Another year, another disposable Take Action compilation - two discs worth, in fact. 44 songs [and one public service announcement] are contained on these two discs, covering every aspect of indie music these days, it seems - Thrice, The Ataris, Thursday, Elliott, Boy Sets Fire, Further Seems Forever, Rise Against, Copeland, Vaux, Spitalfield, This Day Forward, Cursive, The Jealous Sound, The Bronx, and Small Brown Bike are just a handful of the artists participating in this compilation.

All of the material is taken from the artist in question's most recent full-length, so these two discs tend to play out as more of a "who's who in 2003" sampler than anything else. This is the biggest downfall to this compilation - if you're avidly into music, than odds are you own all the best stuff on here [and you've also learned to avoid the shit on here, as well - helllooo, Silverstein and Senses Fail]. The 2001 edition of this compilation succeeded because of it's massive collection of unreleased/rare tracks. Both last year's and this year's compilations suffer because of the lack of effort displayed by the label. Almost every one of these songs is available for download on a band/label/MP3.com website somewhere. Kinda takes the fun out of it.

But it's hard to bash a compilation that supports such a good cause, that being suicide prevention. Considering how cheap this is, it would be a worthy investment for, say, a sibling/friend/significant other whose musical tastes aren't nearly as open as your own. Otherwise, just write a check to the National Hopeline Network and pass on this.