Backstreet's back

Express Tribune

27-02-2025

Deep in the heart of every late 30s/early 40s-something woman is a secret she would be loath to admit. And no, it is not that we hide bodies in the back garden. (Not everyone can afford a garden.)
Our secret, in fact, is this: once upon a time, circa late '90s, our hearts were in the sole care of that specimen of human male collectively identifying as the Backstreet Boys. And now in 2025, come July, the BSB are seeking to capitalise on some of the embers of the passion that once burned so brightly. Think the film industry lacks imagination when it inflicts upon you sequel after sequel? The BSB are going to do you one better by releasing a digitally remastered version of their Millennium album titled – you are going to want to sit down for this – Millennium 2.0.
Please do not be alarmed if you despise change in your advanced age, because there is absolutely nothing new on offer in this digitally remastered situation other than the number 2. In the trusty words of People, the only new thing you will have to tolerate on Millennium 2.0 will be six unheard demos and six live recordings from the BSB Millennium tour. Every existing track that you once knew and loved – and still know the words to despite having not heard it in 20 years – will be digitally remastered. That is it.
Boyband mission statement
Like their boyband brethren, the BSB existed to teach us all about love. We had the baby of the group Nick Carter, who joined the band at 16 and had the most fabulous middle parting in his blond hair. Nick walked so Jack Dawson (of Titanic fame) could run. Then there was Brian Littrell, the avowed best friend of Nick, cousin of fellow bandmate Kevin Richardson, and the man who usually opened most of BSB tracks. Brian's favourite colour was blue. We former BSB fans may not remember to pick up milk when we do the groceries, but you will be pleased to note that we have retained this information for the day Earth gets overtaken by alien overlords and the only condition of release is to answer to their chief whether Brian prefers blue or yellow.
AJ McLean was the obligatory whacky tattooed figure, and together with Nick and Brian, got the meatiest part of the songs (or at least as meaty as it could be after being split three ways.) Kevin, Brian's cousin, existed to stare moodily in the background and occasionally astonished us all with his lovely baritone. The final member of this crew was Howie Dorough, who, like Kevin, melted away in the background, but did inform us during the liner notes of the first Backstreet Boys album that his favourite book was John Grisham's The Firm, an admission that sparked a love affair with courtroom dramas with at least one bookish BSB fan.
Speaking of liner notes, along with churning out ballads and looking pretty, our lovelorn hotshots also relied heavily on those little cassette booklets to lure fans into swearing allegiance to them. These liner notes were almost as important as whatever was actually on the album. In minuscule writing that would have you squinting today, these informative booklets would detail the lyrics of every track, include an array of photos of moody poses, and thoughtfully give us thank you letters from each band member that fans would pore over as if they were WW2 mathematicians and it was the enigma code. What a beautiful, simple time to be alive!
Looking back at 'Millennium'
Back in 1999, BSB fans, forever congratulating themselves on picking the right side of the Backstreet Boys-'N Sync battle were beside with joy with the third BSB album, Millennium, which included not just I Want It That Way, but an ego-affirming song dedicated to the fans (Larger Than Life), another dedicated to Brian's mother (The Perfect Fan) and one thoughtful contemplation on the subject of loneliness (Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely). As a bonus, this last song contained the word 'crimson', which is not a feat any other boyband can boast of.
Now that we are older and wiser, we sigh in despair at the numerous offerings of the K-pop industry, but back in 1999, we could have written a dissertation on why Millennium was the most important album ever produced, with a large section on why its biggest single, I Want It That Way was the most genius musical composition to have ever graced the earth.
It wouldn't have been a very good dissertation, mind you, because most available brain cells were engaged in swooning over the album cover. To ensure maximum swoon-ability, our heroes out-dazzle the sun in blinding white outfits and shoes of the type favoured by detergent commercials. Standing against a blue backdrop, they stare soulfully at an indeterminate spot, lost in the type of philosophical contemplation not seen since the likes of Aristotle. Perhaps they are contemplating the meaning of life, or more likely, the meaning behind I Want It That Way, which relies almost exclusively on a meaningless variation of the words 'fire', ' desire' and 'I want it that way'.
Just what it is that they desire and why they are so fixated on wanting it that way is a mystery that no one has ever successfully cracked, but such is the power of this hit track that, as Brooklyn Nine Nine reminded us, it can even ferret out murderers in a prisoner line-up. It is fitting, then, that to promote the new-but-not-really-new Millennium 2.0, our heroes of the days of yore performed their biggest hit during the recent SNL 50th anniversary show.
We are not the only ones who have grown up. They have, too. For a start, they are all fathers now. Brian suffers from a medical condition causing him difficulty singing, not that that stops him from trying. Those who do not know will be shocked at his opening verse in the recent SNL performance, but with Nick – no longer the designated baby – swooping in to pick up his second verse and saving his friend, balance is restored.
Is there any point in Millennium 2.0? Heavens no. But since we are getting it anyway, we may as well submit to nostalgia, revisit simpler times (digitally remastered though they may be) and try, once again, to solve the unfathomable riddle of I Want It That Way.