Black & Blue - Backstreet Boys (CD 2000)

Special Note
I posted this on the first day this cd was released. At the time, Epinions did not have the category up. I was promised that it would be moved. It never was. After earning a whopping 4 cents Income Share, I decided to delete and repost in the appropriate area.

Welcome to the day that all obsessed Backstreet Boys fans have been patiently waiting for the release of their third American cd, Black and Blue.

Warning! Long! Wordy!

Preamble
I happily predict that I will receive quite a few NR s from the die-hard, disgruntled BSB fans who can t take an ounce of criticism regarding their band. Bring it on baby! Sometimes the truth hurts. Heck, even NSYNC has their down times and I m not afraid to point those out! Its good! I gave it four stars. Alright, enough already!

Who Are The Backstreet Boys?
This assumes, of course, that you have been living under a rock for the past four years. BSB is Brian (recently married), AJ, Nick, Kevin (recently married and cousin to Brian), and Howie. In the past, Brian and Nick did most of the lead singing, with AJ coming in in a distant second. Howie and Kevin typically have been left in the background.

Back in 1996, BSB burst on to the American pop scene as a five-part, all male, teen-age, harmony group. Okay, some were teenagers, and some were in their early 20 s. Under the management of Johnny Wright (prior manager of NKOTB and now manager to that other boy band) and the king-pin of all that is evil, Lou Perlman, BSB thrived and became the center of every girls attention young and not so young.

In May 1999, BSB released Millenium and broke several records during the first week. After eighteen months, they returned with a cd that they deemed as being fresh and original not like that other boy band.

Black and Blue, released today, is supposed to represent BSB s two sides: Their funky, upbeat R&B style and their softer, more mellower ballad side.

The Fat and The Skinny of Black and Blue
As per my usual style, I ll review each song individually and rate with a grade. For those of you who don t have the patience for that, I ll just give you the straight scoop here. I was disappointed. Why? Because in every interview I ve heard and read, the boys came out saying how fresh, original, and different this cd is. I was expecting to see the same type of transition that NSYNC made from their first cd to No Strings Attached. I m here to tell you that this cd is not transitional. Rather it is typical BSB material. Although BSB has a hand in writing some of the material, Max Martin and his entourage still drive the main thrust of the cd.

Now mind you, that s not a bad thing. There are really good songs that I want to hear over and over again, and other songs that I FF through.

Boys, let s call this what it is and stop referring to it as this huge, big, different vehicle. Millenium was growth for you. This is just a cd to make the current fans happy that they have more BSB music to enjoy.

And yes, you will probably break a lot of records. Girls love what s familiar to them.

Track Listing

The Call
Riiiiiinng, Click Hello? The boys played it safe and started off their cd with a Max Martin tune. It s a good, typical track for BSB. A combination of latin, pop, dance moving background combined with AJ s voice lends to the credibility of the lyrics. Let me tell you the story bout the call that changed my destiny. How did this destiny changed? Ugh, you guessed it. The man is cheatin on her. Besides the fact that this is so danceable, there s an interlude where the boys get to show off their choir-like harmonies. Of course, the person you hear the most is AJ. Nick jumps in with a nice attitude of his own. Again, those two make this song feel so belivable. Brian or Howie singing about cheating just wouldn t work. Kristina's prediction: should make it as a release.
Grade: B+

Shape of My Heart
The first couple of times I heard this song, I was somewhat disappointed. I guess I had expectations that BSB would release some kick-bee-hind, upbeat song for their first release. Instead, I got a ballad that was just okay. My mistake. It grew on me and I realized how much I liked it. In the typical BSB ballad fashion, Brian starts out the song begging for forgiveness, Baby, please try to forgive me. Stay here don t put out the glow.. I was surprised that AJ was tagged to do the second verse. He s usually not involved in ballads that s usually left up to Brian and Nick. When Nick joins in for the bridge, at first, I thought it sounded kind of awkward to go from AJ to his voice. I think it s the range jump. Don t worry, once the video came out, I was a big fan of the Nick part!

And speaking of the video, it s not what I would have expected. In fact, I remain slightly disappointed in it today after seeing it several hundreds of times. BSB is in a movie theater rehearsing a song, while at the same time watching two actors rehearsing their lines. The one part that gives me goose bumps is the Nick part when he throws his papers up in the air and does the little shape of his heart, throwing behind it, all of his body. Woo Whee! He can act when he wants to. You go Nick!

