The first time I ever heard the
Backstreet Boys,
I was 10 years old and on my way to the hospital to be treated for a
fractured wrist. The song was “Quit Playing Games (With My Heart),” and
boy, did those dreamboats have me hooked. Amid my pain and my hatred
for Ralph Green — the boy responsible for my broken arm — I still
remember thinking, “Man, this is going to be my new favorite band.
These guys are going to be
huge.”
And huge they were, snagging fans like me and just about every other
8- to 17-year-old girl in 1997 after the release of their self-titled
debut. The hits kept coming — “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” “I Want
It That Way,” “Shape of My Heart” — and it seemed like these singing
and dancing machines were unstoppable.
Until they stopped.
Five years later, when BSB released Never Gone in 2005, they were unable to re-establish their presence on the pop scene and another attempt in 2007, Unbreakable, also failed to chart. An entire era of boy band domination as I’d known it — with acts like ‘NSYNC, LFO, and 98 Degrees following the Backstreet Boys’ lead — seemed to be coming to an end.
BSB tries to revive it with last Tuesday’s release of This Is Us. Now a foursome since the departure of Kevin Richardson in 2006, the band confirms to the world they can still make a record as well as they did a dozen years ago.
Yeah, I said it — the album is good. But let me clarify: This Is Us is just good because it’s the same BSB album you already own and love. From 1997.
The first single, “Straight Through My Heart,” is radio-friendly but
also a glaring reminder of the band’s current ages (Nick Carter the
youngest at 29) and its only real charm is nostalgia. Held against
singles by solo artists like Kanye West or bands like Kings of Leon, and a trip down memory lane just isn’t enough to hold a listener’s interest. Not after one or two plays, anyway.
“PDA,” possibly the most annoying song on the album with lyrics like
“kissing and touching with my hands all over your booty,” made me laugh
out loud. Booty?Men by now, so just spell it out like the rest of the adults: You’re looking for some ass. It’s OK. Seriously? Only rap artists can get away
with that kind of lingo, and only because they realize the absurdity of
it. Come on, fellas. You should be Backstreet
“Masquerade” is a song with Top 40 potential — that is, if Britney Spears
had covered it. Verses like “This scene’s so hypnotic, smoking mirrors,
lights and magic … So won’t you stay and dance with me?” would have fit
perfect on Spears’ club-ready Circus. More unfortunately, the track’s dance music beats just don’t gel with the rest of This Is Us and “Masquerade” isn’t a song you’d really expect (or even want) from the Backstreet Boys.
The album’s high point is “Bigger.” While the lyrics are still
pretty amateur — “You keep sticking around while I’m acting a clown” —
I’m a sucker for songs that use a simple string of “la la la’s” to
lovely effect.
Overall, This Is Us is a passable attempt by the Backstreet Boys to show they can keep the music going even after enduring the embarrassment of House of Carters (Nick Carter’s reality show), or getting stricken with swine flu (Brian Littrell).
But spending too much time out of the spotlight has its repercussions.
I’m not 10 anymore, and although I jam to their old-school tunes every
now and then, I’ve grown up and moved on. So have most of the other
fans, and with acts like the Jonas Brothers ushering in a new era of boy bands, This Is Us comes off as too little, too late.
01. Crazy Love, Michael Buble
