. Coming afterwards is the true diamond in the mine, former New Kid On The Block, Jordan Knight’s explosive Give It To You.The latter contains a new retro-70s Now logo design and artwork which complements its 80s sister Yearbook series. It’s a big reason why Now 38’s Points Average is so high, and hence why Now 38 ranks so high (though “Fuck You” by Cee Lo Green and “Grenade” by Bruno Mars also do some heavy lifting). We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. This means two things: That some of the album’s iconic songs surprisingly didn’t chart very well, and that the highs of the album were dragged down by much lower lows (I’m looking at you, “Everything” by Fefe Dobson). The 4-CD series follows the same general format of the original Special Editions series, with genre, era, and decade collections, but over four compact discs (there is also an abridged vinyl version of Punk and New Wave and Rock), meaning they contain more tracks than the original special editions, but fewer than the Now 100 Hits, which preceded this series.