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Backstreet Boys Are Back Again

Sara Harowitz — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:25:51 +0000

Backstreet’s back, alright!

Only this time, critics are not grooving to the music.

The Backstreet Boys have returned with their seventh studio album entitled, This Is Us. But reviews are in, and they are not in favour of the boy (er, man?) band.

The album was released on October 6, and music critics across North America are in agreement: that sure, the Boys deliver a few catchy tunes, but that at the end of the day the album just sounds like a regurgitation of their previous hits.

“Though the Boys were one of the biggest pop acts of the ’90s, they largely hand the reins off to their producers here, who include Lady Gaga’s hit-maker RedOne, Jim Jonsin and OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder,” writes August Brown of the Los Angeles Times. “Cuts like ‘Bye Bye Love’ and ‘Straight Through My Heart’ have au courant hotel-lounge decadence to them, and ‘She’s a Dream’ benefits from the light melodic touch of guest T-Pain. But when the boys extol a lady’s virtues because ’she don’t even know I’m a celebrity,’ the lyric rings of self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Other critics agree.

Elysa Gardner of USA Today writes that the album’s songs don’t ”provide the Boys — now grown, thirtysomething men — with a distinctive musical persona, outside that of an aging teen act. These frothy, synth-laden love songs — co-written and produced by a predictable posse of studio professionals, from old collaborator Max Martin to the now-ubiquitous Ryan Tedder — are basically ghosts of singles past, updated with some contemporary flourishes.”

The Backstreet Boys hit superstardom in the 1990’s, with hits like “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”, off of 1997’s Backstreet’s Back, and ”I Want It That Way,” off of 1999’s Millennium. The group took a break after 2000’s hit album Black & Blue, and reunited in 2005 to release Never Gone, which drove BSB fans wild with the hit single, “Incomplete.”

After a successful comeback tour, band member and co-founder Kevin Richardson, decided to leave the group in 2006 to start a family. That left his cousin and co-founder Brian Littrell, as well as AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, and Nick Carter to keep the band going. They did so with 2007’s Unbreakable, which, much like This Is Us, was an attempt to re-ignite a flame that burned in a much-different musical era.

The new album features only the four members.

Still, the Grammy Award nominated band enjoys bringing back that 90’s pop sound, and infusing it with more current approaches.

“We made a conscious effort to go back to being ourselves,” says Littrell on the band’s website. “It’s important for the fans to remember what was, but it’s also important for them to know where we’re headed.”

Nick Carter says, “We always want to top our past albums. That’s always our objective, to create an album where every song could be a single.”

While the chances of This Is Us topping the massive success of the Boys’ early albums is unlikely, perhaps USA Today’s Gardner says it best: “If you’re a band that’s nearly a decade past your commercial heyday, it takes either considerable courage or enormous hubris” to do what they’ve done.

All Five ‘Backstreet Boys’ Reunite in L.A.

Ilan Mester — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:05:38 +0000

Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell A. J. McLean and Kevin Richardson reunite for the first time since former ‘Backstreet Boy’ Kevin Richardson left the band in 2006.

Richardson joined the rest of the band in Los Angeles at the Palladium in Hollywood on Sunday (November 23) for the last stop of their “Unbreakable” tour. He did not perform with the band during the “TRL” finale.

The boys told MTV News in October they weren’t so sure Richardson would return to the group after leaving in 2006. Still, they insisted that the door was always open for him to come back.

“In the beginning of the tour, we left a gap onstage where Kevin would be, and then it started closing up,” Carter told MTV News. “We love him to death. We have to move on. We have new goals and dreams.”

Backstreet Boys To Hit Canada This Summer

Eva Lam — Wed, 28 May 2008 11:43:11 +0000

Backstreet’s back – and getting ready to head north.

The Backstreet Boys, less original member Kevin Richardson, announced Tuesday they will tour North America this summer, with 13 Canadian stops scheduled along the way.

Pop group Girlicious, whose four members came together as the winners of a reality show, will open.

The Canadian leg of the tour kicks off July 30 in St. John’s, N.L., before heading for Moncton, Halifax, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria.

BSB are hitting the road in support of their 2007 album, “Unbreakable.”

“We couldn’t wait to get back on stage with a big extravagant show using this material as the base,” member Nick Carter said in a statement.

