The return of the Backstreet Boys

The end of the era of the pop boy band began two years ago when the members of the Backstreet Boys announced a self-imposed retirement from the group to deal with personal and career problems. Brian Littrell concentrated on being a husband and father. Kevin Richardson launched a new career in theater as the lead in Chicago. Howie Dorough explored Latin music. Nick Carter recorded solo, coped with his drinking problem and romanced Paris Hilton. A. J. McLean went into rehab to cope with depression. They also filed a breach of contract suit against their record label.

Then Justin Timberlake left ‘N Sync, Boyzone went kaput and Ronan Keating went solo. Blue continues to keep the genre afloat but Westlife minus one member has gone off the realm of teen-pop tunes to explore other beats. Of course, as pop music history easily proves, changes such as this can most of the time be only temporary and it looks like we are now watching what might be the start of another boy band era. This is because the Backstreet Boys, the group that fuelled the trend in the US eight years ago, is again intact and back in top form.

The album is aptly titled Never Gone and it is the group’s third studio album and first release in three years. Thankfully, although boy bands are not the thing of the moment, these Boys continue to enjoy a huge fan base that loyally lifted the first single release Incomplete to the top of the charts. I also believe that there was a big amount of curiosity about the comeback bid. A lot of people simply wanted to find out if these older guys still have what it takes to sell another Quit Playing Games with My Heart or I Want It That Way.

I say that they have not lost the dreamy harmonies and they still know how to charge up a beat. Fortunately for them, they also know times have changed and that being cute with As Long as You Love Me is not going to work anymore. So what do they do? They unleashed the rockers in the band and came up with a solid album that straddles a tricky middle ground between today’s melodic rock and bubble gum pop.

The lyrics of Never Gone hardly stray from the BSB’s teen-pop origins. "Never gone, never far, in my heart is where you are." With words like that you can say that at this point in their career, the titles of their songs can also use a writer with a wider vocabulary. Take Crawling Back to You, Poster Girl, I Still…, My Beautiful Woman and Weird World. I must say though that these songs are set against well thought-out arrangements that aspire to be better if not totally different from their past efforts. Check out Just Want You to Know, which will be the next single release.

The local edition of Never Gone comes with a free DVD that contains the full video for Incomplete, behind-the-scenes footage, a photo gallery and Song for the Unloved as a secret, bonus track.

Top 10 Albums In The US

Never Gone is now at number 15 in Billboard Magazine’s top 200 album chart while Country music legend George Strait has taken over the number one slot with his latest release. The top 10 in the list: Somewhere Down in Texas by George Strait; U.S.A.: United States of Atlanta by the Ying Yang Twins; X&Y by Coldplay; The Emancipation of Mimi by Mariah Carey; I’m a Hustla by Cassidy; Monkey Business by The Black Eyed Peas; In Your Honor by the Foo Fighters; Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson; Love. Angel. Music. Baby. by Gwen Stefani; and Honkytonk University by Toby Keith.

The top 10 singles of the moment are We Belong Together by Mariah Carey; Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani; Don’t Phunk with My Heart by The Blackeyed Peas; Inside Your Heaven the official finals song in the last season of American Idol by winner Carrie Underwood; Inside Your Heaven again by American Idol runner-up rocker Bo Bice; Just A Lil Bit by 50 Cent; Don’t Cha by The Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes; Behind These Hazel Eyes by Kelly Clarkson; Pon de Replay by Rihanna; and Lose Control by Missy Elliott featuring Ciara & Fat Man Scoop.