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If someone had to cover the band’s name on the CD cover and you weren’t too familiar with the looks of the members, how would you know who this CD is by? Well… no Parental Advisory Warning sticker… could be Westlife or Backstreet Boys. Album title? Unbreakable… mmm, that’s Westlife isn’t it? Hang on, Westlife’s Greatest Hits collection was named Unbreakable. No cover versions on the tracklisting… all original songs… that’s Backstreet Boys then!
Frikkie, Koos, Albert and PJ are back. Yes, I’ve never managed to remember what their real names are, but before the hate mail starts pouring in Deon Maas style, Nick, Howie, Brian and AJ are back and 75 million albums later, it’s pretty safe to assume these guys can play the panflute rather badly and they’ll still move thousands of albums. But, fortunately, panflute is not one of the instruments featured on the album.
It’s Backstreet Boys doing what they do best… consoling the “Inconsolable.” Which happens to be the first single, a classic piano-driven midtempo ballad reminiscent of the group's biggest hits.
Apparently among the band’s priorities when they were writing and recording the album, were to include uptempo tracks. The closest they get to this is on “Everything But Mine” and “Panic.” But in my opinion, none of the tracks come close to the “Larger than Life” and “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” anthems of previous albums that got your toes tapping.
The album kicks off with “Intro” which is a taster for the last track on the album and I have to say I think the stand-out track is left till last… there’s just something about the title “Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon” that made me think I would like the song. It’s the “lying in a hammock with not a care in the world” track of the album.
It’s an altogether more melodic affair and a confident return to the pop template that best defines the group's sound. Still firmly entrenched in the mainstream pop genre, this album does not disappoint, with several tracks that merit being released as singles |
