The equivalent Hits 57 wasn't as great, though I bought and loved the companion music videos DVD (the only time a numbered Hits album had a DVD I think! A much colder theme than the previous summer volume, this one characterises the snowflakes and ice that would hit the country hard that year. There are only two Nickelback tracks that are in any way listenable, and both of those are due to reasons outwith the song. Jay-Z - Crazy In Love (the song that got me into Beyonce as a solo artist full I would say I mean Work It Out was good and all but this was the OMG moment for sure. There are a few filler tracks which was to be expected, but even these aren't really that bad to listen to.

Ashanti - Rock Wit U (Awww Baby): Great song, though it should have been on Now 55 as it was a hit in June/July. I had about five pairs of those ridiculously baggy jeans in various colours – I am so glad they disappeared with the ’00s. On this volume, we were introduced for the first time to artists like Black Eyed Peas, Rachel Stevens (as a solo artist), Fatman Scoop, Beyoncé (as a solo artist and not just a featured artist), Lemar, Ultrabeat and also Angel City. Disc 1 fave: "Where Is The Love", brilliant opener and one of the big selling points of the album, it's such a well written song. it goes to a collection you can get more of these now cds and it is well worth trying to collect all of the set if you can as they normally have all the number ones that have been at number 1 in the charts.On This Day In HistoryAmerican soul singer Arthur Conley died of intestinal cancer in Ruurlo, The Netherlands at the age of 57. I haven't played myself for 20+ years but the tone of the guitar was so sweet and the action so easy to play that I couldn't resist. In fact the latter was my favourite song of 2003 not by Delta Goodrem, such a sorely underrated track that I wish had stayed in the charts a little longer.

For example Busted's Sleeping With The Light On is long forgotten by now, but Crashed The Wedding is the current single.Though I didn't think it at the time, mid-late 2003 was actually a fairly vintage time for pop despite the very low sales climate. Rachel Stevens (I am obsessed with Rachel's solo career more than is probably healthy, but singles like this were why. Most have those would have been missed for not being big enough hits or because the artist had other songs on this volume I guess. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Other highlights include "Mad World" by Michael Andrews, "Rock Your Body" by Justin Timberlake and "Are You Ready for Love" by Elton John.