Backstreet Boys Albums (7)
What The Critics Say
Since their mid-2000s reunion, the Backstreet Boys have been acting like adults so it's not entirely a surprise that they've decided to shake things up on This Is Us, their third album of the comeback and second since becoming a quartet. Teaming up once again with Max Martin and working with a host of modern hitmakers as RedOne, the group takes a left turn back toward the rhythm-heavy, harmony-laden dance-pop that made their reputation a decade before. Never mind the name of the album -- the group is tellingly quite willing to fade into background, letting the producers do their work, just content to sing the hooks. It's a sharp move in two ways: BSB never had as much on-record charisma as *NSync, their best trait was how they could sell a hook without affect, and that returns here. Of course, it helps that they have a bunch of hooks here, too -- hooks that aren't quite as galvanizing as "I Want It That Way," but easily eclipsing those on the pedestrian Unbreakable, helping the band seem modern without seeming pandering. It's a move that the New Kids on the Block couldn't pull off on their tawdry, sex-obsessed comeback, and it's one that the Backstreets seemed incapable of doing just a few years ago, but on This Is Us, the group sounds great for their age, and they sound like they're at their peak -- which is no guarantee of a hit, but it sure makes for a better album than they've produced in quite a while. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The Backstreet Boys struck a defensive stance on their 2005 comeback, titling it Never Gone as if they hadn't been dormant for about five years. Never Gone was greeted by the requisite flurry of press and a modest amount of success, turning platinum without really generating any real hits -- enough to revive their career but falling just short of making them stars again -- so it's not entirely a surprise that in the year following its release, Kevin Richardson left the band for a solo career while Nick Carter tried his hand at reality TV, teaming up with his sibling for E!'s House of Carters, a move that gained Backstreet Boys about as much publicity as Tommy Lee Goes to College did for Mötley Crüe. Carter wasn't about to leave BSB, though, he was just biding time until the group assembled their next album, 2007's Unbreakable. Bearing a title equally as defiant as Never Gone, the Backstreets do sound a little bit shaken here, as they revive a modicum of their sound of 2000, all the better to balance the somewhat stodgy adult contemporary vibe of their 2005 album. These dancier, poppier moments -- such as "Everything But Mine," which opens the album after a slight harmony intro from the boys; "One in a Million," which conjures memories of the stuttering eight-note beats of "Larger Than Life"; or "Any Other Way," which doesn't quite have the guts to go completely Futuresex in the way its thumping electro-beat suggests, so it slides into Chicago territory -- are used as window dressing for tunes that aren't as lively as "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)," but the lighter touch does help the many ballads. Also helping Unbreakable is the focus that a handful of producers give it: most of this is produced (and often co-written) by Dan Muckala, who specializes in keeping things breezy, both on the ballads and up-tempo tunes, and the John Shanks, Emanuel Kiriakou, Billy Mann, and JC Chasez productions fit seamlessly next to each other. So, like Never Gone, the basic sound of the album is good, but the problem is that few of the songs stick -- even less than they did last time around, which is too bad because the biggest Backstreet hits, like "I Want it That Way" and "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)," crossed over from the teen pop genre because the songs were so strong. Here, the Backstreet Boys don't have any songs that will lift them out of the adult contemporary world -- but the audience who has turned from teens to adults with them will likely enjoy its easy sound, as there is nothing bad here. There's just nothing great, either. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
It's been nearly five years since the Backstreet Boys have released a new album, but as the all-too-literal title of 2005's Never Gone makes clear, they don't want you to call their fourth LP a comeback -- in their mind, they've been here for years. That's not strictly true, since all five members have disappeared from the charts, if not the tabloid headlines, since their 2000 flop, Black & Blue. While fellow teen pop icons like Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera had successful transitions into adulthood, while Jessica Simpson turned reality TV star and Mandy Moore turned genuine actress (for pity's sake, we will ignore Britney Spears' horrifying descent into white trash abyss), Kevin Richardson, Howie Dorough, and Brian Littrell all faded away as A.J. McLean suffered a very public addiction to various substances. Nick Carter also suffered at the hands of the tabloids, in large part due to a very stormy relationship with Paris Hilton, but he also had the distinction of being the only Backstreet Boy to deliver a solo album -- Now or Never in 2002 -- which meant that he was the only BSB with an ignoble flop to his credit, as well. Now or Never had the distinction of being an old-school teen pop album being delivered too far after the craze. Carter's peers were changing their stripes, but he stuck to the tried and true BSB formula and was punished by the fickle public accordingly. Given that public humiliation, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Carter and the other Boys are wise enough to try something new on Never Gone: they've abandoned the teen pop of the late '90s for anthemic adult contemporary that sounds a bit like Bryan Adams circa 1990. It's not a reinvention as much as a lateral move, shifting from one kind of pop that's not selling to another that's not selling, but to their credit, Backstreet Boys acquit themselves reasonably well here. First of all, there's a bit of pleasure in hearing a group throw itself into the big, resolutely square sound of '90s adult contemporary, since nobody else is doing this sound in 2005, but also it fits the group well, particularly Carter, with his newly raspy lead vocals. Second, this is by and large a well-made record, with a handful of standout tracks, notably the first