Natural

NATURAL
"IT'S ONLY NATURAL"
(BMG/Japan, 2004)


"Never"


One of the last groups to be discovered and guided by the now notorious boyband mogul Lou Pearlman, Natural was set apart from the rest of the boy-pop pack by the fact that they actually played their own instruments. Of course, one couldn't easily tell by their sound, which was admittedly rather similar to that of Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and Pearlman's other creations, with the only difference being a layer of guitars added in. That being said, however, Natural had plenty of catchy tunes scattered throughout their two albums. If you like pop with guitars, go find 'em; they're worth it.

The quintet's first album, "Keep It Natural", released first in Germany and then in Japan and Southeast Asia, was deliberately given a shiny pop gloss, probably so as not to scare away fans of Pearlman's tried-and-true boyband formula. (It was apparently less tried-and-true than Pearlman had thought; plans for a U.S. release of the album were abandoned after a retail tie-in promotion for the band's first single fizzled.) When they returned two years later with their second (and ultimately final) album, they won the fight to infuse a more mature rock sound into the songs, nearly all of which were co-written by the band members themselves. This song is perhaps the most hard-hitting of them all ... I personally could see it covered by a variety of rock acts without losing them any shred of credibility.

It appears that most of the Natural members are now pursuing careers elsewhere in music, having long since cut their ties with the domineering Pearlman. Interestingly, Pearlman objected to band member Marc Terenzi's relationship with German singer Sarah Connor, with whom the band dueted in the song "Just One Last Dance" (which was included on the Japanese release of "It's Only Natural", and was a big hit for both acts); Terenzi and Connor are to this day married and have two children. Isn't it romantic when music brings two people together?