POP TRUMPS: Week 5

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Another Friday, another round of chart farts Pop Trumps!

Go here to read the rules, but it's easy really. Rate the pop act below in the various categories: 10 is the highest, 0 is the lowest, if you have zero clue then go for 5.

Today's contestants were doing a Top 50 Brilliant Boybands thing on Hits!TV the other night, and modestly only included 5 of their own songs! They also like pointing at things.


Backstreet Boys

[Poll #1138876]
Alanis ratings:
- Singing voice/musical ability: 5
- Consistency: 4
- H0TTness: 3
- Dancing Skillz/Visual: 3
- Chart success: 7
- Extra-curricular activity: 4
- Party Animal Rating: 2
- Eccentricity: 7
- Legacy: 6
- Best track: You Oughta Know
- Botherdness rating: 33

Comments

Important Points

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

- none of BB have ever been in space
- however they are v good at the whole UREMISHIYA haunted house business
- all their singles I've heard are pretty much amazing
- but everyone still gets them mixed up with N*Sync???

Re: Important Points

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

They are much better and more consistent than N*Sync. they truly are the masters of the mid-tempo boyband number.

And Kevin is the hottest boyband member ever.

Re: Important Points

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Is he the one with the angry eyebrows?

Re: Important Points

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

This comment is the opposite of true.

n*sync is much better and more consistent than bb

[pony-meat.livejournal.com]

no strings attached is the most erotic cd ever

EVERYBODY!

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Yes I do get them confused! Even considering that I remember, at one point, going to find out which band sang which of the songs that I think of as "oh, it's one or the other" and they were all BSB! "Quit Playin' Games (With My Heart)"! "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"!* "I Want It That Way"! "Larger Than Life"! It is my conclusion that 'N Sync are an illusion caused by the sun on the desert sands.

*Considering that their second single was called "Get Down (You're the One For Me)", I encourage voters to consider their commitment to the Order of the Unnecessary Bracket in judging them.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Purchasing the BSBs' Greatest Hits: Chapter 1 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Greatest-Hits-Chapter-Backstreet-Boys/dp/B00005RD9G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1203081350&sr=1-2) for £2 was one of the greatest bargains of my life. At the time I was like "haha, optimistic title" but I guess their comeback has proved me wrong! They were pretty much the first Max Martin-produced act to hit big - I remember the first time I heard 'Baby One More Time' I literally leapt out of my chair and shouted "she's nicked the Backstreet Boys' producer!"

A good deal of their songs are really extreme and mental or just plain odd:

'I Want It That Way' - clearly about bumsex
'Larger Than Life' - musing on codependency and fame which presents BSBs as entirely reliant on their fans to EXIST
'The Call' - narrator has his life totally ruined by a split second decision
'Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely' - staring into the VOID OF DESPAIR: I remember this was released as a single on Valentine's Day!

The mentalism is totally amplified by their amazing voices - they do "poised on the brink of hysteria" so immaculately, and the chorales on their ballads are positively BACH-ESQUE.

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

I agree 100% with everything you have said here.

'I Want It That Way' - clearly about bumsex

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

NOT ENOUGH TALK ABOUT THIS SONG ON THIS THREAD.

Curse you, werk :(

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Fourthed? How many down am I? Their greatest hits is >>> than *NSync's, but *NSync has one or two decent albums (if Celebrity : Incomplete, *NSync definitely win -- aside from one of the best songs they ever recorded, Incomplete is dreadful).

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

Backstreet Boys are excellent, the best pop act of their era. I voted "The Call" for best single, but all of them are pretty good. "Shape of My Heart" = underrated. Can somebody who voted them points on Extracurricular Activity give some insight into what extracurriculars they have that are points worthy?

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

BTW I fully expect "Everybody" to feature prominently on the FT top 100 songs of all time.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

nick carter got a tattoo of PARIS HILTON once and then had to tattoo over it when they broke up

[(Anonymous)]

I assume "their era" means the pop scene of the 90s. I can name about a billion pop acts from that era that are better than the Backstreet Boys. Britney Spears, Spice Girls, Hanson, Mandy Moore, just to name a few. Also, 'NSync, but that just goes without saying. :)

Lowest average Eccentricity so far?

