Kidz Bop 5

The indefatigable Kidz Bop series continues with Kidz Bop, Vol. 5, another roundup of pop hits performed by session musicians and a chorus of kid vocalists. The album gets off to a relatively strong start with two of 2003's best and biggest singles, "Crazy in Love" and "Hey Ya!" Adding kids' voices to the chorus of "Crazy in Love" doesn't detract from the song as much as the fact that it's not Beyoncé singing it. "Hey Ya!," meanwhile, has the kid-unfriendly part of the "I don't want to meet your momma" lyric removed (as are all the references to "Beyoncés and Lucy Lius"). As cheery and irresistible as the songs' choruses are, it's more than a little unnerving to hear kids singing along to lyrics like "We know that we're not happy here." It might also be unnerving for hipper parents to hear Talk Talk's "It's My Life" (d)evolve from a new wave single to a No Doubt cover to a session band trying to sound like No Doubt with kids singing along on the choruses. Still, these songs work better than some of the mopier songs on Kidz Bop, Vol. 5.