P.S. Let s not forget, this is another track from the Max Martin University
Grade: A-

Get Another Boyfriend
Kristina s prediction: A definite release. Yowsa! This is what I want from BSB! It knocked my socks off the first time I heard it and I keep on replaying it over and over again. In the tradition of Millenium s, Don t Want You Back, this tune is a hard-edged, get up and kick your bee-hind song. Those songs are typically sung by AJ (like Everybody) and of course, here he is, belting out that raspy, sexy, don t-be-crossing me attitude. He ll eat you up from inside and then he doesn t want to know. When the rest of the boys join in, it s strength in numbers. The sound is full and powerful. Nick does a decent job during the second verse. His voice isn t nearly as whiney as it can be (and is in other songs). By the way, if this song doesn t want to make you get up and shake your groove thang see a Dr!
Grade: A+

Shining Star
This song has grown on me a tad. You re my shining star. That s what your are. There is no one like you. Angels everywhere. Anytime you re near. You will always be my baby. With lyrics like that, you would expect something on the soft-ballad side of things. Nope. With an upbeat combination of latin, dance, and techno influence, this song has that familiar feeling of another artist, specifically Pink. I combed the liner notes for Shek spere but could find no trace of him. Hmmm. It definitely sounds like his influence. I think the music in conjunction with AJ s raspy, attitude filled voice is the reason why it grows on me. Even Nick joins in with some attitude. Kudos to Nick and Howie for co-writing this track with people I had never heard of (Franciz and LePont)
Grade: B +

I Promise You (With Everything I Am)
Title sound familiar? Sure, it s close to that other song by that other boy band The similarities don t end there. When you need a good, sappy love song, the best guys to call on are those that have been there, done that. NSYNC used Richard Marx while BSB utilized the services of Dan Hill. Remember him? You probably won t unless you re over the age of 30. He made himself famous with the song Sometimes When We Touch. Ironically, I swear I hear Sometimes When We Touch in the intro of this song!

Pop Quiz: Who starts this song of? Brian of course. B-Rok the balladeer. Brian and the boys promise their love that they will love her until death do they part. I promise you as a lover and a friend. I will love you like I ll never love again. With everything I am. Who picks up the second verse? Why Nick of course! And last quiz. Who picks up the bridge? Ten points if you guessed AJ. This is very typical BSB ballad formula. I m not making fun, just stating the facts.

I don t consider this to be their strongest ballad. The addition of strings doesn t make it stand out. But it s fine. I ve heard that they might release this. I think they should reconsider based upon it s lack of umph.
Grade: C+

The Answer to Our Life
The boys pony up to the writing stable to pen this tune all by their selves no one else but them. My first impression when I heard this? It sounds very Westlife like. That s not a bad thing, it just surprises me a bit. It has a solid melody, very pop like and sails the listener through it from beginning to end. Show me a reason, give me a sign, tell me the way we fall out of line. Is it today? Is it tonight? We will find the answer to our life. Put it on a Christian radio station and people might think it was a religious song. I call it their happy-go-lucky song. Towards the end, it starts to sound like their previous single, The One. It s not one that will likely make the single release stage.
Grade: B

Everyone
We re back to the Max Martin machine. Here s another latin-pop feeling tune. Unlike The Call, it s more generic and doesn t stand out as a hit. It almost sounds like the 98 Degrees song Give Me One More Night bleck! The highlights include of course AJ s raspy, attitude-filled voice and Nick s attempt at finding a spot on some song to sing about his sexuality (although he doesn t find that word, he sings parts of the songs like his prior lines on sexuality. Sorry, only BSB fans may understand that reference!). Towards the end, I want to FF through it because the lyrics repeat over and over again, Everyone, everyone, everyone. Oooh! Also has the same feeling as NSYNC s, Bringin Da Noise
Grade: C-

More Than That
Penned by the people who assisted on Shining Star, this also leans toward a latin style but more on the ballad side. The boys plead for the girl to turn away from that nasty guy and look towards them cause they ll treat her much better! I heard him promise you forever. But forever has come and gone. Baby he would say whatever it takes This song is growing on me. Maybe because it s a little different sounding for the boys.
Grade: C+

Time
Here s our second look at an all-BSB written track. In the great tradition of a Boyz 2 Men song, BSB does an excellent job recording this. It has that swinging back and forth, slow doo-wop feeling to it. Maybe this is Babyface s influence. He masterfully produced this track. As a bonus, he adds backup vocals. The lyrics do a great job at reflecting on the past, present, and the future. Time look where we are and what we ve been through. Time sharing our dreams. Time goes on and on everyday. Time is what it is, come what may. This should be released as a single but I m not sure it is as catchy (to the general teen audience) as some of the other pop tunes. My appreciation for this song runneth over.
Grade: A

Not For Me
Oops! We Did It Again. We re back to the Max Martin machine. If you don t hear NSYNC s It s Gonna Be Me then you and I are listening to different songs! It s full of techno beats and booms, lots of snaps and let s not forget the electronic voice overs .The nice thing about this song is that Brian has an opportunity to shine in a JC/Justin like voice. He s usually backseated to AJ and Nick for anything edgy. AJ has the JC type part with the long ayyyyyyys.
Grade: B

