For the past few years, it has not been difficult to guess what will be at or near the top of the infamous music chart The Billboard 200. Correctly picking most of the top 20 albums is about as challenging as predicting that the Minnesota Vikings would once again choke right before the Super Bowl (they’ll make it next year, really).Planning to check on the usual suspects — Pearl Jam wannabe Creed, Limp Bizkit or some band that wishes they were Limp Bizkit and some boy band that is usually on top — I went to Billboard’s Web site. I should be in the commercials for the Psychic Friends network, because there they were, Creed at No. 4, Limp Bizkit at No. 7 and the token boy band at … No. 18?Something seemed weird. The Backstreet Boys, having spent two of their nine weeks on the chart at number one were all the way down at No. 18 with their latest release, “Black & Blue.” ‘N Sync was way down at 28 with “No Strings Attached” and the next highest factory-assembled flavor of the month was 98 Degrees at 79.Normally, this would make me so happy that I might forget that Randy Moss should have caught four touchdown passes, and Robert Smith should have rushed for 200 yards in Tampa, but then I looked at the top spots on the Billboard 200. “Now 5,” the soundtrack for “Save the Dance” and Shaggy’s “Hotshot” — all depressing. And then, at number one, the Beatles.The Beatles? Weren’t they all dead or at least really old? Didn’t they sing that one “Free As a Bird” song that came out a few years ago? Actually, I love the music of John, Paul, George and Ringo and deeply appreciate their numerous contributions to modern music. So, it seemed that my predictions were wrong — there wasn’t a mass-marketed group of attractive young men with song titles featuring combinations of the words “love,” “me” and “you” toward on top of the chart. The Beatles were, after all, a far cry from most of the crap populating The Billboard 200.Finally, something was going the way it should in the music industry — after all, the best band of all time was selling more records than anyone else. Forget the Super Bowl, life was great. My new found joy didn’t last long.I thought, hey, maybe I should pick up “Beatles One.” After all, I already knew the music was going to be amazing. So, I took a look at the track listings. The first three songs on the album are “Love Me Do,” “From Me to You” and “She Loves You.” These are followed by “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Can’t Buy Me Love.”All of a sudden, it struck me. I had found my token boy band. Let’s count: three “loves,” three “mes,” three (sort of) “yous.” Yeah, I know it is nothing new to think of the Beatles as the original boy band, but this was disturbing.The success of “Beatles One” seems like one of the most amazing things to happen to the music industry in a long time. It was the proof that people really do appreciate good music. But in actuality, it is just another record label marketing ploy to sell CD product.This album does not need to exist. There have already been plenty of Beatles greatest hits albums — at least five. And that doesn’t include the Anthologies which featured different versions of many already released Beatles songs.The thing is, the Fab Four are being treated just the same as ‘N Sync or the Backstreet Boys. They are being pimped out as the eternal boy band. Most people know and appreciate the music, so it is a guaranteed gold mine.”Nobody should be particularly surprised that it has been as successful,” Robert Christgau, Village Voice senior editor told Sonicnet.com. “The Beatles are, alongside Elvis Presley, the dominant brand of pop music.”But underlying the timelessness of the music is the fact that the industry views it merely as a product and not as a work of art. Otherwise, they would just re-master old albums and promote them rather than releasing a “new” Beatles record.”It went nicely to the baby boomers as an addition to an existing collection,” John Artale, director of purchasing for National Record Mart, told Sonicnet.com, ” and it goes nicely to the younger set as a primer.”It looks like it’s settling into being a pretty healthy catalog piece,” he added.The sad thing is, it shouldn’t be. The Beatles, like many other great bands, have recorded many songs that didn’t quite reach number one but are still amazing tracks. The remaining Beatles should not have gone along with this shameless, purely for the money release. And if they are primarily responsible for its creation, I am truly saddened.If you truly want beautiful Beatles music that really influenced some of the greatest rock and pop bands of today, don’t buy “Beatles One.” Pick up “Revolver” and listen to “Tomorrow Never Knows” or grab “Rubber Soul” and check out “In My Life.” These songs never made it to number one, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to be heard.It is to my great dismay that I have to admit that “Beatles One” is as bad as any of the NOW compilation albums that feature the greatest hits from acts such as BBMak, Janet and Bon Jovi. Now if that isn’t as sad as the Vikings losing another NFC Championship game, I don’t know what is.