BACKSTREET BOYS - "SHAPE OF MY HEART"
into this post-nsync world, the backstreet boys return, ready to reclaim their throne as rulers of the teen-pop kingdom. not only has the competition gotten stiffer, it is also now more profound. 'nsync went from also-rans to the most popular band alive, and many attribute their success to the personal freedom they achieved when they broke away from their management. the struggle for artistic liberty is documented on no strings attached which is a concept album of sorts dealing with five young puppets yearning to be independent of their surly master. they wrote much of the album and even produced some of it, no small feat.
the backstreet boys aren't to be outdone. they've recently announced that their new album, black & blue, will tell the story of a battered heart -- from the heart's perspective -- and that the first single from the album would be, appropriately enough, a cover of sting's "shape of my heart" -- heady stuff, particularly for a boy band. so how do they do?
well, first off, an admission: none of the above is true. well, most of it isn't, at least. it's the backstreet boys and, by now, you should know what to expect. i'll say that they're continuing the winning streak they've been on since "i want it that way," when it officially became okay for cool people to say they liked pop.
prior to that single, in my opinion, the backstreet boys had been making run-of-the-mill teen pop that was catchy but not to the point where i had interest in listening to it. they wisely gave up the faux-r&b leanings that 'nsync has now made their stock-in-trade and have since gone straight-up pop. my criteria in judging whether or not i think a pop song is good is firstly this: being an active radio listener, if i don't leap to turn the radio off once said song comes on, it's good.
"shape of my heart" is a mid-tempo ballad, and not a million miles away from that aforementioned hit. all of what you'd expect is there: infectious chorus, toytown production, and that all-important key change. to deride it as formulaic is lazy: every genre has a formula, and it all comes down to how you use that formula, and i'd rather listen to most formulaic bands than a great percentage of those groups out their "making their own rules." "shape of my heart" is the sound of a group -- and a production team -- hitting on all cylinders. the chord changes are fine; the singing is very professional and the vocal arrangements are multi-layered; and the bridge is top-notch. it's sure to sound great over the airwaves and i do believe it will launch them back on top. sorry 'nsync, bbmak, 98 degrees, 5ive, westlife, & c.: like the saying of another famous formulaic product goes, "you can't beat the real thing."
(c) 2000 - fred solinger -
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