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

So - BSB: Boring, But Good?

Re: Lowest average Eccentricity so far?

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

But they're totally mental! I don't know why they've got such low scores there.

5-PERSON BOYBAND HIERARCHY

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

1. Take That & Robbie
2. 5ive
3. Backstreet Boys
4. V (*sniff*)
5. Jackson 5
6. N*Sync
7. NKOTB
8. Boyz II Men
9. Westloife
10. Boyzone
999. One True Voice

Re: 5-PERSON BOYBAND HIERARCHY

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Boyz II Men way way way too low there!

Boyzone > Westlife by virtue of not existing any more.

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

I do enjoy that video where they're in the ocean and That Blondish One Who Isn't Nick gets knocked over by a wave, and they get major points on visuals for "Everybody," but otherwise they are inferior to 'NSync in every way.

To prove this point, I will now list some of the many things 'NSync had and BSB didn't: A video in which they dramatized their ongoing feud with their manager by pretending to be string puppets! A bass singer whose last name was bass! A fat one whose last name spelled "Fat One"! A clothing line called Fu-Man Skeeto! What the fuck was that about! A space race! Dreadlocks! People who went on to be famous and/or critically accepted! Britney Spears's virginity (maybe)! A gay one! Joey Fatone!

LANCE BASS FACE SPACE RACE

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Didn't one of them have a chimpanzee chum as well? I have a mental picture of Lance Bass in a spacesuit with an accompanying space-suited chimpanzee sitting on his knee. Even though I'm not entirely sure what Lance Bass' face looks like.

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

BSB had a really good comeback though, wich NSync didn't! From a personality/mentalness standpoint, there's no comparison between the two obv., 'Nsync is much better.

LANCE BASS FACE SPACE RACE MIS-PLACE

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Bwahahaha!

Yuri could have at least used it to keep his lunch in.

Because I can't leave the canonising alone

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

BSB have had tons of UK chart hits! And I can hum about 6 of them!

14 Backstreet Boys Get Down (You're The One For Me) Jun 1996
3 Backstreet Boys We've Got It Goin' On Aug 1996
8 Backstreet Boys I'll Never Break Your Heart (re-issue) Nov 1996
2 Backstreet Boys Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) Jan 1997
4 Backstreet Boys Anywhere For You Mar 1997
3 Backstreet Boys Everybody (Backstreet's Back) Aug 1997
3 Backstreet Boys As Long As You Love Me Oct 1997
2 Backstreet Boys All I Have To Give Feb 1998
1 Backstreet Boys I Want It That Way May 1999
5 Backstreet Boys Larger Than Life Oct 1999
3 Backstreet Boys Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely Mar 2000
8 Backstreet Boys The One Jun 2000
4 Backstreet Boys Shape Of My Heart Nov 2000
8 Backstreet Boys The Call Feb 2001
12 Backstreet Boys More Than That Jul 2001
4 Backstreet Boys Drowning Jan 2002
8 Backstreet Boys Incomplete Jul 2005
8 Backstreet Boys Just Want You To Know Nov 2005
24 Backstreet Boys Inconsolable Nov 2007

If y'all voted Alanis's "My Humps" eccentric, then surely you have seen...

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

The video for "I Just Want You to Know"??? (http://youtube.com/watch?v=QkQOvHBKnHA&feature=related)

Also, anyone who has not seen "House of Carters" (http://youtube.com/watch?v=vVOnnJZI4jI) should remedy this for both Party Animal and eccentric status for at LEAST Nick Carter. Don't know anything about the rest of them, though.

Actually "Want You to Know" is in the running for their best song, with or without the video. Incomplete (the album, not the song) is a huge failure, but that song is pretty close to the greatest couple of minutes they ever recorded

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I do not like them as much as *NSync. Then again, I don't like most things as much as *NSync.