Radio Disney Jams 8

(This package includes a DVD featuring the following: "Fly" - Hilary Duff, "What's Your Name?" - Jesse McCartney, "Do You Believe In Magic" - Aly & AJ, "Shake A Tail Feather" - The Cheetah Girls, and "Just The Way I Am" - Skye Sweetnam.)

Are you a sucker for a pop tune? So is Radio Disney, which puts together more than 50 minutes of the best modern teen pop (and hip-hop) songs on Radio Jams 8.

The compilation features 14 melodic tracks, opening with Aly & AJ's rendition of the Top 10 rock hit from 1965, "Do You Believe in Magic?" by the Lovin' Spoonful.

The compilation's other 13 tracks are originals by rock, pop and hip-hop's best young acts. Some, like Bowling for Soup, Avril Lavigne, and Akon, are rock and hip-hop household names, while others, like The Cheetah Girls, Skye Sweetnam and child actor Jesse McCartney, are special teen-oriented discoveries whose careers have taken on a life of their own.

Actress Hilary Duff who's been cast in many a Disney production (originally in Lizzie McGuire) might just be Radio Disney's biggest discovery, and she continues to shine here on Radio Jams 8 with the disc's best song. Living up to the song's name, "Fly" soars, but it's tethered to the earth by its low end (bass and keyboard part) that resonates in a darker emotional place. But overall, Duff makes the hit sound hopeful and downright inspiring, ultimately inspiring her listeners to "fly," "shine," "overcome" and reminding us that, "In a moment, everything can change." The song was a Top 40 hit from 2004 and is the lead track on her number two Billboard album on Hollywood Records Hilary Duff.

The Click Five ("Pop Princess") mine even more sweet-as-punch guitar pop as does star Jesse McCartney with the infectious up-tempo "What's Your Name?" And the ever-awesome Everlife (the band of sisters with the country-style vocals and big guitars that brought us the hit single "Over It") continues to impress with their latest contribution, "Go Figure."

But kids love more than teen pop, and Radio Disney Jams 8 has some R&B and hip-hop offerings too, including Radio Disney edits of Senegalese-born vocalist Akon's "Lonely" (a Top 5 Top 40 hit in 2005), Atlanta brother band (modeled after the Jackson Five) B5's "Dance 4 U" from their Top 10 self-titled 2005 R&B album. There's also the novelty dance hit "Cha Cha Slide," from Chicago fitness trainer and champion "Stepper" Mr. C The Slide Man, and "Pon De Replay," the summer 2005 radio smash with the Latin-Caribbean dance riddims, by Rihanna.

The compilation is rounded out by other radio smashes from Avril Lavigne (2002's Number One Top 40 hit "Sk8er Boi") and Bowling for Soup's 2005 Top 40 hit "Almost." It closes with what would normally be a novelty song: a cover of Devo by a bunch of ... well, kids calling themselves Devo 2.0. But the re-do of the '80s underground sensation's influential 1983 club smash "That's Good" is pretty spot-on. The similarities in sound between the new ensemble of pre-teens and the original Devo is uncanny.

By Todd Spencer