Coolmixes

It's getting harder and harder to distinguish Radio Disney Jams from non-kid releases. Which is not to say the masterminds of this consistently popular series have scuttled their mission to consider kids first--only that they've gotten very, very smart about assembling discs that satisfy a universal appetite for playful pop. Consider the cross-generational gems they've laid out this time: Daniel Powter's "Bad Day," Rascal Flatt's "Life Is a Highway," and Natahsa Bedingfield's "Unwritten" round out such kid-centric but extremely digestable nuggets as the High School Musical cast's "Start of Something New" and Hannah Montana's "If We Were a Movie." There are moments when the producers' motives seem suspect--did they throw on that T-Squad track not because it's a hit but because they want to call attention to an up-and-coming Disney act?--but overall 9 is a shrewd step in the right direction for the series. The days of "The Hampster Dance Song," mercifully, appear to be done. --Tammy La Gorce

18.98