By now you've probably heard that little tune on the radio called "Pop."
It goes something like this; "Sick and tired of hearing all these people talk about/ what's the deal with this pop life and when is it gonna fade out."
Well if you have missed it thus far, not only is it one of the catchiest songs being spun on the airwaves right now, it is probably the most flashy tune to get stuck in your head over and over again since, well, "Bye, Bye, Bye."
You probably won't be surprised to learn that both of those songs happen to be from the same boy band ‘N SYNC.
Justin, J.C., Joey, Lance, and Chris are back at it again just a little over a year since they shattered the all-time first week album sales mark with No Strings Attached (2.4 million copies in the first week, with 1 million sold the first day alone).
As "Pop," the first single from the new album, appropriately titled Celebrity, makes its way up the charts, critics, fans, skeptics and just about everyone in between is wondering how this disc is going to stack up against the old one.
As many groups have proven time and time again, it is hard to follow-up a successful album with something fresh and new. The tendency is to want to repeat yourself in the studio hoping for the same results. Luckily ‘N SYNC was wise enough to branch out.
With their fan base rapidly growing-up, the group decided to join in on the experience of maturation, growing their music from bubblegum pop to polished hip-hop. The first time I listened to the new record, I noticed a big difference. I got to the sixth of 13 tracks and realized that besides "Pop," the first cut on the disk, there had been no up-tempo, get-up-and-dance songs.
Just when I thought that they had completely changed their style they threw in a few of the great foot-tappers that have made them multi-millionaires. Track eight, called, "Up Against the Wall," sounds like a page that they stole right out of the TLC playbook. If you didn't know any better you might think that Justin Timberlake had spent the last few months in a contemporary African-American church.
So the boy band has grown up. They even wrote most of the songs on Celebrity. They have destroyed the charts and defied the odds. Where do they go from here? Is it time for the descent into VH1’s Where Are They Now? land? Not quite.
From my point of view, the guys are still sitting pretty and as long as your little sister or little brother continues to storm the television in time for MTV's TRL, and grabs up those discs, they aren't going anywhere.
Grade: A-