single "Incomplete," the John Ondrasik-written "Weird World," which is a lot more fun than any Five for Fighting tune, the Max Martin-helmed "Just Want You to Know," and "Lose It All," which bizarrely and appealingly sounds like an MOR version of an Oasis ballad. Although the rest of the record is essentially well-made filler, it does sound good; this is one time that a pop record benefits by having a different production team for nearly every one of the album's tracks, since the sound of each tune is just different enough to keep things interesting yet unified enough to make it pleasant background music. This is all enough to make Never Gone a solid adult contemporary album, which will please both BSB diehards and the dwindling ranks who wish that the glory days of Jon Secada never ended, but its relative strength does highlight one problem with the album: this kind of music doesn't sound quite as convincing when delivered by a group of guys as it does by one singer. If Never Gone had been released as Nick Carter's second solo album or A.J. McLean's first, it would have felt more genuine, since these (marginally) more mature songs of love and relationships would have more resonance sung by a solo singer instead of a pack of guys. But that's nitpicking, because even if it never sells as well as Millennium did at the turn of the century, Never Gone is at the very least a successful musical makeover from the onetime teen pop kings. [Never Gone was released in several editions, including a copy-protected CD that will not play on your computer without installing a separate media player, and a DualDisc, containing a CD on one side and a DVD on the other. The DualDisc has a 5.1 mix version of the album on the DVD side, along with the video for "Incomplete" as well as a brief documentary about the making of the video for "Incomplete." The CD side of the DualDisc may not register on some computers.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
When 'N Sync usurped the Backstreet Boys' record of number of albums sold in a single week early in 2000, it had to hurt the Backstreets, since it was played in the press as if they had lost the teen pop throne. By the time the group released their third album, Black & Blue, Thanksgiving week 2000, 'N Sync was still popular, but the arc of No Strings Attached illustrated that they were weak where the Backstreets were strong -- namely, they couldn't really deliver the seductive mid-tempo pop tunes and ballads that were the backbone of the Boys' crossover success. Songs like "Shape of My Heart," which flows as gracefully as "I Want It That Way," prove that the Backstreet Boys do teen pop ballads better than anyone, but what's interesting about Black & Blue is how aggressively they protect their territory. Of course, it's relative protection, since they, like 'N Sync and Britney Spears, work with Max Martin, the man behind the biggest hits by all three artists. Consequently, it's not a coincidence that "Get Another Boyfriend" is a dead ringer for "It's Gonna Be Me" crossed with "Baby One More Time," but what gives Black & Blue character is that it's clear that the Backstreets want to remain kings of their world. So, the ballads are smoother than ever, and their dance numbers hit harder, all in an attempt to keep their throne. It works, even if it takes a couple spins before the singles stand out, since the Backstreets' material and voices are stronger than that of their peers, adding up to state of the art teen-pop. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The Backstreet Boys finally broke (and broke big) in America during 1998, as if by design. They had been Euro sensations for a couple of years, but it wasn't until Backstreet's Back was unleashed in the U.S. in 1997 that they had a presence in the States, and it was no small presence, either -- after selling over ten million copies, the album remained in the Top 40 on the eve of the release of its sequel, Millennium. And sequel is the appropriate word -- Millennium has no pretense of being anything other than an album for the moment, delivering more of everything that made Backstreet's Back a blockbuster. There's a familiar blend of ballads and dance-pop, a similar shiny production, a reliance on the Boys' charisma that brings to mind the debut. If Millennium were anything other than big, glossy mainstream pop, such calculation may be a little unseemly, but in this context, it can be rather fun. True, the album doesn't pack as much punch as its predecessor -- there's a number of good songs, but more filler than before, and the Backstreet sound isn't as fresh as it was the first time around -- but it does deliver what fans want: more of the same. And since there are singles as infectious as "I Want It That Way" and a handful of good ballads, that will be enough to satisfy anyone craving more, more, more. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The Backstreet Boys finally achieved American success with their second album, Backstreet's Back. The reason for the sudden success had more to do with good marketing than the music itself, since Backstreet's Back is nearly identical to Backstreet Boys. Loaded with dance-pop and ballads, the album is as glossy as mainstream pop can possibly be. That slick production adds luster to the singles "Quit Playin' Games (With My Heart)" and "As Long as You Love Me," making them as irresistible as teen pop can be. There isn't anything else that really matches those twin peaks, but there's enough craft, hooks, and fun on the rest of the album to make it quite entertaining. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The Backstreet Boys' eponymous debut album was released in America nearly a full year after its original European release, and the wait proved to be a blessing in disguise. In that year, light dance-pop -- such as the Spice Girls and Hanson -- returned to the top of the American charts, paving the way for the frothy pleasures of Backstreet Boys. Like those groups, the Backstreet Boys divide their time between catchy, up-tempo dance numbers and syrupy ballads, and they are as reliant on their personality as they are their talent. As a result, there are a couple of slow spots on the record, but each of the singles, plus a handful of album tracks, are potent combinations of professional hooks and personal charm that make Backstreet Boys a thoroughly enjoyable affair. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
