"Everybody (Backstreet's Beack)"

Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" (1997)

Where are they back from if I've never heard of them in the first place?



Unbeknownst to most Americans, Teen pop was a very big draw in Europe all during the mid 90s. Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync both released singles and albums in Europe that garnered them success. This song was written for the Backstreet Boys' second album, which is also only supposed to get released abroad. The song title and lyrics make since for a group dropping a loud danceable hit single on an audience that knew them as Euro pop lite dance makers and ballad singers. After being released in Europe during the summer of 1997, the track got some Canadian air play. This lead to eventually debuting on American stations in February of 1998 and finally getting released as a CD single in March of that year. In a very real way, this track lead the way for 'N Sync, and then Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the entire Teen Pop explosion of the early 2000s.

Written by Super star writer Max Martin and DJ Denniz PoP, they produced the song as well. Martin was responsible for a long string of hits for Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, 'N Sync and others. He faded into obscurity for a few years then resurfaced as the writer of Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" and has continued to write for her, as well as Pink, Katy Perry, and Usher. Denniz Pop worked with Martin during the early days combining their talents to make big teen pop hits, but died of cancer in 1998.

What can I say nice about this song? The did a lot with very little. Conservation of energy was in full effect. The lyrics are simple and repetitive; The chorus is 15 words long but only uses 10 words. One of the phrases is used without change in the bridge. The music under the lyrics is catchy, but even more repetitive. If it wasn't for the breaks, where no one is "playing an instrument" I'm convinced you could have just left a four second loop of the bass going and no one would have noticed a difference. There are differences of course, there's a soft church organ sound that comes in,and sometimes the bass has an edgy fuzz effect added. Then there's the whole section where the bass drops out and the drums play along with tinkling bells. No one is singing either. It's a thirty second breakdown that features nothing. It's like they forget to buy a guitar solo, or a decent drum fill. The video doesn't even contain an amazing dance break during the thirty seconds, just the same cuts as before, the big group dance scene occurs after the break has ended. I just don't get it.