The Backstreet Boys began their band in 1993. At the age of 8, I thought I was their biggest fan. I was disappointed when the age of boy bands left, but I also wasn’t about to admit that I listened to “pop” music.

When I heard that they had come out with a new CD, I was pretty excited. I’ve decided to do a more focused song by song review of the CD instead of reviewing the CD as a whole.  “Straight Through My Heart:” This is the first track to the album and it gives off a high-energy vibe.  The beat is techno and it’s easy to dance to. The lyrics are still “lovey dovey” – true to their boy band style.

“Bigger:” I wasn’t expecting the digital sounds of this track. It sounds very modern and nothing like their previous albums.

“Bye Bye Love:” This track sounds very “new age” with more R&B and less pop music.

“All Of Your Life (You Need Love):” This is a fast-paced song that starts the techno sound of the album.

“If I Knew Then:”  This song is slower than the previous ones, but it’s nothing like the slow songs from their earlier albums. There is more R&B and less pop, which isn’t a problem except that it’s difficult to hear them all sound so different.

“This Is Us:” This track is probably my favorite on the entire album.  It’s a “slow” song, which isn’t really slow, but it’s slower than the others.
I like this song the most, because it reminds me of their previous albums. I got a reminiscent feeling listening to it.

“PDA:” I think this is the worst song on the album. The beat is very techno. The lyrics are more than slightly scandalous, and it doesn’t seem like them to be singing about this sort of stuff anymore.
I just hope they were just trying to target their older audiences that grew up with them.

“Masquerade:” Even though this song has more of a boy-band feel to it, the techno beats take away from the traditional sound.

“She’s a Dream:” This is another song with lyrics that are similar to their old album.  The experiences that they sing about are relatable, which is nice.

“Shattered:” This song is EXACTLY like a song from the old albums.  It would fit right in between “Larger Than Life” and “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely.”

“Undone:” This track has too many instruments playing all at once.  It’s a slower song, but the lyrics and the mood of the song remind me of Justin Timberlake post-Britney.

“Helpless:” This song started out pretty catchy with a great beat and then turned into more of a techno sound. The lyrics are also great to this song.  But then it just got really bad about two-thirds of the way into the song.  Pit Bull started rapping and it ruined the entire song. I don’t like the different people singing in this album. Weren’t Brian and Nick the lead singers?

I understand that everyone wants to be fair and let everyone have their shining moment, but the music just doesn’t sound the same.

This whole album’s feel seems to be a cross between Justin Timberlake and Enrique Iglesias.  The sounds are interesting; they are very easy to dance to as well.

This album definitely didn’t take me back to the ‘90s, but it was comforting to know that something from our childhood is still around today.