If you've been fortunate to somehow never see one of the commercials for those "NOW That's What I Call Music!" compilations, all you need to know is that they are generic mixes of popular songs all lumped together, presumably for people who only care about singles. But I didn't realize they were actually so popular, or still going. As of January 2021, there are 77 temporal editions, each one collecting songs that were all popular around the same time, plus a whole litany of other spin-offs themed by holidays and moods ranging from slow jams to Halloween to Yacht Rock.
There is also, as I've now learned, a 59-song NOW! 3-CD collection dedicated to "Dad Rock." And it is definitely a range of Dad Rock — I've been a dad for all of ten months, and the 2018 compilation almost embarrassingly hits on some of my musical tastes. The same would be true if you became a dad in the 80s, like my own dad. I have to admit: putting together a list of songs that appeal to dads across a range of 40 years is a strangely impressive feat.
It also makes me feel lame as hell (and some of the songs are, indeed, lame as hell).
Here's the full track listing, which is almost brilliantly nonsensical in its curatorial approach:
1. Queen – "We Will Rock You"
2. The Rolling Stones – "Start Me Up"
3. U2 – "With or Without You"
4. Bon Jovi – "Livin' on a Prayer"
5. Imagine Dragons – "Radioactive"
6. The Killers – "Mr. Brightside"
7. Stereophonics – "Dakota"
8. Hozier – "Take Me to Church"
9. Nickelback – "Rockstar"
10. Lynyrd Skynyrd – "Sweet Home Alabama"
11. Boston – "More Than a Feeling"
12. Blue Oyster Cult – "(Don't Fear) The Reaper"
13. Meat Loaf – "Bat Out of Hell"
14. Motorhead – "Ace of Spades"
15. The Clash – "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
16. The Jam – "Town Called Malice"
17. Spin Doctors – "Two Princes"
18. Scouting for Girls – "She's So Lovely"
19. The Fratellis – "Chelsea Dagger"
20. Primal Scream – "Rocks"
21. Toto – "Africa"
22. Simple Minds – "Don't You (Forget About Me)"
23. The La's – "There She Goes"
24. The Stone Roses – "I Wanna Be Adored"
25. Keane – "Everybody's Changing"
26. The Fray – "How to Save a Life"
27. James Bay – "Hold Back the River"
28. The Lumineers – "Ho Hey"
29. Free – "All Right Now"
30. Deep Purple – "Smoke on the Water"
31. Iggy and the Stooges – "Search and Destroy"
32. Lenny Kravitz – "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
33. RUN-DMC feat. Aerosmith – "Walk This Way"
34. Beastie Boys – "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)"
35. Fountains of Wayne – "Stacy's Mom"
36. Feeder – "Buck Rogers"
37. Blink-182 – "All the Small Things"
38. Kiss – "Crazy Crazy Nights"
39. Robert Palmer – "Addicted to Love"
40. Europe – "The Final Countdown"
41. Wheatus – "Teenage Dirtbag"
42. MGMT – "Kids"
43. Sum 41 – "In Too Deep
44. Razorlight – "America"
45. Avril Lavigne – "Complicated"
46. Natalie Imbruglia – "Torn"
47. The 1975 – "The Sound"
48. Bastille – "Pompeii"
49. The Kooks – "Naive"
50. Deep Blue Somethings – "Breakfast at Tiffany's"
51. Bachman-Turner Overdrive – "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet"
52. Eric Clapton – "I Shot the Sheriff"
53. REO Speedwagon – "Can't Fight This Feeling"
54. Rod Stewart – "Maggie May"
55. ZZ Top – "Sharp Dressed Man"
56. Steppenwolf – "Born to Be Wild"
57. Whitesnake – "Here I Go Again '87"
58. Survivor – "Eye of the Tiger"
59. Roxy Music – "Love Is the Drug"
Now, here's the question: is this what you call Dad Rock?
