Backstreet Boys (1997)

By request! (In this particular case, "by request" means that a reader actually sent me a CD. Thanks?)

Actually, when I asked this particular reader why he would send me such a CD, his response was something along the lines of "When I saw that an Aqua CD had been on the blog, I figured all bets were off." Well-played, my friend.

Unfortunately, this CD is not well-played. I've got nothing against Backstreet Boys (after all, they're larger than life, right?), boy bands just aren't my thing. I'm guessing that's because when they were debuting in the U.S., I was already a two-time father in his early 30's on his fourth job, not a teenage girl. And even though my friend Scott hipped me to lots of dance music in '97, I took a pass on these guys. Listening to the CD today is a trip back to that time as I remember the singles here from the radio and clubs of the time, but not much more than that.

So now my CD collection has a Backstreet Boys CD in it. It goes well with the Aqua CD.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #4

Tracks:  A lot of mid-tempo ballads ready made for jr. high slow dances. I will admit that Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) (#2 pop, #2 Adult Contemporary, #18 Adult Top 40, #41 Dance) is a decent pop song and I knew most of the words. But by track 4, I was looking for a magazine to read. A tired retread of P.M. Dawn song sounds like the turntable is set on 16²⁄₃ instead of 33¹⁄₃ - sorry, forgot I was listening to a CD for a second. There's even a Mutt Lange song to end the CD that's a complete insult to the man's vast talents.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!! This here is one of dem Enhanced CDs that were oh so popular in the late '90s. So let's take a look at the bonus content, if the current will support it. I was able to get the features to boot up, but was unable to do much more than that. Honestly, I tried (but wasn't too terribly disappointed).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  None