Ultimate Grammy Collection: Contemporary Pop

Performer: Various Artists
Producer: Jeff Palo; Derek Dressler (Compilation); Leslie Lewis (Compilation)
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Audio Remasterer: Little Red Book Mastering. One of many ULTIMATE GRAMMY compilations issued in honor of the ceremony's 50th anniversary, this 16-track anthology focuses on award-winning pop singles from the 1990s and early 2000s. Veteran stars Seal and Madonna are represented by the swooning "Kiss from a Rose" and revved-up "Ray of Light," respectively, while younger artists include Norah Jones (the mellow and ubiquitous "Don't Know Why") and Kelly Clarkson (the rocked-out "Since U Been Gone"). Whether or not the Grammys do a good job of capturing the best of all music from the year (despite the myriad categories, there still seems to be a lot that's forgotten), its nominees do generally represent the top tier of pop artists. Following this logic, Ultimate Grammy Collection: Contemporary Pop ends up being a pretty nice retrospective of 15 years of (mostly) Grammy-winning songs (an exception being John Mayer's "Gravity," which was performed at the 2007 Awards but didn't win). Annie Lennox, Sarah McLachlan, Norah Jones, Madonna, Jamiroquai, Justin Timberlake, and Kelly Clarkson all have tracks included, ones that have managed to embed themselves into the canon of American song, and the near-chronological listing makes it easy to hear the progression (and the similarities) of pop music at the end of the 20th century. [As a note, tracks six-nine are incorrectly listed on the back cover. Each song is still included but is mixed up with another from the four.] ~ Marisa Brown

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