So, here we are, July 2009. I swear though, it’s as if news of the Backstreet Boys dropping a new album sent me back a decade. In my mind, the only other possible explanation aside from time travel is that they’re in need of money.

How else can you explain it? The Backstreet Boys and the music they release, hell, the boy band in general, hasn’t been relevant in years.If they’re so on the cusp of financial ruin that they need to exploit the nostalgia of women all over the world now well into their mid-20s, so be it. It’s not like they’re doing anything illegal, just something really sad from my standpoint anyway. I’m not even a convinced this get-rich-again scheme (if that’s what it is) will even work.

Maybe I’m missing the point, but I’d like to think that the Backstreet Boys fans of the 1990s do not comprise a cult following for the group but were really just the victims of mass marketing at its worst. I honestly do find it hard to believe that the same tween fans, who in 1997 were lining up from blocks away from the music store to get their hands on a Backstreet’s Back CD, will show up in droves for a concert in promotion of this new album nearing 30 years of age.

As an unbiased observer (and, believe me, I am being fair and unbiased; I don’t live my life with the sole purpose of going against everything the Backstreet Boys stand for), my honest opinion is that the Backstreet Boys just don’t matter anymore. Sure, there was a time when they did, but that was during the pop movement of the 1990s and the early part of this decade. Their music was hardly timeless like, say, Michael Jackson’s was. It was just one aspect of their image that they sold to unbeknownst teenage girls.

Really, the Backstreet Boys sold out arenas because they were heartthrobs that every teenage girl wanted to be with (I know this because I was growing up at the same time and saw firsthand their effect on girls my age). So, now that these girls are weighed down by responsibilities, have hopefully met guys that they actually love and don’t merely have an ill-advised crush on, have started families, and can no longer be deluded by their old romantic fantasies, what’s the point?

To put it in perspective, the Backstreet Boys came out in 1993. It’s now practically 2010. A 12-year-old fan who has followed the band since the beginning would be on the verge of turning 29 as we speak. Just how many 29-year-olds do you know that would go to a Backstreet Boys concert and yell at the top of their lungs just for coming within an arm’s reach of A.J.?

I’ll admit that I am not a pop music fan. That being said, I can admit when there’s a pop song I like, and there have been a few over the years, but none of those have been released by the Backstreet Boys. I think pop was invented just as a way to make money and not as a means of expression. Of course, when I say pop, I do mean the genre and not a category of music encompassing all that’s on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is considered “popular”. I mean that bubblegum brand of music where singers add in the word “baby” to a line when they can’t think of anything to rhyme with “lately” or “maybe” from the line before (or, even worse, they put in “lately” or “maybe” because they can’t think of anything to rhyme with “baby”). And I’d even like to point out that it’s hardly a given that they write their own music and lyrics. I think the Backstreet Boys do at this point, but, by and large, it’s common for popstars to sing songs written for them by somebody else. I personally think that cheapens music when the words you sing aren’t even your own, but maybe that’s just me.

Before I go any further, let me prove to you my lack of bias. I can acknowledge and openly admit that there are plenty of not-so-great rock bands out there with the same superficial lyrics, same lack of real emotion in their work (Sugar Ray, 311, Limp Bizkit, No Doubt, Nickelback… the list goes on and on). Feel free to disagree with the bands I’ve listed; their lack of talent is a matter of my opinion. I acknowledge that.

I can also appreciate other genres even if I don’t listen to them and am not a fan per se. I hate Akon’s music, but you can’t help but admire the dent he’s put in the industry in such a short time frame. I mean, as a songwriter and producer he’s got skills. He knows how to write hit songs. And, even in terms of pop, Lady Gaga is starting to grow on me. Say what you want about her (over-the-top, if not non-existent) sense of style, her songs are undeniably catchy and well-written.

Meanwhile, the Backstreet Boys just have no place in the industry anymore. It would be one thing to go about pursuing solo careers and try to grow as artists, but, so far as I know, many of the Backstreet Boys have gone that route only to come up empty. What does that say about their so-called talent?

Peace out,
MC