With Never Gone, BSB brings more of the same...kind of
Written: Jul 30 '05 (Updated Jul 30 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: AJ McLean's great voice - seriously
Cons: Many BLAND moments, occasionally horrid songwriting (oh wait, but they didn't write it)
The Bottom Line: Never Gone lacks the memorability and 'hit potential' of BSB's earlier stuff, but should still probably (somewhat) satisfy pop lovers.
blindsider's Full Review: Never Gone by Backstreet Boys
It doesn't take a genius to realize that in 2005, the announcement of a new Backstreet Boys record won't cause even one billionth of the hype and frenzy that it would have caused in, say, 1999 or 2000. I mean, back in those days, their swirling, point-and-serenade/choreographed bouncy pop ruled the popular music scene. Whether you liked them or not, they were everywhere: on TV, on the radio, on your little sister's bedroom wall (or maybe yours). As for me, you ask? Pshh, I was obsessed back in the day. My junior high memories are clouded with their music. Although I'd be a pathological liar if I said I still listen to their old stuff, curiosity got the best of me on June 14, 2005 - I wanted to see what this 'new, mature' Backstreet Boys album sounded like.
Now that I said that, something should immediately be made clear: Much to the contrary of what the Boys would want you to think, there's not a progression, they did NOT experiment with 'hard rock', 'soulful r&b' and they didn't even write most of this material. Of course, before the album was released, they eagerly raved about how this is so different and so diverse. Don't all groups/bands do that? I mean, you can't blame the guys for wanting to be taken seriously.
That said, people who still dig the old BSB sound will find this album to be listenable. Not much of the formula has changed. What has changed, however, is the mindset of music critics everywhere. More 'artsy artists' - in the sense of song WRITING/playing instruments - have emerged over the past five years, making people look down at BSB with disdain (of course, many people always did that).
Never Gone accomplishes a few things immediately: the first single "Incomplete" is a piano-driven, cookie-cutter pop ballad, but I like it. AJ McLean and Nick Carter handle the vocal work here, Nick sounding an awful lot like Bryan Adams. What gives the song points is AJ's raspy, powerful vocal delivery. I don't care what kind of remarks I'm going to get for this - AJ truly does have an amazing voice - the best option for him might be to go solo, write better lyrics, and maybe experiment with different genres of music other than straight-up pop. He does have talent to spare. "Just Want You To Know", the second single, is a bouncy number that kinda reminds me of the stuff on Nick's solo album, Now or Never. While it has an addictive chorus with soaring harmonies from the guys, it doesn't fare quite as well as "Incomplete", but it's certainly one of the album's better points.
"Weird World", written by John Ondrasik of adult-contemporary pop/rock group Five For Fighting actually shows a slight shift in style for the Backstreet Boys. Vocally, it's still very BSB - lyrically, it's more pensive and in terms of instrumentation, it's smoother and more structured. "Poster Girl" is a vivacious dance number that has a snappy beat. AJ's vocals are perfectly accustomed to songs like this, and I could actually seeing this being a radio hit if released as a single. "My Beautiful Woman", uptempo, jumpy and full of anticipation -- instead of swearing their love to a girl they meet here, the Boys insist "Let's not talk about a possible ending", not wanting any strings attached -- would fit right in on the Backstreet Boys' best album to date, Black & Blue. It reminds me quite a bit of "The Call" from said album, to be honest, and it's probably the best song from Never Gone.
There are still some tricky moments - "Crawling Back To You" tries, tries, tries to sound sophisticated and elaborate, but goes nowhere. Brian Littrell sounds nice here, sure, but that doesn't exactly save the pathetic lyrics: "I know I broke your heart / I didn't mean to break your heart" and the bland overall feel of the song. "Safest Place to Hide" has an interesting tinkly introduction that gave me a glimmer of hope, but is bogged down with - no surprise - more of the same, with nothing good to offer musically. Howie Dorough actually sings here, and I've never been fond of his voice - I feel he tries too hard to sound raspy and passionate, but it turns out quite corny. "Siberia" is a song that I will give credit for being possibly the most unique song on the album in terms of the tick-tock music, but Brian's vocal delivery is just as boring as in the last few songs and none of the guys are projecting even a bit of emotion.
Maybe if the guys had stepped things up, diversified their sound, and wrote their own lyrics -- Kevin Richardson does have a songwriting credit on the title track, but it's just an overly simplistic song that I woulda enjoyed more at the age of 11 -- then Never Gone would fare better in my eyes. It's not a completely awful album, but I honestly can't see how it will catapult the guys back into the limelight. They seem to be well aware of that, though; in an interview, they said they don't expect this to do nearly as well as their previous work. The good thing about BSB is that at least they're not claiming that they'll dominate the music scene again -- if they said such a thing, they'd surely make fools of themselves. They know where they stand, and this is a decent pop album that should go over well (but maybe not well enough) with people who loved them back in the day.
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