In European countries, we were first subjected to Backstreet Boys in 1995, when several singles were released. In May 1996, they released their first album, titled "Backstreet Boys" and in August 1997 we got Backsteet's Back.
According to Wikipedia, it wasn't until after the second album dropped in Europe, in late 1997, that the first album released in the US, and then a few months later, in March 1998, the second came out in the form of a deluxe version of the first album. In 1999 they released Millenium, which became one of the largest selling albums in history.
American music was going so well with Grunge, hip hop, and R&B being nice imports - then you dropped those white Bobby Brown wannabe motherfuckers on us!
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HOW DARE YOU!
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
I honestly thought that the Backstreet Boys mysteriously disappeared off of the face of the earth by the time 2000 rolled around. As an American, I apologize for my country unknowingly giving you AIDS 2 years before we contracted it ourselves.
I was actually surprised to learn that the Backstreet Boys are still a thing recently, I don't pay much attention to them at all, or any attention really but for some reason I thought they weren't a thing anymore until finding out a few weeks ago randomly
I have a theory. It's not even you Americans fault, the blame can be placed squarely on London! You wanna know my theory? Well hold on a moment, and I'll tell ya! You HAVE to listen to these songs to understand, no pain, no gain - and as Scott Wieland famously said you'll be half the man you used to be - but it will recover, I promise!
Hear me out!
In 1978 the original Boy Band, New Edition, formed in the US. Their inspiration was largely the Temptations and Michael Jackson, and they developed the hip hop + ballad formula that would become synonimous with the formula forever in the future:
They even had the whole disolution Boy Band drama where the most prominent member (Bobby Brown) left the band for solo career.
As the 80s progressed, another band formed in the US, the New Kids on the Block, they became the White version of New Edition. And yes, they ended in drama too.
Meanwhile over in the UK, they had something similar going on, but not quite the same.
Then later they came up with these guys, who were essentially a merger of style of New Kids on the Block and Duran Duran - possibly the most offensive weapon of mass destruction was the UK's Take That, that took Europe like a carpet bomb:
No one had to force themselves to vomit during this time. They tried to assault the US with these guys, but it didn't quite work - record companies assumed that perhaps the US wasn't quite ready for something like this. They tried again in 1995 with this song, which ACTUALLY charted:
It was THEN, and only THEN that the US retaliated with their Backstreet Boys? Why? Because they saw that Take That was popular in Europe, and that the American market wasn't ready for this kind of crap yet. There wasn't any room, the Alternative cash cow started by Nirvana was still going strong, the R&B/Soul cash cow started by Mariah (and Celine Dion, was that kind of music for old people) was still going strong, and hip hop was in the middle of a massive revolution in the East Coast vs West Coast era, a part of US culture that Europe couldn't quite appreciate as strongly due to geographical reasons. But it was one of the biggest music movements of the 90s (Parental Discretion):
But then Tupac and Biggie both got shot and killed. Then the record producers knew they had their chance! And so, in a way, Biggie's death paved the way for the Backstreet Boys in US. Why not Take That? Because, like the other Boy Bands before them, they had drama and their Bobby (or Robby in this case, Robby Williams) left the band and they broke up just before this era kicked off in the US.
BACKSTREET BOYS WAS A RETALIATION FOR AN ATTEMPTED BOMBARDMENT WITH TAKE THAT.
And yes! I have indeed thought WAY too much about this subject. And in the words of Robert the Bruce: Your hearts bled with Wallace (AKA The notorious BIG), now let your ears bleed with these (videos)! Or something like that.
Also, speaking of Tupac, these smash hits got #1 all across Europe, but Changes got 32, and Ghetto Gospel didn't even chart, what? =D But that's a theory for another time. Palate cleanser:
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
Back Street Boys produced lame music just like Hanson and other boy bands. Boy bands did not inspire people to carry out violent crimes like heavy metal and hip hop. Hip hop and heavy metal have had a huge negative influence upon youth culture.
