Kidz Bop, Vol. 16 is easily one of the most kid-friendly collections of songs that the franchise has put together to date. There are a few fun, danceable songs at the album's beginning and end, including
Kristinia DeBarge's
Rihanna-esque "Goodbye" and the
Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" -- which is so goofy that it might as well have heavily Auto-Tuned kids' voices on it -- but ballads make up most of the collection. The
Kidz Bop Kids' version of
Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" and the covers of
Beyoncé's brooding "If I Were a Boy,"
the Fray's "You Found Me," and songs by
Nickelback and
Shinedown are fine but unremarkable. Even
Kidz Bop usual suspects like the
Pussycat Dolls and
P!nk are subdued this time around, with covers of relatively somber hits like "I Hate This Part" and "Please Don't Leave Me." "Circus," the first
Britney Spears song to appear on a
Kidz Bop collection since
Kidz Bop, Vol. 6, enlivens the album, along with a version of
Kanye West's "Heartless" and a cover of
Hannah Montana's "Hoedown Throwdown," which ends up being less irritating than the original song from the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack. The new wrinkle
Kidz Bop, Vol. 16 offers is its final song: Sinái Rose's "LOL" is an original, a brassy pop track based on text-speak. Will
Kidz Bop continue to use its popularity to introduce new artists as well as reinterpret already established ones? Will there be Kidz Bopped covers of songs introduced on earlier collections? Only time will tell. ~ Heather Phares