It's that time of the year again: Father's Day. And what do the labels think? Well, I'll tell you. (Cue Hillbilly accent). 'There's easy pickings in them thar hills'. But the landscape has changed these days with the Internet and the iPod. Gone are the glory days of the 'TV advertised campaign', Woolies is struggling, and it is difficult, therefore, to understand this latest marketing exercise. Surely Wise Dads will get their offspring to rip these tracks from their ageing CDs and/or from the Web?

World's Best Dad (SonyBMG) is a 3-CD catch-all that runs the whole gamut of alleged 'Dad Rock' from Adam Ant to ZZ Top . In that sense it is not really fixed in time, it just cherry picks from all eras and styles. The inclusion of tracks like Chicago's 'Hard Habit To Break' and Air Supply's 'All Out Of Love' are evidently for Soppy Dads (or more likely, their partners) and it's the mix of the sublime and the saccharine that may alienate some. ***

Classic School of Rock (Universal) taps into the 'school's out' euphoria of June/July and makes seventies retards hanker for a better age or at least a time when they could remember 'Watney's Party Seven'. This is a time when rock was fun, when the hair was big, and the music was invariably guitar driven and chorus-friendly. Yes it was overblown, yes it could be cheesy, but combined with a warm summer and cheap cider: who the hell cared?

It's the more interesting compilation because it includes second division bands such as Little Angels, Warrant and Cinderella amongst the usual suspects. This blend of essentially radio-friendly rock is bolstered by the likes of Kiss, Rush and Black Sabbath. But there lies the rub. There are countless internet radio stations plugging such tunes 24/7 and so they are never far away.

As an exercise in nostalgia, and possible jolting of grey matter, A+, as a definitive selection: could do better. ***

Review by David Randall