Barbie Hit Mix
Strip away the photo of Barbie asBritneywannabe on the cover and extend the track list with a few hard-rocking, boy-skewed songs, and what you're left with here is yet another installment of the irritating but phenomenally popularKidz Bopseries. Harshly put,Hit Mixis a knockoff. On it you will find an identical-sounding chorus of kids crooning slowed-down versions of top-10ers, the main difference being that the Rhino/Mattel offering is more amenable to listeners whose main objective is finding music they can march their dolls along to in mock fashion shows (or hold make-believe Ken, Barbie, and Midge concerts to, or stage all night boogie-fests for their anatomically incorrect heroes to). Bottom line: If your 4- to 8-year-old gets as much of a rise out ofJessica Simpsonas she does her Barbie Townhouse, or if she's a kid who "bopz" shamelessly, her hopes, but probably not yours, have been answered withHit Mix. --Tammy La Gorce