New LP shows the Backstreet Boys are not just pretty faces

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Nov 20, 2000 Source: New York Daily News Submitted By: By Isaac Guzman NEW YORK -- Given their love for coordinated white suits, synchronized dance moves and silky harmonies, you might think the Backstreet Boys live their lives in a musical fantasy world, where they never suffer the small humiliations of daily life. You'd be wrong. Backstage at a recent taping of the "Rosie O'Donnell Show," the Boys demonstrated that, despite selling more than 55 million albums over the last three years and being worshiped as gods by droves of screaming girls, they are, in fact, mortal. It began with the food -- a big bag of burgers from McDonald's. "We're Burger King," groans Brian Littrell, referring to the massive ad campaign the group waged on behalf of Whoppers this summer. It was `N Sync, the band's loathed rivals, who shilled for Big Macs. "We're not touching it," declares Nick Carter of the enemy burgers. But a few minutes later, the Backstreeters have eaten their way through almost everything in the bag, and Carter lets out a tremendous belch. "The way I see it, the more deeply you get into this business, the more you've got to be real," he announces as a makeup man applies a light dusting of coverup to his forehead. As if the wrong burgers weren't enough, Carter further aggravates his bandmates with his nonstop singing of Men at Work's goofy `80s hit "Down Under." But it's all in keeping with the band's playful camaraderie. Howie Dorough is mocked by his bandmates for being "in love with Ricky Martin." And, after much teasing, A.J. McLean has to confess that he's addicted to picking at his right thumb, which is on the verge of getting gory. "It's such a habit that I'll be picking at it until I bleed," he admits. "I'll pick right through the Band-Aid. Everyone in my family does it." Perhaps A.J.'s nervous tic has been exacerbated by the pressure the whole band is feeling. Tuesday Backstreet releases "Black & Blue," an album they hope will extend the band's run of multiplatinum albums and re-establish the act as the biggest vocal group -- don't dare say "boy band" -- of its generation. Claims on that title have been bouncing between Backstreet and `N Sync all year. In May 1999, Backstreet set sales records when fans rushed out to buy 1.13 million copies of "Millennium" in its first week of release. But `N Sync set the bar higher, more than doubling that number in March, when "No Strings Attached" racked up 2.4 million sales. Bad blood long has simmered between the bands, which were both products of pop Svengali Louis J. Pearlman and are both signed to Jive Records. "We're like a good car design, where they just keep stamping them out," Richardson says of the competition. "Making copies! Copy-rama! It's kind of frustrating. It's kind of sad." Backstreet now says it wants to leave Jive, but fears lawsuits. "The thing is, how can we ever make a move or differentiate ourselves when our own record company knows our schedule as well as theirs," Littrell asks. "So every spot that we go and hit, they trail right behind. We think it's a conflict of interest. But what can you do?" To ensure "Black & Blue's" maximum impact, the group has embarked on a 100-hour, round-the-world promotional tour, during which the band plans to make stops in Tokyo, Sydney, Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro. Tuesday, the band is slated to land in Times Square, announce tour plans and turn in yet another appearance on MTV. The band also has secured itself the cover of this month's Rolling Stone. But even as the Boys globetrot to push the new album, they're trying to downplay expectations of massive sales. "We really just want to make our fans happy," Carter says. "Everybody's concerned about the record because we broke it the first time. When we did it, it was one of the highlights of our careers. But it might never happen again, and if that's the way it is, then that's cool." The album may be a tough sale even to its core audience, since the band has kept photos off the cover and instead selected a simple black-and-blue design. "That's basically showing that we don't need to put pictures on the front of albums and we want to let the music speak for itself and try to get away from that whole image thing that's been going on," Carter says. Richardson compares it to the Beatles' white album and AC/DC's "Back in Black." But Carter says the title also describes the band's psychic state after taking "a lot of punches." To strike back at critics who have dismissed them as nothing more than the product of teen frenzy and some exceptionally talented Swedish producers, Backstreet vowed that they would have more creative input on this album. While some band members have written a handful of songs on previous records, this time the group set out to become a songwriting force, retreating to the Bahamas to generate ideas. "We rented a house and we'd all have breakfast and hit the beach and go ride Jet Skis and wreck Jet Skis and go scuba diving," Richardson says. "And then we'd go in the studio about 1 or 2 in the afternoon and stay until late at night every day for, like, two weeks." The result is songs such as "The Answer to Our Life" and "Time," on which all five band members share writing credit. And while the band prepares for the next pivotal months in its history, a few already have made new strides from boys to men. This summer, both Littrell and Richardson were married, bringing noticeable changes to their lifestyles. "I think they've both kind of calmed down a bit more and kind of become a bit more relaxed and not stressed out as much," McLean says of the married Boys. "Especially in Brian's case, because Brian tends to get wigged out when our schedule gets intense." Yet despite his thumb-picking anxiety, McLean says he's in no rush to follow them. "I am planning on getting married before I'm 30," he says. "I definitely want to slow down and settle down with somebody. But at this point in my life, my career's my first love, because I know that this could be gone tomorrow. I've got to live for it now. Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: JimmiXzS lu6d7l http://www.FyLitCl7Pf7kjQdDUOLQOuaxTXbj5iNG.com Submitted by: Bradley QiqXEB http://www.FyLitCl7Pf7kjQdDUOLQOuaxTXbj5iNG.com Submitted by: dlrsuiksia kw0dyA , [url=http://pugfygtnbrcf.com/]pugfygtnbrcf[/url], [link=http://vreuyluwxhfo.com/]vreuyluwxhfo[/link], http://ydqovndnweqw.com/ Submitted by: sohwrjws IVDhmk , [url=http://vxzbgqauafix.com/]vxzbgqauafix[/url], [link=http://gprrvyjsesbw.com/]gprrvyjsesbw[/link], http://ueabifrbfymo.com/ Submitted by: Peter Addict! LoL. 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