Black & Blue - Backstreet Boys (CD 2000)

Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?

It was the summer of 1999. The Backstreet Boys were dominating the Billboard charts with their sophomore album, Millennium. They were selling out concerts worldwide. These five pinup-friendly, smooth-talking guys from Florida were the object of every teenaged female's affection, and things couldn't possibly have been better for them.

I feel bad for artists in that situation. Honestly, I do. After selling millions and millions of copies of one album, figuring out what on earth to do next must be one hell of an arduous task. But the Boys weren't sweating it. As long as they kept looking cute enough for the junior high girls to swoon over, all would be just fine - right?

Not necessarily. The Boys had been out for a while by the time their junior attempt Black and Blue landed in November 2000. Their predominantly teenaged fanbase was slowly beginning to realize that a handsome face doesn't always equal talent. While this may have been bad news for the boy banders who weren't quite as vocally talented as BSB, it didn't pose as much of a problem for Carter & Co. Black and Blue showed off a maturity not often displayed in the teen-pop world; throughout its 50+ minute duration, the guys dabble in an impressively broad range of musical genres and lyrical topics.

By no means am I trying to imply that someone who usually loathes BSB will change their mind upon listening to this disc. Right from the get-go, it's apparent that nothing is too different in Backstreet Land -- album opener "The Call" has a stompy beat, cutesy chorus and pseudo-furious vocal tradeoffs between the group's resident 'heartthrob' Nick Carter and 'bad-boy' AJ McLean. It was a relatively successful hit, but it was nowhere as memorable as the lead single, "Shape Of My Heart", a soupy ballad with intricate melodies and lyrics that surprisingly carried more depth than the wishwashy moans churned out by other boy bands -- "Looking back on the things I've done / I was trying to be someone / I played my part, kept you in the dark..."

The cheese factor doubles up elsewhere, though. The obtuse "Shining Star" is as lyrically mundane as possible ("You're my shining star, that is what you are!") and it does nothing to flatter Nick Carter's occasionally nasally vocals. While "Everyone" has bizarrely intriguing circus-y instrumentation, it's a lame point-and-serenade shoutout to longtime fans that accomplishes virtually nothing. "What Makes You Different (Makes You Beautiful)" shows off Brian Littrell's sweet voice quite well, but considering that most of the guys were in their mid-20s when this album was released, this song's monotonous chorus and dumbed-down lyrics strike me as generic and childish.

Putting those moments aside, Black and Blue is still a relatively consistent chunky-pop album. "I Promise You (With Everything I Am)" is a quite pretty ballad with a country vibe to it, and it's been used for a countless number of weddings. "The Answer To Our Life" is a synth-heavy midtempo track with inspirational lyrics and an addictive chorus - "Show me a reason, give me a sign / Show me the way we fall out of line / Is it today, or is it tonight? / We'll find the answer to our life." But the songs that stand out most to me are "More Than That" and "Time". The former is a Latin-tinged, gorgeous ballad that highlights AJ McLean's unbelievably beautiful, raspy voice perfectly; the latter is a slow-building, somber reflection of the guys' pasts.

Though teen-pop is typically dismissed as abysmal, horrid, and virtually any synonym of those two words, the Backstreet Boys have proved so many critics wrong and have continued to harmonize their ways into pop music lovers' hearts. Of course, I'd instantly deem AJ McLean's wonderful voice the absolute high point of Black and Blue, and the fact that most of these songs are frivolously catchy and instantly memorable also adds greatly to its appeal. Pop lovers should find much to love about this disc -- if you're looking for BSB's finest work to date, please do not hesitate to hunt down Black and Blue immediately.

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