Yes I Will
AJ co-writes this song. It s actually one of my least favorite tracks on this cd. The trite lyrics, Yes I will give you everything you need and some day start a family with you combined with the short, snappish melodic background grates on my nerves. I think it s supposed to come across as a positive, symbol of love so true. Didn t get that far. Had to hit FF.
Grade: D

It s True
Fans got a preview of this song when Burger King released it on one of their many BSB cd s this past summer. It s a nice generic ballad written by the Max Martin power machine, co-written with Kevin. And when I say generic, I m not badmouthing it at all. It s just one of those ballads that could mean more or less to you depending on where you are at in your emotional state. It s true I mean it. It s true. Without you I would fall apart. I could guarantee that someone in the midst of an emotional relationship will think this is one of those must-listen to songs. If you re on an even keel, you ll go, Yah, it s fine. I bump it up to a B because the arrangement is more special than just the generic stuff.
Grade: B

What Makes You Different
After a brief acoustical guitar picking, bell tapping intro and Brian yah-hing, Howie starts the tune out, You don t run with the crowd, you go your own way. You don t play after dark, you light up my day. By the time they get around to the chorus, I feel like I m in the middle of a bad musical version of an After School Special (those of you old enough will now what I m talkin bout!). Although Howie co-writes this, I m especially surprised it that it made it on to this cd. I don t think it is worthy of their other high quality material.
Grade: D-

How Did I Fall In Love With You
Kristina prediction: a release just in time for Prom and Wedding Season! Now this is what I was expecting in terms of a BSB ballad. There s a very sweet piano solo backed by a string arrangement. How they ll pull this off in concert will be interesting! Brian, of course, who is SO good at this type of song, croons us through the first verse. Howie sweetly joins in before the chorus of boys is upon us. What can I do to make you mine? Falling so hard, so fast, this time. What did I say, what did you do? How did I fall in love with you? The string arrangement continues throughout the song and gives it that needed, romantic touch to make this a tear-jerker. Major thumbs up to Howie for co-writing this. Buddy! This is how it should be! Girls, if it gives you goose bumps, it s worthy of nothing less than an A .
Grade: A

Things That Only Obsessed Fans Would Care About

CD Cover and Liner Notes
To the casual consumer, the cover might look quite plain. One half is black with the word black in blue and the other half is blue with the word blue in black. If you don t look carefully, you may miss the fact that the boys are actually walking towards you. It s a hologram type effect with their bodies casting shadows on the bottom half of the cover.

If you flip open the booklet, the first two pages are a group shot of the boys dressed in black against a blue background. Brian, Kevin, and AJ look pretty much the same. Nick has the John Lennon/Yoko Ono look going on (and girls, it doesn t look half bad!), and for some reason, Howie s big brown eyes really dominate his face. This is a good thing! The song titles run across in a time line fashion across the two pages.

Pages 3 and 4 showcase picture of Brian. Girls, I m sorry. Brian has talent but I swear, these pictures make his face look very chimpanzee-like.

Pages 5 and 6 are all about Nick. Okay, we all know that Nick is a show-off and these pictures are ALL about showing off. There s one of him that made me laugh. He s trying to do some sort of sign to look cool. Nick, stop trying so hard!

Pages 7 and 8 are the most awesome pictures of Kevin that I have ever seen. The shots look more natural and really draw upon his dark features.

Pages 9 and 10 are of Howie. Ever since Howie took his hair down at the last concert I attended, I ve moved him from the yawn status to hottie status. These pictures of him do not disappoint. His hair is down for all of them!

Pages 11 and 12 are about AJ s new blonde hair. Okay, really AJ, but all you see is the blonde hair. AJ! I don t dig it. Don t be doing Joey-like things please! Also, get the cap thing off of your head. It looks hideous.

Pages 13-18 cover songwriting/production credits and the usual thanks. Brian s entire thank you is a prayer to God which I find very annoying but I ll get over it. Please Brian, no more bible scriptures!!!

Page 19 and 20 WOO WHEE! This is one of the hottest shots I have ever seen of those boys. I want to swoop in and carry Howie off! Oh and the rest of them too. The boys are dressed in tuxedo gear minus the bow tie, minus a couple of buttons (show us your chests!) against a white background.

Pages 21 and 22 are another group shot of the boys walking towards you. Fine shot.

The bummer here is that NONE of the lyrics are included. C'mon boys!

The End
Pop fans will love this. Music critics and those who hate anything boy band related, will hate this. To each his own. At $9.99 (some promotional cost that the record company must be passing down to the retailers) you'd be a sorry pop fan if you didn't pick this up.

And of course, if you're looking for other boy band fare, don't hesitate to pick up anything by NSYNC, 98 Degrees, Five, and Westlife.