Nick & Justin: Boys on the solo spot

How does one get out of a boy band, particularly a very popular one? You don’t. The Beatles simply disbanded. All of the brothers Gibbs are still with the Bee Gees. Some take the tragic way out like Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. Some do manage a graceful exit to successful solo careers. Think of Robbie Williams of Take That and Ronan Keating of Boyzone as recent examples. So how will you do it if you were a member of N’Sync or Backstreet Boys? There are no pat answers. The best thing to do is make a solo record and then pray with all your might.

Justified by Justin Timberlake: The singing idol from N’Sync is now 21 and making his solo bid with an album titled Justified, doubtless with hopes of leaving his boy band days behind and of living down his reputation as Britney Spears’ ex-boyfriend. Given the number and quality of the album released these days though, the last one you would be likely to pay attention to would be Justin Timberlake’s. It was not easy but I finally got myself into one of those "Sige na nga, pakinggan na rin" moods and put Justified in the machine. And surprises of surprises – it is a brilliant album.

Timberlake is no great shakes as a singer and his vocals here are just a bit better than average. But his musicallity is something else. Justin puts on the mantle of blue-eyed R&B as he breezes across 14 well-written, excellently produced tracks. The guy can write songs. He collaborated on every cut and though, they are admitted risky given his boy band image, the funky arrangements are sexy and reek of maturity. The later tunes falter a bit in that they leave him sounding too much like Michael Jackson. They are also filled with very commercial hooks.

(Oh No) What You Got, Take It from Here, Like I Love You and Cry Me a River emerge as the best. They are also the most risky and fans might find them devoid of any trace of ‘N’Sync but they put Timberlake in the right direction. That means this guy is going to a lot of places and all of them on his own. Bye, bye ‘N Sync.

Other songs in the album are Señorita Rock, Your Body, Nothin’ Else, Last Night, Still on My Brain, (And She Said) Take Me Now, Right for Me, Let’s Take a Ride, Never Again and Why When How.

Carter’s Now Or Never

Although he seemed like the least musical of the Backstreet Boys, it is easy to see why Nick Carter is getting the first crack at solo stardom. He is the youngest among the members of the group. He also has the kind of blonde, blue-eyed good looks that sell albums no matter how they sound. There was also some trepidation to listening to this one but after immensely enjoying Timberlake’s first solo outing, it was but an easy step to loading Nick Carter’s. If you know how Justin’s turned out, it follows that you should also know how Carter’s fares.

While Justin funks, Carter rocks. While Justin takes a lot of risks with his superb album, Nick does not stray far from the Backstreet Boys fold. The best cuts in Now or Never are the strongly-charged Miss America and Girls in the USA. The single choices however are the bouncy Help Me and the sweet ballad Do I Have to Cry for You. Not bad and quite well made, really, aside from being the most radio-friendly tunes in the album. They make it very obvious though that Carter is playing up to the fans of the Backstreet Boys who have been without a new album for nearly two years. His songs are expected to fill that need, but it might be better for somebody who wants to make it as a solo act to take a cue from Timberlake who went off and did what he wanted.

The other songs included, some of which Carter co-wrote, are My Confession I Stand for You, I Got You, Is It Saturday Yet, Blow Your Mind, I Just Wanna Take you Home, Heart Without a Home, Who Needs the World, Scandalicious and End of Forever. Every CD copy of Now or Never comes with a free VCD containing interviews, footage from the European tour, the Help Me music video, photos and other bonuses.