War Child Presents Heroes

Despite being written off either as well-meaning fund-raisers or product tie-ins, the various artists comp may be the ideal product for the digital age. Because it has less musical than conceptual cohesion (and sometimes neither), it plays as if on shuffle, one song by one act leading to another song by another act and making no demand on a listener's attention greater than three or four minutes. If/When the album finally surrenders to the single as the primary product of the music industry, various artists comps-- whether tribute albums, charity collections, or soundtracks-- will likely continue to haunt the periphery of the industry, like ghosts of the CD age. Worth at most a listen or two, most have a few solid tracks mixed in with failed experiments or dull B-sides, but usually they're panned as driven more by marketing or good intentions than by solid musical ideas.