The NOW That’s What I Call Music Book Review

Reviewed by David Savage

Everybody knows the NOW That’s What I Call Music compilation albums that have been around since the 1980’s and are still going strong for now over 30 years. Now there is a new book, exclusive to Sainsburys with an RRP of £10, to cover all the albums from the very first NOW 1 to the present NOW 88 including Special Editions.

The beautiful 240 page book covers all the albums with sleeve images and track listing for all the 88 NOW That’s What I Call Music albums but along with the information about each album it also has facts about each album and the artists featured along with facts about what was happening around the world at the time of release.

There is also a great introduction with Richard Branson giving a brief history of the NOW brand, how it got started, how Virgin Records and EMI teamed up to bring out one of the most successful compilation brands that everybody knows and loves and even how the reason behind the famous pig featured on some of the sleeves.

Overall, this quality hardback book is a must for pop music fans especially those that love the NOW That’s What I Call Music brand. At first glance my initial thoughts were it is just a reference book of the NOW albums and their track listings but it is so much more. Yes it is a music reference book but it features lots of fun facts about the albums, the artists and has snapshots of information regarding world events at the time of release of each album. A good book that will bring back memories of your favourite tracks and make you dig out those old albums, whether on vinyl, tape, CD or MP3.

Most people probably have or have had at least 1 NOW album and this book would make a great addition to your collection.

Rating: 4.5/5

RRP: £10 (hardback, 240 pages)

Available to buy exclusively from Sainsbury’s stores.