I know what you're thinking. Five stars, for "pure teenage girl pop"? But no matter what genre you categorize this under, it's simply splendid for its place in the music industry.
Examples of its mastery of deliciously dramatic love songs are "As Long As You Love Me" (a personal fave), "Quit Playin' Games With My Heart", "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" and "Get Down (You're The One For Me)". With such groovin' tunes for title tracks, who can call this piece of bubblegum pop anything but stellarly made?
Certainly, the album has its downside, as all '90s pop albums seem to. It has some over-produced tracks (ex.: "Anywhere For You", "Hey Mr. DJ (Keep Playin' This Song", and the almost unbearable barber-shop-quartetlike remake of "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss") that make for a grotesque blemish on the album's face, and detract from the listener's love and the potential customer's interest. All in all, though, the devoted listener will learn when to groove to the beat and when to skip to the next enjoyable track rather quickly, and aside from the above-mentioned tracks, this one's a winner.

A decent CD. Not great, but pretty decent. I like seven out of the twelve songs on this thing. Here's the list.

1. "We've Got It Going On": BARFFFFFFFFFFFFF! 1 Star

2. "Quit Playing Games With My Heart": Great beat, a little repetitive, but I still like it. 5 Stars

3. "As Long As You Love Me": I love this song. It has a great beat, great tune, great "HARMONY" between the BBBoys. 5 Stars

4. "Everybody(Backstreets Back)": Decent. 4 Stars

5. "All I Have To Give": Great Song. Sweet and slow. 5 Stars

6. "Anywhere For You": Another decent song that sends you off to daydreaming bliss. 4 & 1/2 Stars

7. "Hey Mr. DJ(Keep Playing' This Song)": Another Barfer. No Stars.

8. "I'll Never Break Your Heart": Great slow song. Beautiful lyrics. I like the harmony the boys exibit when they sing the chorus. 4 & 1/2

9. "Darlin": Another Barfer.

10. "Get Down(Your The One For Me)": Cool Beat. I like it. 4 Stars

11. "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss": Barfer. No Stars.

12. "If You Want It To Be Good Girl(Get Yourself A Bad Boy)": Barfer. No Stars.

There is my review of the album in a list of the individual songs. The overall album is like I said is decent.

This is 100% my opinion, but I want you all to know that yes, I am a teenage girl (15), yes, I am a BSB fan (for 2 1/2 years), but NO, pop music is not all I listen to. The Boys are one of the only pop groups I like, by the way.

Before I start, let me just say that something that sets the Boys apart from ALL OTHER BOY BANDS is that they all have solos (on their singles and on their 4 albums), they all have UNIQUE voices, and I love all of their voices.

1. We've Got It Goin' On - Maybe a bit repetetive, but the beat and A.J.'s rap makes up for it.

2. Quit Playin' Games (With My Heart) - LOVE this song. Even after 2 1/2 years. This was the first song I heard from the Boys, and I adore it. Lyrics aren't too sappy, but they are still real and full of emotion, and the beat isn't too slow or too fast. Ex. of a line: Deep within my soul/I feel/Nothin' like it used to be/Sometimes I wish I could/Turn back time/Impossible as it may seem. Chorus: Quit playin' games with my heart/Before you tear us apart/Quit playin' games with my heart/I should've known from the start/You know you've gotta stop/You're tearin' us apart/Quit playin' games with my heart. Again, I love this song.

3. As Long As You Love Me - I love this song just as much as Quit Playin' games, but for slightly different reasons. Even though I'm only 15, I remember what my life was like when I heard this song in '97, and how it touched me. I saw the video only once, but I remember that day clearly, as it was the first time I SAW the Boys, and the second song I heard by them. This was the song, along with Quit Playin' Games, that induced me to purchase their album. You may call it too sugary, or having naieve lyrics, but the truth is that this is about love at first sight. This is one of the few songs from the Boys that does not promise to love the girl forever, but is just expressing their love for her NOW. It really touches my heart that way, and the beat is perfect. First lines: Although loneliness has always been a friend of mine/I'm leavin' my life in your hands/People say I'm crazy and that I am blind/Riskin' it all in a glance!/And how you've got me blind is still a mystery/I can't get you out of my head/I don't care what is written in your history/As long as you're here with me. Sweet, huh? Just like to add that Nick's best lines, in all four of the Boys' albums, are probably in Quit PLayin' Games, As Long As.., and All I Have To Give. Oh yeah, and in some of the songs on Millenium.