“Half of what we do is vocals and harmonies on our albums, but our other role is as entertainers, which we take great pride in.”

The Backstreet Boys enjoyed huge popularity in ’90s but went on hiatus between 2001 and 2005. They returned in 2005 with a new album, “Never Gone.”

Richardson left the group in 2006 to start a family.

Justin Told 15-Year-Old Mandy She Had Big Feet

andPOP Staff — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:15:11 +0000

Back when The Backstreet Boys and N’Sync were in the height of their popularity, most 15-year-old girls would have done anything to tour with them. But Mandy Moore, who did just that, told Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

“I don’t even think they knew I was there,” she said of her one-time tour mates. “I had a crush on a different guy every day of the week!” adding that Justin Timberlake was her number one obsession at the time.

Unfortunately, Timberlake didn’t exactly whisper sweet nothings to the “Candy” teenybopper. “He told me, ‘You have big feet for a girl,’” Mandy recalled. “I think he was trying to be cute.”

Listen to the New Backstreet Boys Single, Inconsolable!

andPOP Staff — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 17:12:41 +0000

The Backstreet Boys have released a new single, Inconsolable, which you can listen to below.

The single will be featured on their next release, slated to hit shelves on Oct. 30.

Inconsolable was written and produced by Emanuel Kiriakou (Nick Lachey “What’s Left Of Me,” Katherine McPhee “Ordinary World”), and co-written by Lindy Robbins and Jess Cates. The track impacts at Top 40 Radio on August 27.

The album will be the first one the Backstreet Boys record without founding member Kevin Richardson. He decided to take a break from the group but Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and AJ McLean are continuing on.

Listen to: Inconsolable

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Backstreet’s Back … Again

andPOP Staff — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:16:05 +0000

Boy band BACKSTREET BOYS are making a return to the pop charts after a two year hiatus.

The group are currently recording their sixth studio album – their first since the departure of Kevin Richardson last year.

The Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) hitmakers’ last disc Never Gone reached number three in the U.S. album charts in 2005.

A spokesperson tells MTV.com that new album will hit stores on Hallowe’en.

New Backstreet Album, Solo Album from AJ McLean, Due For 2007

andPOP Staff — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 20:32:13 +0000

Backstreet will be back again next spring with a new album, reports Access Hollywood.

AJ McLean told the entertainment show that the foursome (Kevin Richardson left the group in the summer) has been writing and recording new songs with producer Dan Muckala and writer-producer Rob Wells.

“It’s very piano driven,” McLean told Access Hollywood. “It’s very guitar driven. Lyrically, it’s great. Melodies are back. Harmonies are back.”

“It’s not so dancey in that sense,” he added. “We’re still gonna dance, we’re still gonna be on stage, we’re still gonna perform, but it’s just really great music. It’s always been about the music for us. That’s the bottom line.”

McLean is also gearing up to release a solo album also next year, but after the next Backstreet album hits record stores.

“Mine’s definitely rockier. Mine’s more eclectic. It’s got everything that defines me from rock, soul, funk to all live instrumentation,” he said of what will be his first solo effort. “I’m writing the entire thing along with these producers and it’s a lot of personal influence and it’s more real. It’s not about ‘Hey! Nice car, nice ass, nice jewelry,’ it’s about personal things — things that piss me off, my relationship with my father, relationships, just things that I wanna get off my chest”

The singer added that he hopes to do some after-show club gigs when the Backstreet Boys go on tour next year. After that, he will set of on a solo tour.

Former Backstreet Boy To Join Chicago Anniversary Cast

andPOP Staff — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 20:44:05 +0000

Former Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson has been added to a star-studded cast celebrating the 10th anniversary of the hit musical, “Chicago.”

Richardson, who announced his departure from the band earlier this year, made his Broadway debut in 2003 as fast-talking lawyer Billy Flynn.

Richardson will be among a host of celebrities who will take part in the 10th anniversary gala performance on Nov. 14 at New York’s Ambassador Theatre. The musical’s original cast, along with Hollywood stars including Melanie Griffith, Brooke Shields, and Wayne Gregory will be directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie in the special one-night-only event.

Tickets for the “Chicago 10!” gala, which will benefit charitable organization Safe Horizon, range from $500-$5,000.

Richardson Quits Backstreet Boys

andPOP Staff — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 22:26:31 +0000

Kevin Richardson has officially left the Backstreet Boys.

