By MIKE BELL -- Calgary Sun
CAGLARY -- Sitting down with the four members of nouveau American R&B act 98 Degrees during their recent press jaunt through Calgary, two things were immediately apparent:
(1) I really am as I ugly as I thought; and (2) for a band ready to take radio, video and the insides of teenage girls' lockers by storm, or else fail miserably and fall into the category of used-to-bes, they're an unnervingly relaxed, almost excited bunch.
The group's third release, Revelation, hits North American stores today with as much hype, hoopla and anticipation as you'd expect to be afforded one of current contemporary music's hottest-selling acts (you're reading this, aren't you?).
It's also an album that 98 Degrees have much more of a personal interest vested in -- they were heavily involved in all aspects of its conception, even co-writing together or individually on 11 of the 13 tracks (hey, in the world of boy bands, that is a big deal).
But if the band should be feeling any pressure, nobody's told them.
"It's a breath of fresh air," Justin Jeffre says. "We're super-excited about the next phase of our career and everything that lies ahead."
To get to this point of anticipating the future, Justin, Nick Lachey, Drew Lachey and Jeff Timmons first had to put their previous three years in the past.
It was a whirlwind and exhausting time that saw them signed to Motown and yielded two albums (not including a Christmas disc), constant touring and a packed appearance schedule.
So, to get ready for Revelation, the four prepared by grounding themselves inside their personal lives and by taking the first time off they'd had since the ride first started.
And that has made all the difference.
"That time off definitely allowed us to veg out and regain our focus and a passion for what we're doing," Nick says.
"Because at the end of last year, we were extremely burnt out."
Much of the blame for the burnout can be laid at the feet of handlers, who thought that in a marketplace saturated by bands like 98 Degrees, any time away from the spotlight could be fatal.
There still seems to be some resentment towards those people who advised them and, they feel, took advantage of them. (In fact, it's rumoured that's the reason they parted ways with their manager, though all the band will say on the subject is their "methods and visions weren't the same.")
"They don't necessarily take advantage of you by stealing your money or anything like that, but they take advantage of you being naive or being nice guys, and not wanting to say no, or being hard working. They'll just milk you and suck all the life right out of you if you give them the opportunity to," Jeff says.
"I think that's one of the things we learned on the last tour. We have to enjoy what we're doing, we have to be able to have a good time with it and we have to be setting ourselves up for happiness for life."
Revelation should do that -- if not emotionally, at least financially.
The first single, a Latin-tinged track called Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche) -- which was reportedly written for Ricky Martin -- is already storming up the charts and the rest of the album doesn't stray too far from the already proven 98 Degrees formula.
The confidence, it would appear, has already served them well.
"We feel this is our time to step up to the plate," Drew says, "and show who we are and what we're capable of doing."
-- AllPop
