Jive
Pop, 2009

Good lord, this is so pointless. The Backstreet Boys are still trying to recapture their past glories with This Is Us, another lukewarm collection of tracks that seem to be plagiarized from their previous albums.

All is fine if we are talking about some young guys who are just starting out in their quest for fame, money, drugs, and hookers, but the Backstreet Boys have long lost claim to the right of being called “boys” at least fifteen years ago. Hearing them cheerlessly sing the same brand of admittedly well-produced boyband songs that they had been doing since 1993 is as fun as seeing your gormless fifty-year old uncle trying to hit on teenage girls during a party.

Songs like the title track and the lead single Straight From the Heart sound so much like watered down retreads of their past greatest hits, therefore giving me this sad impression that This Is Us is one last grasp at recapturing lost youth (or more likely, lost glory as well as much needed money to pay the rent after the solo careers didn’t pan out).

Guys, retain some dignity and just go sell insurance or something.