Now That’s What I Call Music! 43 is, if you haven’t been living under a rock for the past 42 incarnations of the series, a collection of pop radio hits all stored under one roof. This version contains hit songs by Justin Bieber, Pitbull, Maroon 5, David Guetta, Katy Perry and more. All together you get 20 tracks, including four free tracks from up and comers Halestorm, Tristan Prettyman, Cady Groves, and Eva Simmons. The album is as advertised, a collection of today’s biggest hits. It will get you up and dancing and, if you’re like me, given a sample of all the top radio stars you may have never heard if you don’t listen to radio at all. That about sums up all the good I’ll ever say about a collection like this.

In reality I think this album is catchy and does serve a purpose for the majority of listeners who can’t get enough autotuned, unoriginal, electronic bleeps and beeps which all together form whiny songs about love found, gone wrong, and found again. If it’s not centered around love, because that is all music consumers care about these days, then it is strictly formula ready and shallow enough to provide a string of words surrounded by danceable, but all together disposable beats manufactured by some group of faceless suits who want to sell you something. Either way you can’t escape the addictive power of radio’s latest and greatest hits, as generic as they appear once they’ve lost their appeal. As always, final judgment is yours. Enjoy.