A tighter distillation of that watershed (and Watergate) year, the triple LP edition of NOW: Yearbook 1972 trims the sprawl to a more DJ-minded cross-section, privileging flow and contrast over encyclopaedic reach. Early 70s pop still hadn't taken on any one strict genre lane, so Rod Stewart, Cat Stevens and Gilbert O'Sullivan sit beside the stirring theatrics of glam in Slade and Sweet; US soft rock and singer-songwriter craft from Harry Nilsson and Carly Simon fed the growing dominance of polished studio production; and elsewhere, Philly soul's ascent begins to register through acts like The Stylistics, signalling a shift to smoother, orchestrated textures that would define mid-70s radio. The conceit (howeve nostalgic) is that this was a time when the market hadn't yet totally been captured by format, demographics - or god forbid, data or "clicks" - and where hits could emerge from almost anywhere, and coexist without so much as a raised eyebrow.