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AdvertDetailsReleased: 12th August 1996

Origin: United Kingdom

Label: Virgin / EMI / Polygram

Format: Double CD, Double Cassette, Vinyl

Duration: 2:43:27 (163 minutes 27 seconds)

Tracks: 42

#1’s: 4

Chart Peak: #1 (7 weeks)

Sales: 800,000 (3x Platinum)

Tracklisting1. Spice Girls – Wannabe 2:48 {1}

2. Robbie Williams – Freedom 4:13 {2}

3. Peter Andre feat. Bubbler Ranx – Mysterious Girl 3:22 {2}

4. Dodgy – Good Enough 3:49 {4}

5. Ocean Colour Scene – The Day We Caught The Train 3:08 {4}

6. Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton – Theme From Mission: Impossible 3:28 {7}

7. Underworld – Born Slippy 4:15 {2}

8. JX – There's Nothing I Won't Do 4:27 {4}

9. Gina G – Ooh...Aah Just A Little Bit 3:15 {1}

10. Pianoman – Blurred 3:50 {6}

11. Livin' Joy – Don't Stop Movin' 3:32 {5}

12. Louise – Naked 3:32 {5}

13. Mark Morrison – Return Of The Mack 3:28 {1}

14. 2 Pac feat. Dr. Dre – California Love 4:01 {6}

15. Pato Banton – Groovin' 3:42 {14}

16. Reel To Real – Jazz It Up 3:25 {7}

17. Maxi Priest feat. Shaggy – That Girl 3:52 {15}

18. Los Del Mar – Macarena 3:48 {43}

19. Umboza – Sunshine 2:33 {14}

20. Wink – Higher State Of Consciousness 3:36 {7}

21. Todd Terry feat. Martha Wash and Jocelyn Brown – Keep On Jumpin' 3:04 {5}

22. Robert Miles – Children 3:49 {2}

23. George Michael – Jesus To A Child 6:51 {1}

24. Oasis – Wonderwall 4:13 {2}

25. Bluetones – Slight Return 3:15 {2}

26. Paul Weller – Peacock Suit 3:04 {5}

27. Bon Jovi – Hey God 4:44 {13}

28. Bryan Adams – The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You 3:18 {6}

29. Belinda Carlisle – In Too Deep 3:57 {6}

30. Suggs – Cecilia 2:57 {4}

31. Blur – Charmless Man 3:32 {5}

32. Suede – Trash 3:56 {3}

33. Joan Osborne – One Of Us 4:16 {6}

34. Crowded House – Instinct 3:03 {12}

35. Lighthouse Family – Ocean Drive 3:44 {11}

36. Tina Turner – On Silent Wings 4:12 {13}

37. Everything But The Girl – Wrong 3:51 {8}

38. OMC – How Bizarre 3:44 {5}

39. OMD – Walking On The Milky Way 4:03 {17}

40. Space – Female Of The Species 3:18 {14}

41. Cast – Walkaway 3:34 {9}

42. Boyzone – Coming Home Now 3:40 {4}

 

Key

Tracks highlighted red were official UK #1’s.

Tracks with an asterisk (*) next to their title have also been included in special releases from the series.

The track duration has been highlighted cyan.

Bracketed numbers refer to highest chart position reached.

Miscellaneous FactsTrack Most Weeks At #1: Spice Girls – Wannabe (7 weeks)

Lowest Charting Track: Los Del Mar – Macarena {43}

Longest Song: George Michael – Jesus To A Child 6:51

Shortest Song: Umboza – Sunshine 2:33

Edited Tracks: Unknown

Unedited Tracks: Unknown

Inlay Mistakes: None

Other Facts: N/A

On This Day In HistoryNo music news to report for 12th August 1996.Other ResourcesOfficial Now Music Website

Wikipedia

Everyhit

Now 34 Rate

Edited April 3, 20178 yr by award♀nary

Favorites:

 

Wannabe [guilty pleasure. "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever, friendship never ends"]

Good Enough

The Day We Caught The Train

Born Slippy ["Drive boy, dog boy, dirty numb angel boy, in the doorway boy, she was a lipstick, she was a beautiful boy, and tears boy, and all in your innerspace boy". Nice to hear this on Trainspotting ("Choose life, choose your future, choose a job, choose a family, choose a f**king big television...")]

