Submitted by Pip on Sun, 10/04/2009 - 21:31
Tracklisting: 1. Straight Through My Heart 2. Bigger 3. Bye Bye Love 4. All Of Your Life (You Need Love) 5. If I Knew Then 6. This Is Us 7. PDA 8. Masquerade 9. She's A Dream 10. Shattered 11. Undone 12. Helpless
Record Company: Jive Records
Release Date: Monday 5th October 2009
Buy it now: Amazon
Those Backstreet Boys don’t give up easily do they? Despite not exactly setting the world alight with their comeback, they are still trying to resurrect the career they once had. Last album Unbreakable sold moderately but was nowhere near the sales the band enjoyed at their peak. Undeterred the Backstreet Boys are back with their seventh studio album This Is Us and do you know what? It’s actually rather good.
After failing to find the tempo on recent albums, the boys experiment with more uptempo songs on this record and keep the ballads to a minimum. With a leaning towards pop and R&B, the band has worked with RedOne, Soulshock and Karlin, Claude Kelly, T-Pain, Kevin Borg and long-time collaborator Max Martin. The album’s lead single, Straight Through My Heart, was the first fruits of their collaboration with RedOne and bridges the gap between their previous album and this one. The song is decent enough but there are better tracks on This Is Us.
The guitar-driven Bigger sounds like a smash hit in waiting and was made for radio, Bye Bye Love sounds a little like Ne-Yo’s Closer and the title track takes contemporary chunky R&B beats for a song that is sure to become a favourite at the band’s live shows. The Backstreet Boys shine best when they stick to the uptempo numbers. PDA is one of the strongest songs on the record and is a fantastic club track, Undone sounds like a tribute to Michael Jackson (which we love!) and If I Knew Then is a pulsating, electro-R&B track that is sure to be a future single.
The best moment on the album is reserved for All Of Your Life (You Need Love). The song is a storming classic pop song with contemporary beats piled on it. The band’s harmonies sound fantastic and as per usual they share the lead vocals.
This Is Us is an unexpected return to form for the Backstreet Boys. The record is the best that they’ve released in years and we were taken by surprise. Perhaps there is still life in the band yet. If Nick Carter could stop comparing them to The Rolling Stones, the Backstreet Boys could be one step closer to regaining their popularity. Job well done.
Credit: entertainment-focus.com
Source : German BSB Supportteam MySpace
Thu 15 Oct - 4:49