The CD begins with the lively "We've Got It Goin' On, which is sorta the unofficial Backstreet theme song. After listening to it, I can understand why the Boys didn't make it big in the US the first time around. The lyrics are incredibly lame and that "ahh" thing they do several times throughout the song gets rather annoying. Luckily, the next 4 (or 3 songs, if you have the retarded version) make up for the first one. QPG, ALAYLM, and AIHTG are great songs that display the guys' vocal capabilities and are fun to sing along to. I like Everybody the least out of that group, but it has a catchy beat, although I fail to understand the point. If Backstreet's Back, then where did they go? I think North Dakota. And next we come to "Anywhere for You". My ears are bleeding. Not only is it the cheesiest love song I've ever heard, but Nick's nasal is at its best. Time to push the skip button on the CD player. "Hey Mr. DJ" goes too. INBYH was okay until I saw the video 50 billion times and they performed it on every show they were on during the summer. Then there's "Darlin'", in which the beginning sounds exactly like INBYH. Someone wasn't thinking when they planned which songs were going where. "Get Down" is one of the best songs on the album; it's bouncy and they sound so good on it. Surprisingly I also like "Set Adrift" even though it gets looked over since it's toward the end. It has really good lyrics. The CD ends with "If You Want It To Be Good Girl". I laughed when I first heard this, especially at Howie's* high "I want to show you how" in the bridge. However, this song grew on me. It's fun and Nick sounds hecka good, if slightly nasal. And of course, I have to mention the cover. Oh dear. What were they thinking when they picked those pictures to go on their album? Kevin's hair blends into his eyebrows, making him look like a shaggy dog. Nick's hair is radioactive, needs to be redyed, and styled in that hideous bowl cut. I hate to admit this, but Howie looks the best out of all of them. I know I don't deserve to be the president of the Anti-Howie Club, but this is before he turned in the greasy, winking, drooling creature he is today. Who's that guy standing next to him... oh that's AJ? Didn't recognize him without the tattoos, sunglasses, multi-colored hair and baldness. Brian looks really pale and sickly. All considering, they look pretty nasty, which explains why I didn't think they were cute at first. Luckily, they didn't look this way for long. Grade: B
*Author's note: It was recently brought to my attention that it is Howard, not AJ, who sings this hideous line. My deepest apologies to Freak-o.
