Now That's What I Call Music! 17

With Now 17 the producers of this chart-busting series have accepted, to their credit, a truism: You can't please 'em all. That accounts for the opposite-ends-of-the-genre-spectrum inclusiveness of the disc, and also for the lion's share of its appeal. Like hip-hop but hate country? Count yourself in, courtesy of Terror Squad ("Lean Back"), J-Kwon ("You & Me"), and the Beastie Boys ("Ch-Check It Out"), or out, owing to Gretchen Wilson ("Here for the Party") and Keith Urban ("Days Go By"). Ditto for girl pop (Ashlee Simpson's "Pieces of Me," Jessica Simpson's "Angels") and hard rock (Crossfade's "Cold")--take it or leave it or, if you're truly well-rounded, love it, track for track. With its finger directly on the pulse of what passes for pop in 2004, 17 poses its share of challenges--the Switchfoot crowd doesn't lend itself to being lumped together with JoJo's posse--but it skillfully folds the whole package into a better than palatable mix aimed directly at the fun-loving and the musically tolerant. Sensible sequencing (rap leads to pure pop leads to rock leads to country) seals the deal, so that all you're left wondering is, What happened to Hoobastank? --Tammy La Gorce