I was nine years old living in a two-bed two-bath apartment when I first heard the Backstreet Boys’ debut album. It was one of the first albums I would ever own alongside Third Eye Blind’s self-titled debut and Mighty Mighty Bosstones Let’s Face It, which in retrospect is a pretty awesome trio of albums to receive for your ninth birthday. Backstreet Boys kicked off an unshakable appreciation with boy bands that would dominate my elementary school and middle school years– one of my oldest friends and I “formed” a boy band named Kilimanjaro and wrote a killer song called “Acorn Tree” one year, and in middle school a group of friends and I did a whole song and dance number to Backstreet Boys hit single “I Want It That Way” during recess at lunch that saw one of our bandmates do the worm on a wood bench and get splinters all over his hands. I can still remember every single move to that dance routine– if you catch me drunk at a wedding in 30 years and put on “I Want It That Way” I’m sure I’ll still be able to bust it out.
All this to say is that Backstreet Boys is an album that holds an indelible place in my heart and always will. It’s the sound of youthful exuberance, of first experiences with the fairer sex, of growing into an individual and being comfortable in my own skin. They’ve always been the best boy band in my book (sorry *NSYNC fans) and this album is the one that started it all for me.
Standout Songs: “Quit Playing Games With My Heart”, “As Long As You Love Me”, “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”, “All I Have To Give”, “If You Want It To Be Good Girl (Get Yourself a Bad Boy)”
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