Kidz Bop Gold

Not content to stick with covering current rock and pop, Kidz Bop returns with Kidz Bop Gold, a collection of classic '60s and '70s singles "sung by kids for kids" -- although that really means that the kids are singing backup for people who sound like the original performers. The quality of the songs on Kidz Bop Gold is better than on the regular Kidz Bop collections, but that just makes this album even less necessary than the rest of the series; the original versions of songs like "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," "Yellow Submarine," and "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)" are already kid-friendly singalong songs. To be fair though, many of the remakes are decent; "Stand by Me," "Here Comes the Sun," "How Sweet It Is," and "Teach Your Children Well" sound particularly good (though still not as good as the originals, it must be noted). Only a few songs sound downright bad: "Dancing in the Street" never really needed a chorus of kids singing backup, and the tinny-sounding brass on this version just makes it seem cheap. "Happy Together" never really seemed like a kids' singalong song, and the version that appears here doesn't make much of a case for it. Even though a good oldies collection would have better versions of these songs or songs like them and would probably be more fun to sing along with, Kidz Bop Gold might be of some use to parents (or grandparents) who would like their children to become familiar with some of their favorite songs, or who would like to sing along with their kids to some songs that they actually know and like. ~ Heather Phares