Backstreet Boys running stale on us

In this heyday period of their career, The Backstreet Boys could release an album of Ethel Merman songs and it'd go straight to No. 1.

Still, the boys cut no corners on their third album, which contains teen-pop of the highest quality, from the dance-floor stomper Larger Than Life (a tribute to their screaming, hormonally overpowered female fans that musically borrows from Daft Punk's Da Funk), to infectious, adult-contemporary crossover attempts like the current single I Want It That Way and Latin-tinged numbers such as Spanish Eyes and Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely.

Like all teen-pop recordings, however, the boy-meets-girl lyrics read like bad Hallmark poetry, the harmonies are polished to the point of being antiseptic and the sugary sentimentality can be laid on a bit thick (especially on The Perfect Fan, their tribute to mom) -- all of which may turn off adults but, hey, we're not the target market, are we?

Track Listing 1. Larger Than Life (3.52) 2. I Want It That Way (3.33) 3. Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely (3.54) 4. It's Gotta Be You (2.56) 5. I Need You Tonight (4.23) 6. Don't Want You Back (3.25) 7. Don't Wanna Lose You Now (3.54) 8. The One (3.46) 9. Back To Your Heart (4.21) 10. Spanish Eyes (3.53) 11. No One Else Comes Close (3.42) 12. The Perfect Fan (4.15)		Album rating