There's Nothing I Won't Do

Mission Impossible Theme

Ooh Aah Just A Little Bit [the last Eurovision song to reach Number 1 in the UK Charts]

Blurred

Don't Stop Moving

Return Of The Mack

California Love ["California knows how to party"]

Macarena

Higher State Of Consciousness

Keep On Jumpin'

Children [The memorable piano riff has been sampled by Angel City, Dot Rotten and Tyga]

Jesus To A Child

Wonderwall ["Today is gonna be the day when they're gonna throw it back to you"]

Slight Return [(D major guitar strum) "Where did you go?" (short guitar phrase) "When things went wrong for you, when the knives came out for you?"]

Peacock Suit

The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You

In Too Deep

Charmless Man

Trash (My 2nd favourite from Suede [along with Beautiful Ones ("high on diesel and gasoline, psycho for drum machine" my #1 favourite), So Young, Filmstar and Animal Nitrate])

What If God Was One Of Us

Wrong

How Bizarre

Walking On The Milky Way

Female Of The Species

Walkaway

 

 

So many favourites, should have put my overall rating as 9/10 instead of 8

 

 

Fun Fact: The next NOW album you'll be reviewing is the final NOW album to be released on vinyl

Edited March 27, 20178 yr by DalekTurret32

Artwork: 5/10 kinda weak

 

Disc 1: Spice Girls - Wannabe my birthday number one so loads of mwmories!

 

Disc 2: Oasis: Wonderwall - again loads of memories

 

Overall 9/10 So many great tunes!

Easily one of the best Now albums - a summer classic from 96!

Love this album, I voted for Gina G on Disc 1, definitely the UK's finest ever Eurovision entry imo...8th place, pah. Crappy juries.

 

It was a toss-up between The Bluetones and OMC on Disc 2 but I went for the former, Slight Return is genius <3

Voted Umboza and Bon Jovi. though loads of other tracks I like aswell

Easily one of the best Now albums - a summer classic from 96!

 

ditto

Best songs:

Born Slippy

Higher State Of Consciousness

How Bizarre

Walking On The Milky Way

Female Of The Species

Easily the best Now album incredible list of tracks there.

What an iconic edition this is, some definitive songs of the decade on this.

 

Obviously Wannabe is one of the most recognisable pop songs of all time & of course had to be album opener. Huge guilty pleasures on Disc 1 in Peter Andre, Gina G & Los Del Mar - I actually prefer this version to the more successful Los Del Rio one! Without any question on this edition it's the first Disc which is far superior. Some of the most popular dance songs of the 90s - Born Slippy fresh off the back of Trainspotting, There's Nothing I Won't Do - again, a song where I prefer an alternative version this time being the Special D cover several years later. Josh Wink was such a unique Now track & of course what a sublime end to the side with the sensational Children :wub:

 

Having said all that my fave track on the whole edition has to be Don't Stop Movin' :dance: for me just as incredible as Dreamer & in fact probably more influential, that deep house revival in 2014 saw numerous songs sample its bassline. Add to that Mark Morrison & 2Pac, literally almost every song on the side is well-known.

 

So yeah... Disc 2 is the letdown here, other than Wonderwall (which is actually among my least fave Oasis tracks anyway due to sheer overexposure), there's genuinely not one song I return to, nothing more to add here!

 

The thirtees have given us some cracking artworks & this edition is no exception! 7/10 from me.

 

Hard to rate this overall, couldn't be more of a contrast between the 2 sides, just for sheer brilliance of Disc 1 I'll lock in a 7/10 for overall rating too.

 

 

And of course, the Rate results compiled by gavindeejay at the start of 2015:

 