4. Everybody (Backstreet's Back) - This song gives me an irrepressible urge to dance. Now this is the US/video version, but the foreign/concert version is just as good. A.J.'s voice really grabs you here, like with his rap in We've Got It Goin' On. Nick's voice is perfect here as well, but I just don't imagine him in a "sexual" way.

5. All I Have To Give - The guitar in the background is the first thing you hear, and this was the first thing that made me fall in love with the song. Then, the first lines melted me just like in As Long As You Love Me, because, in my opinion, they were the best part of the whole song - I don't know what he does to make you cry/But I'll be there to make you smile. Now, isn't that something every guy can/has live(d) up to? Nobody's singing about dying or leaving, or sorry, but just saying I don't know why you're sad, but let me cheer you up. Too sweet, and Nick's voice is drop-dead perfect here. Basically, it is a rich guy (a jerk) has an unhappy girl, and the poor guy (the Boys, if u can believe it) are saying their love is all they have to give, but they can't live without the girl.

6. Anywhere For You - A very sweet love song, exp. in the context of going anywhere for their fans (like their foreign video version suggests). Sample lyrics: As long as you're love's there to lead me/I won't lose my way believe me/Even through the darkest night you know/chorus - I'd go anywhere for you/anywhere you asked me to/I'd do anything for you/Anything you want me to/Your love as far as I can see/Is all I'm ever gonna need/There's one thing for sure/I know it's true/Baby I'd go anywhere for you.

7. Hey Mr.DJ (Keep Playin' This Song) - This song has a different flavor than ANY OTHER BsB song I have heard. If you like listening to it, try watching it on the Homecoming video. A.J. is excellent here. As always.

8. I'll Never Break Your Heart - Don't know this song? One of the smoothest ballads of the 90s, I'm serious. Sounds disillusional, but the guys, esp. Kevin and A.J., are extremely convincing.

9. Darlin' - Has almost the same opening as I'll Never Break your heart, but different lyrics completely. Brian has the main lead, and he's singing to his girl who is ignoring/lying to him. Think Quit PLayin' Games, but slower.

10. Get Down (You're THe One For Me) - Kids only. Nice, fun, sugary pop song. Even A.J.'s rap can't save it.

11. Set Adrift On Memory's BLiss - Why does everyone hate this version of P.M. Dawn's hit song? I love P.M Dawn, but I truly think that this version is just as good as the original version.

12. If You Want It To Be Good Girl...Not even going to write the rest of the title. Nice beat,words that crack me up, but too lame.

So how did you like it?

Say what you will, but it's patently unfair to say that the Backstreet Boys `suck'. Granted, those of us who have been raised on rock and roll will find it difficult to ascertain the musical appeal of five performers posing as a band, singing pseudo-soulless versions of pre-packaged pop emotional swill, but we aren't their target audience. These guys, or rather the people who have manipulated them into the image that they represent, have targeted them straight at the heart of pre-teen youth culture, and as such, they have done a better than admirable job. For those of us who might have selective memories, there have been other, MUCH worse examples of teen-based music that pre-dates the Backstreet Boys - Would anybody care to remember the Osmond Brothers? Leif Garrett? Fabian? In comparison, the Backstreet Boys are downright respectable. While music by the aforementioned has been thoroughly forgotten, I think that the Backstreet Boys have done their job well enough to survive the ravages of time. So, for all the naysayers who dismiss the Backstreet Boys as irrelevant, I'll try not to say I told you so when you find yourself humming along nostalgically to "Quit Playing Games With My Heart" in another five years, or "As Long as You Love Me". B- Tom Ryan

Just joking. This CD sounds like a fart. If you buy it, you will smell like a fart. Getting the hint?