Backstreet Boys' New 'Black & Blue' Album Aims For Diversity

Source: backstreet.net

(10/31/00, 1 p.m. ET) - The Backstreet Boys' new album Black & Blue, due November 21, promises to be more diverse than the group's previous effort, Millennium, according to group member Brian Littrell. To create Black & Blue the group worked for the first time with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, who produced the Backstreet-penned "Time," and Rodney Jerkins, who produced the R&B-flavored "Shining Star," adding to the album's overall diversity.

Littrell tells LAUNCH that fans can expect a much different sound than they heard on the multiplatinum Millennium. "I think Black & Blue is a lot different. It's a lot more diverse, I think, than the Millennium album. When Millennium came out, it was kind of the songs for the time. Going into the millennium, it was kind of monumental for every human being on this earth," he says. "With Black & Blue, I think it's a little more diverse song to song."

Littrell admits that despite Millennium's tremendous success, there were a few tracks on the album that sounded a bit alike, and the group made a conscious effort to avoid that on Black & Blue. "On Millennium we had a few songs that sounded the same--fast songs that would sound similar to fast songs, as well as ballads that would sound similar to other ballads," he says. "On this album it's a little more diverse song for song on every track, you'll find out."

-- Jason Gelman, New York, and Neal Weiss, Los Angeles