When disgraced boy-band Svengali Lou Pearlman took interest in replicating the success of the ’80s Boston rival R&B acts New Kids on the Block and New Edition, he sent his fledgling groups to Sweden, because the audience didn’t exist in their home country yet. The triumphant return of the Backstreet Boys in the wake of this month’s new album DNA - which sold nearly a quarter million pure albums in its first week out, trouncing the turnout in the same space for the group’s last three studio albums - is a good opportunity to parse what the boys brought to the table in the first place and why they appear to be resonating more with fans this year than they have in the last decade.Ĭritically speaking, ’90s teen pop got a raw deal, as it arrived ten years too late to enjoy the brash arrangements and bratty attitude of the ’80s class and ten years too early to meet the enthusiastic new class of dance-music fans that greeted the ascendant early Katy Perry and Lady Gaga singles. The pop squabbles of the last year resemble this era the closest we haven’t spent this much time discussing Eminem, Justin Timberlake, and the Backstreet Boys since the three parties vied for top billing on TRL in its heyday. In 1999, it was ‘N Sync versus the Backstreet Boys, Limp Bizkit and Korn versus every working teen pop star, and Eminem versus all the above and more. In the ’70s, it was punk rock versus dinosaur rock and mainstream rock versus disco.
In the ’60s, it was the Beatles versus the Stones. Rivalries and chart battles require you to pick a side, to “get off the fence” and throw your support behind a winner.
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