Now That’s What I Call Music! 7

The seventh installment of the now-ubiquitous NOW series captures the UK pop landscape of 1991, bundling chart hits from Stock Aitken Waterman’s production empire alongside emerging Britpop and rave crossovers. Universal Music Group’s compilation formula—maximalist, democratic, utterly commercial—peaks here with tracks spanning right-to-left radio rotation: Stock Aitken Waterman’s synthetic pop machinery, acid house aftershocks, and the first stirrings of baggy. Essential snapshot of a moment when pop had no single center.