The Backstreet Boys

Here comes the inevitable joke: Backstreet's back, alright?

The Backstreet Boys, minus the ever-stoic Kevin Richardson, have returned with Unbreakable. The album, delivered ten years after their self-titled debut launched them into the teen idol stratosphere, is an attempt at reviving their ubiquity.

Unbreakable is comfortable territory for the boys. Rather than pursuing musical maturation and "man band" status, BSB is very much the same musically-pubescent boy band they were in 1999. Rehashing this old sound, however, works well for them. Rather than sounding like a bunch of thirty-somethings trying to recreate their former success, Unbreakable fits right in between Millennium and Black & Blue.

On that note, the album suffers from the same problems as earlier BSB releases. Obviously, lyrical brilliance and quality production have never characterized the band's music, but the Boys have always managed to turn out memorable singles. Anyone who has ever listened to a BSB album, however, knows that for every good single, there are three more awful tracks.

BSB's weakest moments are their attempts at channeling Justin Timberlake. "Treat Me Right" is a blatant (failed) attempt at emulating JT's electro-hip hop sound. Any band with a member named Howie should know better than to attempt such a feat. "One in a Million" also fails with its juxtaposition of gritty beats and lyrics about longing to tell a girl she is "one in a million."

Unbreakable's best tracks never achieve the greatness of "I Want it That Way," but they are infectious. "Love Will Keep You Up All Night" and "Inconsolable," like the other single materials on the album, are essentially different versions of the same song with slightly different words. Nonetheless, they have a way of getting into one's head and never leaving, just like BSB's best singles of yore.

The Backstreet Boys, down a member and now possessing an average age of 30.5, should be past their expiration, but Unbreakable is a good guilty treat for anyone not quite ready to tear down that poster of Nick Carter in all his bowl-cut glory.

-Andrew Hibbard