Hurricane relief (2005)

Released by the RIAA via a joint effort from all the major labels, Hurricane relief: Come together now is a double-disc benefit album for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated large portions of the Gulf Coast, including one of America's greatest musical cities, New Orleans. Given its leisurely pace and overly generous length of 35 tracks spread out over two discs, there's plenty of room for examples of classic New Orleans music and new recordings from current superstars, plus the de rigueur all-star singalongs, and that's what makes Hurricane relief: Come together now both intriguing and maddening: for every good moment, there's a mediocrity or an embarrassment right around the corner. All the classic New Orleans cuts are well-chosen — Louis Armstrong opens it up with Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? and songs by Clifton Chenier and Professor Longhair follow — but there aren't many of them, which makes some sense: these aren't the names that sell records in 2005, so it's better to load up the record with a bunch of big marquee names. Hurricane relief contains plenty of those kind of marquee names — in fact, it's often stretched to the bursting point, with a cover of Eric Clapton's Tears in heaven featuring 16 credited artists and the brand new title track, co-written by socialite/songwriter Denise Rich and actress Sharon Stone, featuring a gob-smacking 27 artists.