The music industry has been holding its breath waiting for weeks...and now it's ready to "Pop."
Why? The suits are waiting to find out whether those predictions of teen pop's demise have been much exaggerated.
Ah, it seems like just yesterday that the 'N Sync kids were nipping at the heels of the Backstreet Boys, churning out syrupy ballads (and--yikes!--Christopher Cross covers) and sporting their multicolored braids and matching outfits.
But jump forward to today's release of Celebrity (Jive), the follow-up to 'N Sync's record-breaking No Strings Attached, and we're wondering if they've still got the knack for making pop hits.
We'll soon find out. The new disc's infectious first single, "Pop," is already stuck in your head, and the rest of the CD is loaded with more of these techno-meets-R&B dance tunes. There's also the JC Chasez-penned "The Game Is Over"; "Girlfriend," produced by Rodney Jerkins; and "Tell Me, Tell Me...Baby," the closest thing to the "Bye Bye Bye" sound of NSA, a CD that totaled first-week sales of 2.4 million copies.
Not that there aren't squeal-inducing love songs, too, most notably the Justin Timberlake-penned "Gone," a nice, harmonizing R&B effort; the Brian McKnight-produced ballad "Selfish"; and "Something Like You," a slow jam that features Stevie Wonder playing harmonica.
