In Sink
Written: Aug 05 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: High energy pop that is good short-term adrenaline burst.
Cons: Repetitive sounding music, no special messages, mass marketing gimmick
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| Africana's Full Review: N Sync |
Well, it seems that beloved Einstein isn't the only one to come up with universally-holding formulae about strange mother Earth, now is he? Here's an axiomatic theorem about becoming insanely famous, accumulating a mini-IPO worth of financial clout, and a status as cultural icons in a society where mass marketing is increasingly targeted towards adolescents.
Your honor, presenting Exhibit A: 5 attractive, young boys, sporting similar looks and complementary personalities, churning out album after album of amazingly similar-sounding and repetitive music. Let's put them together and call them N Sync. They do seem quite 'in sync' with their cookie-cutter music, don't they?
In my epinion, after you've heard one N Sync song, you've heard 'em all. The beat seems to vary little from song to song, with the exception of some of the slower songs in the repertoire of recent albums. Even in these slower tunes, however, the theme is invariably similar to their regular appeals to young teenaged girls, and somehow the music also sounds repetitive. The only variations apparent from album to album with N Sync are in their styles of clothing, hairstyles, and cheesy dance moves.
The horrifying thing is that N 'Sync music is just high energy pop so it tends to stick in your head after you hear it a couple of times, which then causes you to unconsciously end up humming their songs in public and get these dirty looks from people. Especially when you're in college. Humming or whistling an N Sync tune on the dinner table, or especially in the library, is quite the faux pas. Trust me, very uncool and embarrassing.
Backstreet boys/N Sync, N Sync/Backstreet boys. Apparently, juxtaposing these groups is considered criminal by most teenagers. They ARE quite unique from each other is the insistent, if indignant, reply. To me, however, they are very interchangeable, in terms of their music and songs, group composition and dynamic, capacity to elicit shrill decibels from adolescent girls, etc. I know most sub-18 year old girls will just go ga-ga at the mention of either or both of these groups, but if you are past the adolescent 'hormone gush', in my humble epinion you should not be enjoying these girly boys.
And if you are still an adolescent, I can understand that this hormone-laden stage in your life is probably most responsible for your infatuations with such boy bands, so you deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Please, please, please. Don't get me wrong. I am not being mean or unnecessarily critical or cynical of N Sync. It just seems like a pity to me that the status and mania that surrounding them is for something that is really not that monumental. Just smart marketing and shrewd exploitation of biology (i.e. target masses of hormone-laden adolescent females). There is nothing spectacular or inspirational about their music, songs, personal achievements or backgrounds.
Sure, this is a successful and thriving democracy that we live in and there is liberty of choice and decision. Teens being fully valid segments of this society deserve their right to choose their entertainment as well, but it's just disconcerting that the sheer force they command in terms of spending and creating and reinforcing notions of "coolness" and "uncoolness," leaves everyone so vulnerable to deliberate marketing geared toward adolescents. The guy who founded N Sync and their rivals/compatriots (the unmentionable "B" band) practically admitted as much of a strategy behind "founding/discovering" the boy-bands and contriving their "composition" in terms of personality and look types. I just feel that we should be more discerning before sweepingly pouring acclaim upon anything that sweeps society into hysteria. Just my $0.02....
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
Africana
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Location: Palo Alto, California
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 6 members
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