Jock Jams volume 2 continues the tradition of upbeat fun

Those of you who have read other epinions of mine have probably noticed a pattern developing here. That pattern being my collection of Tommy Boy's Jock CDs, both Rock and Jam. Fear not my fearless readers, the collection is not endless. But that's not really the point here... the point is Jock Jams 2, the second compilation of the hottest crows-pumpin' grooves of all time, produced by ESPN. As I've mentioned in earlier reviews, the purpose of these collections are to kind of recreate the energy of a fun song bring played in a crowded sports event to get the crowd well, pumped.

Unlike its older sibling (volume 1), JJ2 is not quite so early nineties. You'll still hear some of these songs played at clubs. Alright, so the fact that Macarena is there kind of dates it a little. But even that was a decent dance song until pop culture squished the life out of it. I'd be hard pressed to choose even a few favorites from here- not because there are none, but because I like nearly every song on here! What don't I like? Well, the cheerleaders sort of bother me. It was cute and amusing when Jock Rock used sports sounds and when JJ1 as well as JR used ESPNisms, even though they were a nice plug for the station and its broadcasting stars. But I could really do without those cheers! I suppose taking them out would kind of sap the whole spirit and make it just another dance music compilation. I'm just not big on cherleaders. (No offense to those of you who do, it's just not my thing.) In my humble opinion, I think these CDs should just go back to the funny little tunes and general sounds. But even the cheerleading isn't enough to varnish my general happiness with JJ2.

JJ2 contains a nice mix of straight up dance music and "pop rap". There are the usual couple songs that don't really seem to make sense in context. Last volume it was YMCA and Rock & Roll Part 2, this volume it's Macho Man and Get Down Tonight. I understand that the word "jams" leaves much room for interpretation, however it seems to me that these tunes would've worked better with the Rock CDs, which are chock full of these type of songs. Maybe they decided they didn't have enough to make another Rock CD and are rationing out the overflow, I don't know. (Ah, a Tommy Boy/ESPN mystery! A conspiracy maybe?) Anyway, here is the line-up:

1. Welcome to the big show- Dan Patrick & Chris Berman
2. No Limit- 2 Unlimited
3. Everybody, Everybody- Black Box
4. 1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)- Coolio
5. We Got A Love Thang- CeCe Peniston
6. This Is Your Night- Amber
7. Hey, Hey You- the cheerleaders
8. This Is How We Do It- Montell Jordan
9. Set It Off- Strafe
10. Macarena- Los Del Mar
11. I Like To Move It- Reel To Reel
12. Groovin' In The Bleachers- the cheerleaders
13. Party- Dis N' Dat
14. Get Down Tonight- KC & The Sunshine Band
15. Give It Up- The Goodmen
16. Action, Boys, Action- the cheerleaders
17. The Bomb- The Bucketheads
18. Boom Boom Boom- The Outhere Brothers
19. What's Up- DJ Miko
20. Happy and You Know It- Ray Castoldi
21. Macho Man- The Village People

At any rate, this CD is upbeat and fun to listen to. Some of the songs are popular among the dance music compilation realm. I think I have Boom Boom Boom and I Like To Move It on three different CDs now. (But I adore both songs, so it doesn't affect me all that much.) If you have an extensive collection of dance type stuff, you may find that this CD isn't really worth owning. But all of the Jock series are unique, and it's a nice gathering of party music no matter what. Nowhere else will you find Village People and Coolio together!