Backstreet Boys hit number one again - SOUNDS FAMILIAR by Baby A. Gil

Most of the papers came out with the story. Although the Backstreet Boys’ new album Black &Blue made it to number one in the US charts, it still failed to set a record for first week in stores sales figures. Currently holding on to this is ‘N Sync, said to be the BSB’s top rival for fan following. ’N Sync’s album No String Attached sold 2.4 million copies during the week it was released last March. Black & Blue sold big, 1.59 million copies but that is still many pieces short of ’N Sync’s record.

Blame is being put on the single release, Shape of My Heart, which is typical boy band fare. I believe though that the real reason is that the Backstreet Boys has reached a level in its stature when along with maturity comes a less excited fan following. These guys are now on their way to becoming "older statesmen" of the boy band sound when they will be admired, adored, respected and hopefully mentioned alongside the Beatles. Their newer, younger versions might generate more screams and frenzied buying on release dates but the likes of the BSB will still sell more because their albums will have a longer shelf life.

Come to think of it, this was the same thing that happened to the Spice Girls’ Forever. The group’s best-produced album to date took a backseat to Westlife in the UK charts and barely made it to the US Top 40. I still believe though that the album won them a lot of new admirers who will certainly look forward to whatever music they come up with in the future. In fact, the biggest seller that the BSB and the Spice Girls and Eminem, etc., etc., are up against these days is The Beatles: #1, a collection of the number one hits by the greatest boy band of all time.

Fans have no cause for worry though because unlike the innovative Millennium, the boys chose to explore their early music in this new album. So there are lots of swoony romantic ballads and upbeat dance numbers done in the hard-driving boy band sound they popularized. Shape of My Heart is the supreme example in Black & Blue. Yes I Will is another. The Call and Get Another Boyfriend reminds me of Mariah Carey at her most commercial. And just to show that they have not sold out on the altar of fan adulation whatever they accomplished in Millennium, they have Time, which was produced by the esteemed Babyface and the tango tinged Shining Star produced by Rodney Jenkins who also worked with the Spice Girls in Forever.

The other songs in the album are I Promise You (With Everything I Am), The Answer to Our Life, Everyone, More Than That, Not For Me, It’s True, What Makes You Different (Makes You Beautiful), and How Did I Fall In Love With You.

Black and Blue is the BSB’s follow-up to 1999’s record-setting smash Millennium. It was released worldwide with great funfare last Nov. 20. The release of the album was marked with a 100-hour, 26,000-mile tour in a specially-chartered 737 jet that

took the boys around the world to concerts in Stockholm, Sweden, Tokyo, Sydney, Cape Town, South Africa, Rio de Janeiro and New York. They also sold a lot of albums in those cities so when the final figures come in, the Backstreet Boys will surely add several millions more to the more than 55 million copies they have already sold all over the world. Not counting the pirates of course.

The Backstreet Boys is made up of Brian, Nick, Howie D. and AJ. After a year in the market, their album Millennium is still ranked among the top 100 sellers and the singles Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely and I Want It That Way remain huge favorites. Expect the same from Black & Blue, ’N Sync and Westlife and others notwithstanding.

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Expect big things too out of Thalia. The Mexican soap opera star who became the darling of millions of Pinoys thanks to Rosalinda and Marimar recently married music industry mogul and well-known Svengali Thomas Mottola, head of Sony Music. About 10 years ago, an unknown singer thrust a demo tape into Mottola’s hand just as he stepped inside his limo. He listened to the tape while in the car, went back and put the young girl under contract with Sony and with him as his wife. They have since divorced but she remains an excellent singer and a huge star. Her name is Mariah Carey.