In A World Like This

I have been listening to the whole album repeatedly, and letting it sink in. So here goes, my review for In A World Like This:

Overall, its a very solid album. They incorporated different influences pretty well, and it seems like they made a conscious effort to have a range of songs that will appeal to different tastes in the fanbase. 

In A World Like This - Great choice for the first single. Not the best song in the album, but it acts like a bridge with the old-style hooks & harmonies & does well to represent the whole album. I love the build-up in the chorus, that continues into the soaring vocals towards the end. Lyrics are typical Max Martin: vague but on the whole give an upbeat feel.

Permanent Stain - My guilty pleasure on the album. Its a dance-pop song, with generally bland lyrics, but some lines (like the pre-chorus) stand out. The chorus is especially catchy, it has this anthemic feel to it, that I enjoy singing along to.

Breathe - One of my favourites off the album. Starts with some lovely keys, and the bass-heavy sound gives a perfect somber mood along with Kevin & AJ's haunting vocals. Brian pitches in very well with his adlibs. The lyrics are fantastic too, I know AJ has been credited with conceptualising the song, but it has Brian's 'literal' style all over it.

Madeleine - This song is beautiful: Great lyrics, a pretty acoustic guitar driven sound, and Nick's amazing vocals. AJ follows through really well. I like that they didn't really build up past the bridge, this song deserves a mellow sound throughout. Flows like a nice pep-talk to a depressed person

Show 'Em What You're Made Of - Another one of my favourites. When you listen to the lyrics, it immediately hits you that they have come from a deep, personal place. Again, the AJ-Kevin team is perfect to carry the mood of this song. The chorus is simply arranged but effective, with the Boys beautiful harmonies. I like the arrangement after the bridge, where the chorus goes with a drums-only part. They've used it more than once on this album. 

Make Believe - This should count as a unique song. It has a haunting, other-worldly feel to it, right from the semi-symphonic beginning to the synth keys at the end. For me, the lyrics paint the picture of two deep-in-love travelers, running away from everyone else, imagining a perfect world for themselves. The use of synth & post-processing on the vocals works just perfect to create the right feel for the song

Try - I’m not the biggest R&B fan, but I appreciate a great R&B/soul song when I hear it, especially in a world like this, when all kinds of crap gets passed off as R&B. This song has a beautiful arrangement, along with good uplifting lyrics. And then there one more little thing: AJ SOUNDS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE

Trust Me - Another favourite, and definitely a unique song. An acoustic song with breezy, easy-going lyrics, & some lovely instrumentation. My favourite parts are Kevin’s Dean Martin/Sinatra inspired verses & the sing-along climax with awesome raw vocals

Love Somebody - The only song on the album I don’t fancy much. Bland lyrics, typical dance-pop sound. I just like the bass+ distorted guitar riff, breathes some life into this song.

One Phone Call - Another AC leaning song, with lovely harmonies. Interesting lyrics, using prison time as a metaphor for a broken relationship. That along with the sweet synth drum beats & muffled phone-call like vocals give a nice twist to the song, which is otherwise familiar BSB territory.

Feels Like Home - If someone had asked me earlier this year, I would’ve cringed at the thought of another fan song. But I absolutely LOVE this one, its among my favourites on the album. The lyrics hit home for me, the words of a traveler. Great beats, this really is my jam.

Soldier - I wasn’t interested in this one from the initial preview. But AJ’s vocals got me interested, and overall it’s a very solid song. Howie has some surprisingly good vocals at the bridge, and there’s another use of the drums-only chorus reprise.

Bonus songs - Really liked Hot Hot Hot & Take Care. Both have extremely unique sounds, and the Boys adapt themselves really well, show off their versatility. HHH especially, its brash, with no pretense of any serious lyrics: it does perfectly what PDA failed miserably at. Light On, IYA are good dance-pop numbers, but interchangeable with any of the other couple of songs that are already on the album.

I was initially very skeptical of the Morgan-Prophet team, but they delivered. Their general specialty seems to be dance-pop numbers, but they did a fantastic job with Show ‘Em, and OPC is really good too. Dan Muckala has once again done some great work for the Boys with Make Believe & FLH. Max Martin did his job well to give them a lead single. I hope they work with him again in the future, they have made some magic together in the past. Not sure what I think about Justin Trugman, with just Love Somebody to judge him by. And lastly, Martin Terefe has been phenomenal. I loved how the chemistry worked out with him and the Boys. I sincerely hope they work with him again, I wouldn’t mind him being the sole album producer next time around, and they work around some central theme, even make a concept album together.

To conclude, this album won’t be replacing Never Gone (2005) on my list. But with this being the Boys’ first venture on their own, it’s a very encouraging effort and definitely goes close to the top of my list. The way they have been involved in the songwriting process and experimenting with different sounds has me very optimistic about the future.

(Photoshoot pictures courtesy backstreetboys.com, albumartist.co.uk, tylershields.com)