Submitted by Jessica from Evanston IL. USA
Date: Wed Dec 22 12:09:20 1999
I would have to definitely disagree with this article. The Backstreet Boys will not just go away, like it said. What the commentators in the article fail to realize is that bsb have been around for 7 years already. They are not just some little boy band you has been out for 4 months!!!! They have already proven that time is not an obstacle!!!!!!! In my opinion, bsb is just getting started. They now are recognized by critics as legitimate artists, and fans of all ages love them, not just teenyboppers. BSB is here to stay, that article is just plain wrong!!!!!!!
Submitted by Diana from Hicksville New York USA
Date: Wed Dec 22 12:02:03 1999
It drives me crazy when people tell me the backstreet boys will never last. HELLO!!!! they have already been around for six years. Throughout these years they have been getting more and more talented and their music is getting better and better. All the people who say they suck or say they will never last are just jealous of their success and are afraid of looking uncool when their music dies out. As long as their is music the backstreet boys will be out there. Besides if you've been to one of their concerts you can see the differece between them and other bands. If you go to an nsync concert and look at the audience, you'll see young girls and their girl friends. If you go to a korn concert you'll see young guys and girls. If you go to a backstreet boys concert you will see girls, boys, moms, dads, girlfriends, boyfriends, grandparents, anyone you can think off. That is what makes them great. Their ability to reach everyones heart and soul with their music.
Submitted by Carolyn from Minneapolis MN USA
Date: Wed Dec 22 12:01:54 1999
I think the bottom line here is that WE (as fans) DON'T CARE! You can write what you like about the Backstreet Boys but I KNOW for myself that I will always be an avid BSB fan. Maybe not to the extreme that I am now, but as long as they keep putting out CDs I'll be the first to buy them! Another thing, WHY do these newspapers and critics devote a whole article on WHEN and WHY and HOW these bands will break up? They make it sound like it will be such a failure for these bands when really they've accomplished what they wanted...I mean the Boys just broke GARTH BROOK'S industry record for 1st week sales, they've won numerous awards including a nomination for a Grammy! Somehow, I think these 7 years of growing and success definitely outweigh any cons or criticism of this band. They came out with a purpose and they have most certainly achieved it!
Hundreds of rock and alternative bands never make it but do they ever diss and rag on them??? NO. It's because people (NAMELY ADULTS) have made "boy bands" or what we would call "male vocalist groups" out to be "short lived". But really they're not, compared to how long most rap/hip hop/alterna bands are out, they are ANCIENT. BSB has been out SEVEN and a HALF years!
I'd also like to note that not EVERY frickin band is gonna be Aerosmith, that's why those cases are RARE and that's why they get awarded "Artist of the Century". Critics use these rare examples to define the "norm" and how long "boy bands" WOULD last if they were "worth anything".
LASTLY, I'd like to ask any of these pessimistic critics this: Haven't you been saying these "boy bands" would fizzle for the last TWO years?! The minute they came OUT you were jumping all over them, claiming to see "the end in sight". Get OVER it, they're HERE TO STAY. They've proved you wrong a million times over, but you just won't admit it will ya? When you write these things, it only makes the Boys wanna prove you wrong and I damn sure hope they do! But even if they do break up, even if they DO decide to pursue "normal" lives, then I still will be proud to stand up and say "I was a Backstreet fan." KTBSBA INTO THE MILLLENNIUM!
I took time to write this not for the Boys' sake but for mine, for I believe they can simply hold out a list of what they accomplished before the BSB and after, and it will be evident that what they have done got them a whole lot farther then you dare to admit...
Submitted by Sarah Howell from Nashville Tennessee USA
Date: Wed Dec 22 12:00:13 1999
Dear whoever reads this, The Backstreet Boys have already proven that they have changed with their audience. They are mature and Millenium defiantely shows that.
Just look at songs like "Larger Than Life," a song that has a red rock guitar in it. And did you see how mature they looked at the MTV Video Music
Awards compared to N Sync! Ok, N Sync is another story all its own. They suck and they are fizzling slowly but surely. I firmly believe in my heart
that the Backstreet Boys will keep their music changing with the times. And one thing that really bugs me is when people call their music "bubble gum."
Ok, bubble gum music is music like Hanson and the Spice Girls. There is nothing "bubble gummy" about Backstreet's music. Not one song off of their
Millenium CD is corny or immature. They've grown up and the majority of their audience has too. They know how to please their fans and if they continue
to please us, they will be around forever! Thanks, Sarah
Submitted by Carolyn from Minneapolis MN USA
Date: Wed Dec 22 11:59:09 1999
I think the bottom line here is that WE (as fans) DON'T CARE! You can write what you like about the Backstreet Boys but I KNOW for myself that I will always be an avid BSB fan. Maybe not to the extreme that I am now, but as long as they keep putting out CDs I'll be the first to buy them! Another thing, WHY do these newspapers and critics devote a whole article on WHEN and WHY and HOW these bands will break up? They make it sound like it will be such a failure for these bands when really they've accomplished what they wanted...I mean the Boys just broke GARTH BROOK'S industry record for 1st week sales, they've won numerous awards including a nomination for a Grammy! Somehow, I think these 7 years of growing and success definitely outweigh any cons or criticism of this band. They came out with a purpose and they have most certainly achieved it!
Hundreds of rock and alternative bands never make it but do they ever diss and rag on them??? NO. It's because people (NAMELY ADULTS) have made "boy bands" or what we would call "male vocalist groups" out to be "short lived". But really they're not, compared to how long most rap/hip hop/alterna bands are out, they are ANCIENT. BSB has been out SEVEN and a HALF years!