Brian Littrell told andPOP last month that the group was planning to go back into the studio at the end of this month to record their next record, which they will continue to do beginning this weekend without Richardson.

The band has no plans to replace Richardson, who has left to pursue other projects.

“It was a very tough decision for me but one that was necessary in order to move on with the next chapter of my life,” Richardson said a statement on the official Backstreet Boys web site.

The band posted a message of their own saying they will miss Richardson and wish him all of the best.

“The door will always be open for him to return to the Backstreet Boys. We wish him the all the best in his future endeavors,” they said.

Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell Goes Solo

andPOP Staff — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 21:48:59 +0000

Brian Littrell has finally come home.

He dedicated his first solo album, “Welcome Home,” to God. The born-again Christian singer, more commonly known as a member of the Backstreet Boys, grew up singing in church and credits his faith to the success he has had personally and professionally.

“I’ve always attributed my success to God and having this opportunity as a solo artist. My faith has always been the utmost important thing in my life,” Littrell tells andPOP over the phone from Atlanta.

The album was released last month and features 11 songs of contemporary Christian music ? six of which Littrell co-wrote.

“This record has been a three-year process in the writing and in forming the material I wanted to include,” he says. “It’s special to me. It’s 11 of my favourite songs.”

Littrell dedicates the song “Grace of My Life” to his wife Leighanne and his son, Baylee.

“It’s not necessarily just a small piece of who I am. It’s kind of every bit of who I am as a person, a husband and a father,” he says of his faith.

Littrell will be embarking on a small U.S. tour in support of the album.

Though he won’t be making it to Canada, he wants his Canadian fans to know that the country holds a special place in his heart.

When the Backstreet Boys began in 1993, they first hit it big in Europe and Canada followed close behind. They hit it big in Montreal and the BSB fever spread across the country.

“It wasn’t until ‘Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)’ had really made an impact in Canada that people in the U.S., in like North and South Dakota, who were picking up Canadian radio stations just started calling and requesting the songs and going to the record stores to buy the album. And it wasn’t there because it wasn’t even out in the U.S. yet. MTV was kind of forced to play the videos and it really took off from there,” he says.

Last year, the band released “Never Gone,” their first CD together in nearly four years. The album received critical acclaim and saw the band get together again for a tour across the world.

Littrell says it was great to return to the road with his bandmates. He finds it hard to believe that it’s been over 13 years since receiving the phone call to come try out for the band.

“We’ve just celebrated 13 years (together) and I’ve gone from 18 to 31 real fast, but it’s been a joy. I didn’t expect all of this to happen throughout our career,” he says.

As for the label of the BSB being just another boy band? Littrell thinks the reason the group is still around while others, like New Kids On the Block and ‘N Sync, have fizzled out is because the Backstreet Boys stuck together to continue making good music.

“I think the biggest concern with everybody across the board was to keep it together,” he says. Things come and go ? I mean fads, clothing styles, music styles ? they do, they come and go ? I would always say, ‘guys as long as we stick together and stick with what we’re good at.’ And what I always thought that BSB was good at was good, quality music.

He understands the band was not adored by everyone around the world, but it did make an impact on popular culture.

“I mean there’s a lot of songs that I still hear today in elevators in hotels that I’m at, and, like I say, it’s a tribute to our fans,” he adds, pointing out that as the group has grown in the last 13 years, so have the fans.

Littrell says it was interesting to see the crowd that came to see the Never Gone tour. It was no longer the crazy BSB fans from the ’90s, but girls who had grown up, their parents and even some males.

He says there are tentative plans with the rest of the group to get together in late June and begin recording the new BSB album. He plans to be in the studio with the guys for all of July and probably most of August and can?t wait to get back to making music with the band that made him famous.

And as for young Baylee, does he know his dad is a Backstreet Boy? Littrell laughs.

“He’s three-and-a-half and he was with me the whole U.S., and even the Canadian version, of the Never Gone tour. He was on the tour bus the whole time ? my wife and him. So he definitely knows who I am but he doesn’t call me a Backstreet Boy, he calls me Daddy ? which is just fine by me,” he says, adding that the band refers to Baylee as the mascot of the Backstreet Boys, and he loved doing the sound check on tour.

Maybe that means that little Baylee will follow in his father’s career footsteps, but we’ll have to wait and see.