Review Summary: Sophomoric to grand scales
After becoming a phenomenon with their smashing debut, NSYNC poised themselves to go further than they had before. The only problem was that they had been screwed by their producer Lou Pearlman, who had neglected to pay the band for the proper amount as he had said per their agreement. The legal battles became so elongated by other factors that the band began recording for their second album during this period.
No Strings Attached has a hefty symbolic vibe to the whole of their ordeal, which is evident from the album cover, depicting the band mates as puppets.
Like their debut,
No Strings Attached has a good amount of flaws.
Digital Get Down is a cringe-fest of pseudo-erotic jargon done to a very poorly done techno beat with auto tune added for no reason.
Just Got Paid is cocky in a non-entertaining way, with the beats poorly implemented and the lyrics downright terrible. One of the biggest flaws was in that, after breaking off from their previous record company, the band were in charge of their own music. With the members taking charge on how things were done with their Swedish and German producers, many of the songs have an extremely basic and stripped down feel to them.
As this was released in the middle of the new millennium, the aftermath of the East Coast/West Coast Hip-Hop rivalry was fresh in everybody's mind. Hip-Hop had become a huge phenomenon and much of
No Strings Attached is inspired by many Hip-Hop ideas.
It's Gonna Be Me has a stable beat that repeats itself with certain additions over the course of the song, and the beat box vocals add an interesting dynamic to the tune. The small string segment also gives the song an excellent vibe.
Bringin' Da Noise features a well done synthesizer mix along with very good percussion.
My favorite song of all goes to
Bye Bye Bye. Arguably the bands most famous tune, which utilizes violins with a pounding synth beat. Of all the songs,
Bye Bye Bye features every aspect of what made NSYNC so infectious as a boy band, excellent beats mixed with powerful vocal harmonies. This song epitomizes the very concept, which explains why it is their most famous tune. The band also includes many more slow songs when compared to their debut. While some miss the mark like
I Thought She Knew; the album features a lot more bad than good, like
This I Promise You which features the best lyrics in any NSYNC song of their career, not to mention the production is top notch.
I'll Be Good For You features elements of Space Rock and Electronica, which is completely different from the rest of the album and is their most adventurous track. Although whether
I'll Be Good For You is a "slow song" depends on who you ask, as the line is close in that aspect.
No Strings Attached featured a maturing band beginning to change their ideas and their music. It was an evolution of sorts, but it still had the band anchored to their original sound that made them famous. Regardless,
No Strings Attached proved that NSYNC could survive without the help of greedy producers and record moguls and that they were not a one hit wonder. Not to mention that this was the album that began JC and Timberlake's new affinity for music production. This wasn't just a continuation, it was the beginning of something else entirely.