I'd also like to note that not EVERY frickin band is gonna be Aerosmith, that's why those cases are RARE and that's why they get awarded "Artist of the Century". Critics use these rare examples to define the "norm" and how long "boy bands" WOULD last if they were "worth anything".
LASTLY, I'd like to ask any of these pessimistic critics this: Haven't you been saying these "boy bands" would fizzle for the last TWO years?! The minute they came OUT you were jumping all over them, claiming to see "the end in sight". Get OVER it, they're HERE TO STAY. They've proved you wrong a million times over, but you just won't admit it will ya? When you write these things, it only makes the Boys wanna prove you wrong and I damn sure hope they do! But even if they do break up, even if they DO decide to pursue "normal" lives, then I still will be proud to stand up and say "I was a Backstreet fan." KTBSBA INTO THE MILLLENNIUM!
I took time to write this not for the Boys' sake but for mine, for I believe they can simply hold out a list of what they accomplished before the BSB and after, and it will be evident that what they have done got them a whole lot farther then you dare to admit...
Submitted by Elsha from Peterborough Ontario Canada
Date: Wed Dec 22 11:50:49 1999
Okay, for the most part, I'd have to say what this article said was true.For a year or so a fad will come in, but sooner or later it's just another flash in the pan. But I really don't think this will be the case with the Backstreet Boys. As the article said, they have grown with the times and so has their music. And this gives them a great advantage over alot of their so-called 'boyband' rivals. I really do belive that when I'm in my twenties (I'm 13 now) I'll still be popping in their cd's and listening to them everyday.
Two years ago all the critics said they'd be gone in six months....
well it's been two years.I'm sure they can withstand many more, cuz like they said in Backstreet's Back:
" As long as there'll be music we'll be comin' back again!"
Atleast, I know by summer, I'll still be among their biggest fans. And Not all the negative critics in the world can tellme otherwise.
Submitted by Lisa from westland Michigan usa
Date: Wed Dec 22 11:48:40 1999
I think that the article was just a usual thing that everybody says. But you know what those kind of articles are exactly why they are going to be around for a long time. The last generation like the new kids on the block and other ones that are gone now didn't know how it would end so they couldn't prevent it. Now the bsb and the other boy bands now what everyone thinks there fate is most likely to be, and they can prevent that now, they try there hardest and teh way I see it the BsB will keep on going!Lisa
Submitted by Ashley Thomas from Nashville Tennessee USA
Date: Wed Dec 22 11:42:06 1999
Of course they are the exception to the rule. Only a group as widely diverse as the Backstreet Boys could prove that they are more than just a" boy band".They not only talk the talk, but they walk the walk. They not only told the world they were not a "boy band", they showed them, in more ways than one.
Could a boy band sell 500,000 copies of their album in a day and 1 million in a week? Just ask Garth Brooks, he couldn't even hold on to that record.
Could a boy band sing a song that redefined pop music, have it become a hit that will last for years to come, and have it be in the top ten on numerous
lists at the end of the year without even releasing it as a US single?
Ask their opening act, Mandy Moore the difference between BSB and the others. She will tell you that BSB has a more DIVERSE audience. She said
every age from 5 to 65 are Backstreet fans. I am a huge music fanatic and the Backstreet Boys are more than a "boy band", much more. Why is it that
even when they break records and sell 10 million copies of their sophomore album (remind yourselves, that this is supposed to be the album that determines
your career) in 7 months and have their debut album still placing high on the charts after two years, that they cannot be in a category with the greats like the
Temptations and more recently Boyz II Men? Is it because they appeal to all races, sexes and ages? I thought that was what made the great ones great.
Backstreet Boys can only make the records. It is up to the rest of the world to buy the albums. Let it be known that the Backstreet Boys did not fall out of the sky.
They have been working for 6 solid years for the success that they have achieved. I for one wish them all the happiness in the world and they deserve everything that they get.
So to answer the question on many peoples minds, yes the Backstreet Boys are the exception to the rule. When the people thought of this rule, they did not have BSB in mind.
So if you feel the way I do, make your opinion heard and show the world that not only are the Backstreet Boys one of the greats, but they have the BEST fans this world has ever seen.
Thanks for reading and continue to KTBSPA in the new MILLENNIUM:)!!!!!!!!!
Submitted by Christine from Grand Blanc Michigan USA
Date: Wed Dec 22 11:41:03 1999
I think that the BSB will still go on to be a popular group, but someday they might not be. They have been together for awhile now, and I think they've got a good chance to make it. *NSYNC might not. I don't know why, but even my mom thinks they're fading.
Submitted by krystal williams from tampa florida usa
Date: Wed Dec 22 11:37:18 1999
I don't totally agree with that, about bsb is still a kid band. when they came out with this new album 'millenium' they have shown to have grown up alot since the last album, i mean like for instance, nick's voice has matured, and sounds better, and also they all sing on this album, and they are starting to write their own songs( brian with' perfect fan',kevin with'back to your heart')they also know how the music industry works,like this battle they had with jive, they are smart, intelligent, and great at what they do. i am 18 years old, i'm not a tennybopper, some of my friends pick on me for liking them, but look at them now and you'll hear those same friends humming' i want it that way' or' larger than life'the backstreet boys have matured alot. they have an adult audience now. just last week i was in sam goody and a woman that look in her 30's was buying a bsb cd, i asked her was it for her daughter, she said no it's for me. You see alot of older fans are starting to admit that they like bsb because the music is great, and sometimes it seems they feel what you feel, when you listen to their songs. I predict the backstreetboys will be around for a long time, unlike new kids on the block, which had 12 and 13 year olds in it, the youngest one in backstreet boys is almost 20.i believe the backstreet boys will be around as long as fans still love them, and people give them the respect they deserve, because if you make good music, you should be around for a while
