Nick Carter

NICK CARTER
"I'M TAKING OFF"
(Sony/Japan, 2011)


When you have to wait nine years for an artist to release their next album, especially if you loved their previous one as much as I loved Nick Carter's solo debut, "Now Or Never", it's nearly unavoidable that you'd raise your hopes and expectations to absurdly high levels. I got off on that album so much because it was such a departure from the squeaky-clean pop he'd been doing with the Backstreet Boys, and also because Nick's raspy, ballsy voice seemed tailor-made for good ol' guitars-and-drums rock. He was ready to burst out as the next Bryan Adams, and I could totally see it happening and was all set to follow him along for the ride ... but the album's sales fell flat and he put his solo career efforts on hold.

Unfortunately, much like McFly's latest effort, shifting gears from rock to R&B has also removed most of what made Nick's previous album so distinctive and enjoyable. He's even tamed his voice back to the milder and more inoffensive timbre heard on his Backstreet Boys recordings. While there's certainly nothing wrong with that in itself, since pop-R&B is of course BSB's home turf and calls for a smoother voice than rock, it essentially makes this sound like nothing more than just another Backstreet Boys album -- only not as good, since it lacks the vocal synergy that A.J., Brian and Howie bring to the group. Has rock somehow gone out-of-style in recent years? The synths and beats of R&B have always seemed colder to me than the warm and organic sounds of guitars and drums.

Lest you think I totally hate this album, I have to say it does have a few good moments, and it's already begun to grow on me a little. Several of the songs have fun grooves and good lyrics, particularly the energetic "Addicted", the power-ballad "Falling Down", the initial single "Just One Kiss", the fine ballad "Great Divide", and the title track. And then there's also the fact that it is, after all, Nick Carter's unmistakable voice which, though it lacks the grit and attitude of its rock persona, is still perfectly pleasant to listen to. If you still love Backstreet Boys, you'll love this album ... but if you're looking for more of the energy that made "Now Or Never" so special, you'll be disappointed.

Buy it from Nick Carter's official site
Buy it on CD from Amazon
Buy it on CD from ImportCDs.com

A. J. McLean

A. J. McLEAN
"HAVE IT ALL"
(Avex/Japan, 2010)


As far as his image and appearance are concerned, I never cared much for A. J. McLean, but I've always thought he had one of the best voices out of all the Backstreet Boys. So I was understandably pleased when I found out that he had released a solo album while I wasn't looking, and I didn't waste a whole lot of time in getting around to buying myself a copy.

By and large, A. J. McLean's solo debut sticks fairly close to the core Backstreet Boys sound: a mix of sweeping pop balladry ("London", "I Hate It When You're Gone") and energetic electro-tinged blue-eyed R&B ("Teenage Wildlife", "What It Do"), with a bit more of a leaning toward the latter. But at the same time, he does put just enough of his own mark on this set to make it unique. A. J. gets his Prince on with "Gorgeous", puts out a heartwrenching piano ballad on "Sincerely Yours", lays down a first-class Motown groove with "Love Crazy", and gives an entertaining try at a cross between Billy Joel and Gavin deGraw on the cheeky "I Quit".

As if that isn't enough, this album is a fine showcase of A. J.'s songwriting talents, since there isn't a song on it that he didn't have a hand in -- and, interestingly, two were co-written with one-time rival boyband singer-turned-solo-artist (and fellow two-initials-for-a-first-name guy) J. C. Chasez. I am a bit puzzled as to why this album wasn't released in the U.S., since I would have thought the domestic BSB audience is still strong enough to support one more of its members' side projects. But at any rate, with a debut this good, I sure hope this isn't the last we hear from a solo A. J.

Buy it on CD from Amazon

Backstreet Boys

BACKSTREET BOYS
"UNBREAKABLE"
(Zomba, 2007)


"Any Other Way"


I've just completed yet another significant pruning of my CD collection (having lost my fondness for this CD and that CD, as well as getting rid of a Huey Lewis & The News album for the first time, a bittersweet occasion indeed), and this title was one of the first that I pulled off my shelf, so certain was I that it was going to be one that I would be getting rid of. But just to be sure I was making the right decision, I decided earlier this week to listen to it once more on my iPod. Well, imagine my surprise when I had a change of heart and put it back on the shelf.

I won't sugar-coat things here (bear in mind that it took months for me to really warm up to this disc) ... the Boys are a long way from their glory days of "Millennium", and this is by no means a perfect album -- its lead single "Inconsolable", aside from being just an okay song, is placed right next to a tune with a very similar bar at the beginning of its chorus, thus diluting the originality (for lack of a better word) of both songs -- but it's not half-bad either.

Apparently taking a cue from their less-than-lovingly received 2005 effort "Never Gone", the guys break up the somewhat monotonous adult-contemporary sound of that album by mixing in some of the more energetic synth-pop that made them famous a decade ago. The result is a totally listenable album in which even the dancey numbers sound surprisingly non-pretentious being sung by guys in their late 20's and early 30's.

Sure, they've no longer got Kevin Richardson with them, but they're not suffering at all from his absence. And yes, they've done better stuff than this, but they're not quite washed up yet. The ballads here are mostly so-so but with a couple of standouts ("Helpless When She Smiles", "Trouble Is"), but the upbeat numbers ("Everything But Mine", "Panic") make them sound almost as good as they did in their heyday. Maybe it's just me, but I can still hear an energy in their vocals that I just can't imagine coming from people who don't still thoroughly enjoy performing together as a group.