Most of these things stumble because the ways they find of expressing the same set of emotions – fidelity, puppy love, pained devotion, et al. Which they do, cleverly, by smashing the boyband ballad into fragments. The ambition of it seems a little clearer – this isn’t so much generic as platonic, Max Martin and collaborators reaching to make the perfect boyband ballad. In the hubbub of 1999 – a lively, crass year in pop music – I read its clean-lined simplicity as inertia, and admired it without ever really liking it. It’s one of those songs, like “Back For Good”, which was rapturously received by critics for its craft, as likely to win a design award as a teen choice one. “I Want It That Way” has never quite delighted me as much. They are boyband pop as a vaudeville romp, urgent and exciting but goofy too: more, well, boyish than the group’s best-behaviour balladry. Those tracks had Max Martin taking the hammer chords he used to intense, melodramatic purposes on Britney’s hits, and being more playful with them. In one way this is a shame – the Backstreets were at their most endearing on their upbeat hits, like “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” and “Larger Than Life”.
“I Want It That Way” is their only UK number one.
The British audience was at least mildly resistant – the Backstreets had several big hits, which was more than Lou Pearlman’s other money-spinners generally managed, but they mingled with plenty of less slick homegrown options. And this was why: the state of the pop art, number one worldwide, a band ascending into an Imperial Phase. Britney Spears – who shared songwriters and producers with the Backstreet Boys – had seen her early solo aspirations dismissed as a needless risk: lone stars were finished, groups were the future. But the old model was resilient, and more to the point, it was still astonishingly profitable. He concluded with a message for viewers: "Stay safe, stay home, protect yourself.With Westlife, Simon Cowell was finding a way to broaden the appeal of male vocal groups, and create something more stable than the firework appeal of the traditional boyband. "I want to thank all the frontline responders that are donating their time, putting themselves in harm's way to take care of their fellow citizens," he added.
"We want to do something a little different, a little special for you, bringing our living room to yours," BB member Brian Littrell said in the beginning of the segment from inside his home studio in Atlanta. The band members recorded their parts separately, but their footage was edited together into one seamless, cozy performance of their iconic chart-topper. The gig was a part of The iHeart Living Room Concert for America, presented by Fox and iHeart last night. The Backstreet Boys treated us to just that with a virtual reunion and performance of their 1999 hit "I Want It That Way," which they all delivered from their own homes across the country. One way to cure quarantine cabin fever? A hefty dose of '90s nostalgia. All five members serenaded their virtual crowd from their homes across the country, ranging from Orlando to Los Angeles.The Backstreet Boys reunited via video and performed "I Want It That Way" for a benefit concert last night.
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