1. Spice Girls - Wannabe / 8.76

2. Oasis - Wonderwall / 8.41

3. Livin' Joy - Don't Stop Movin' / 8.33

4. Underworld - Born Slippy / 8.02

5. JX - There's Nothing I Won't Do / 8.00

6. Wink - Higher State Of Consciousness / 7.70

7. Gina G - Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit / 7.68

8. Robert Miles - Children / 7.64

9. Mark Morrison - Return Of The Mack / 7.35

10. Suede - Trash / 7.25

11. Joan Osbourne - One Of Us / 7.14

12. Space - Female Of The Species / 7.00

13. 2Pac - California Love / 6.87

14. Dodgy - Good Enough / 6.87

15. Everything But The Girl - Wrong / 6.75

16. Todd Terry - Keep On Jumpin' / 6.53

17. Bluetones - Slight Return / 6.45

18. Blur - Charmless Man / 6.43

19. Lighthouse Family - Ocean Drive / 6.38

20. Pianoman - Blurred / 6.23

21. Cast - Walkaway / 6.22

22. George Michael - Jesus To A Child / 6.06

23. Peter Andre - Mysterious Girl / 6.00

24. Ocean Colour Scene - The Day We Caught The Train / 6.00

25. Larry Mullen & Adam Clayton - Theme From Mission: Impossible / 6.00

26. Suggs - Cecilia / 5.66

27. Louise - Naked / 5.58

28. Robbie Williams - Freedom / 5.53

29. OMD - Walking On The Milky Way / 5.45

30. Belinda Carlisle - In Too Deep / 5.14

31. Tina Turner - On Silent Wings / 4.82

32. Paul Weller - Peacock Suit / 4.83

33. OMC - How Bizzare / 4.75

34. Reel 2 Reel - Jass It Up / 4.50

35. Maxi Priest - That Girl / 4.04

36. Bryan Adams The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You / 3.90

37. Crowded House - Instinct / 3.77

38. Pato Banton - Groovin' / 3.72

39. Los Del Mar - Macarena / 3.68

40. Bon Jovi - Hey God / 3.67

41. Umbozo - Sunshine / 3.44

42. Boyzone - Coming Home Now / 2.83

Andrew's ReviewNow That's What I Call Music! 34 aka Now 34 has some of the best music from 1996 and showcased many artist's debut's who would go on to have many more hits in the future, such as former Take That member Robbie Williams, Peter Andre, Gina G, Robert Miles and Spice Girls. This was also the first time in the series we got to hear from artists like Dodgy, Space, Underworld, Mark Morrison, Ocean Colour Scene, Suede, Todd Terry, 2 Pac and Bluetones.

 

Now 34 contains 5 UK #1 singles, but there were a few #1 omissions including The Prodigy – Firestarter, Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds – Three Lions (although a remix of this song does feature on Now 40 two years later), The Fugees – Killing Me Softly and Gary Barlow – Forever Love. Other noteworthy omissions include Mark Snow – The X Files {2}, Celine Dion – Because You Love Me {3}, The Tony Rich Project – Nobody Knows {4} and Manic Street Preachers – A Design For Life {2} as well as the official version of Macarena by Los Del Rio which was a UK #2 hit.

 

Just a few one hit wonders to make mention of, which never featured in the series again include Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton, Joan Osborne, Pianoman, Umboza, Los Del Mar and OMC.

 

Artwork Rating: 7/10 Very Good

Very summery. Nice use of yellow, orange and brown shades to create a fresh design, relatively simple in theme, and one which doesn't show a landscape image in the background. The water-dripped logo, above a swirling pool, worked very well for another well remembered 90's cover.

 

Disc 1 Favourite: Spice Girls – Wannabe

Zig-a-zig-ah! This easily is head and shoulders above the rest. Spice Girl, demonstrating their girl power, became one of the most successful British girl bands ever and their legacy lives on to this day. Here is where it all began for the 5-piece group.

 

Disc 2 Favourite: Oasis – Wonderwall

Oasis continued success during the 90's was only getting stronger and stronger and by the time they released Wonderwall they had already become a household name. This would become one of the bands most recognised hits ever.

 

Overall Rating: 9/10 Amazing

It's actually really hard to rate this any lower than a 9. There is just so much quality throughout the 2 discs, and so many personal memories for me hearing many of these songs on a bus going to my Year 6 school camp before joining secondary school. Definitely one of my favourite Now volumes ever!

 

Andrew's Best 5 (as of April 2017)

1. Spice Girls – Wannabe

2. Underworld – Born Slippy

3. Mark Morrison – Return Of The Mack

4. Los Del Mar – Macarena

5. Oasis – Wonderwall

 

Andrew's Worst 5 (as of April 2017)

1. OMC – How Bizarre

2. Crowded House – Instinct

3. Paul Weller – Peacock Suit

4. Maxi Priest feat. Shaggy – That Girl

5. Tina Turner – On Silent Wings

Disc One: Robert Miles - Children :wub: :wub: :wub: (a lot of songs here I wish I could've voted for, this disc looks very good)

Disc Two: Lighthouse Family - Ocean Drive