Review Summary: Backstreet’s back… aight.
We finally have one, a Backstreet Boys Christmas album. There were plenty of directions this album could’ve gone in: a beautiful nod to the past and their Millennium era (which is what I secretly wanted), or something closer to their newer material. The band said meh to that and gave us uninspired, recycled stuff, not the stuff of legends tbh. This album is lighter than a feather, a great album if you enjoy beer that tastes like water. It’s a nice, safe, boring Christmas regurgitation that could’ve come from any artist. It’s an album of barely strummed acoustics, plainly played piano, barely heard strings - that kind of thing. It’s a bargain bin Christmas album, one that may line the shelves for now, but it’s a ticking time bomb.
The audacity to call this A Very Backstreet Christmas is quite misleading. Last Christmas and The Christmas Song are the only songs to borrow some of that sexy Backstreet Boys flavour - a wee bit of sparkly, boy band pop. Together and Happy Days are less unique than that (not that Last Christmas is special), pop songs that could’ve been Bruno Mars songs. I didn’t expect a full return to form, but the sass these men used to have is sorely missing. The spicy beats are gone. I fail to hear anything special that Backstreets Boys might’ve brought to the table.
On the bright side, the album is full of tight harmonies, nothing you haven’t heard from *NSYNC and every artist with multiple singers ever, but at least they sound good. The singing is also lovely as expected. The Christmas Song is the highlight here, with well written layers of singing that almost brought me back to the 90s. The rest of the album is less inspiring. If you’re feeling especially nostalgic, check out Backstreet Boys’ new Christmas album, or don’t, it won’t make much of a difference either way.
