Okay, here's my official review now that I've heard the whole thing once and am on my second listen! First of all, I LOVE this album! The whole thing! There's only one potential skip song, and even that one isn't bad like the skip songs I have on TIU, all of which are just horrible songs LOL. Like I just tweeted, this album is LIGHT YEARS away from TIU and a bazillion times better!!! It may be the best BSB album ever, but I won't decide that until the newness wears off so I can see how it holds up to the others. I think it's definitely going to be up there with Never Gone, Millennium, and Backstreet's Back for me though!
I've already talked about IAWTS and PS enough on here, so here's my song by song review for the rest of the tracks that are new.
Breathe - I knew I would like this one just from what we heard at the fan event, and I was right! It's smooth, beautiful, and just the right amount of catchy.
Madeleine - I caved and have been listening to this one ever since it was leaked, but it still stands out as being one of the best on the album. Simple and absolutely beautiful! I'm glad they went acoustic and didn't over-produce this one.
Show 'Em (What You're Made Of) - This is probably the track I was most excited to hear in full, and I was not disappointed! It brought tears to my eyes. One thing I love about this album that is so different from the rest of their albums is how personal it is! Not every song on the album has that feel, but this one definitely does. This is what I've been waiting years for!
Make Believe - This was the first one that really had that feel of trying hard to sound current, but that's okay because, unlike some of the songs on TIU, they didn't have to sacrifice anything, like good melodies/harmonies or meaningful lyrics, to accomplish that. I like this song!
Try - This was the only song they previewed at the fan event that I didn't like, so I was prepared not to like it on the album either. But after listening to the whole thing, while I don't LOVE it, I don't hate it or even dislike it, either. It may end up being my only skip song, but it may not - too early to tell. It's not a bad song at all; it's just not my style of music. I think it would have been better as an AJ solo track, since he basically sings the whole thing anyway and sounds great doing so!
Trust Me - This song is cute and will be fun to sing along to once I learn all the lyrics. Speaking of which, I was SO excited to see they put the lyrics to all the songs in the liner notes!!! That is going to help me out so much because I have three days to memorize the whole album before the first show on Friday! "Making sweet sexy babies" made me giggle!
Love Somebody - I knew that Nick must have had a hand in writing this song before I double checked. It just has Nick written all over it, from the sound of it to the lyrics. Is this the one someone (Mare?) said sounds like it could have started as a love letter to Lauren? That was what I thought, that Nick wrote it with Lauren in mind. The line about her wearing the jersey of his favorite team made me smile. Cute song!
One Phone Call - Like with the last song, it did not surprise me one bit to see that Howie had helped write this song because its so cheesy, but I LOVE IT!!! I think I saw someone say that this was their one old-school boyband track, and I agree. I started giggling when it got to the chorus with "leave a message at the tone," but like I said, I LOVE IT! It's cute and catchy, and hey, what would be a Backstreet Boys song without at least one cheesy analogy song?
Feels Like Home - This was the other leaked track that I caved on and have been dancing around my apartment to for like two weeks, but I still got up and danced around my living room when it came on - one of my favorites! Such a fun song and, again, I love that it's personal. Kevin's voice cracks me up!
Soldier - Like a lot of people, I think this is my favorite of the new tracks so far, although it's hard to choose because there are so many good ones! I just love this one because it's so incredibly catchy and upbeat!
In Your Arms - This was a good choice as a bonus track. I don't like it better than the tracks on the regular album, but I do like it! I forgot how many of these songs we had already heard clips of until I listened to the album and was like, "Oh yeah, I've heard this!" I stopped playing those clips months ago so I wouldn't wear them out, so I forgot what most of the songs sounded like!
Take Care - As I said in my last post, I can see what Mare was saying about this one being all over the place. I was kind of "WTF?" over it at first, but once it got into the chorus, I started to get into it. Overall, I really like it, I think because it's so different sounding. Siberia was that way for me; I hated it for the first five seconds of the first listen, and by the chorus, it was my instant favorite song.
So my overall impression of this album is that it really shows how much they've grown, not only as musicians but as people too. Ironically, I think it's way more "them" than This Is Us was. LOL I think it strikes the perfect balance between the more "organic" Never Gone and the more modern-sounding Unbreakable and TIU. And yet, it still has some great, catchy boyband pop songs that harken back to Black & Blue and Millennium. It doesn't sound dated, and yet, it doesn't have that feel of trying too hard to sound current, either. It's not over-produced, but I like that there is a nice blend of songs that are more simple and acoustic-sounding along with songs that have had more production put into them. There's a little something for everyone on it!
This is the album I was hoping they would make, and I think it was the perfect one to release for their 20th anniversary! Love!!!
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Topic: New music! (Read 55236 times)