N’SYNC

Celebrity

Jive Records

It was probably a good time to check the temperature down in hell last summer when N’Sync’s new album Celebrity actually got positive reviews from music critic after music critic. After checking the conditions, hell was still warm and toasty with no sign of freezing over just yet. The truth was N’Sync managed to put together a solid album of R’B/Euro dance pop (whatever that is), that pleased their fans and silenced their critics forever (OK…plenty of people still think they suck).

If this new album really is “Dirty Pop” – as Britney Spears’ boyfriend and the guy who got to “make out” with Beyonce (lucky guy…huh), Justin Timberlake puts it – then what were N’Sync’s first two albums? The truth is N’Sync’s third effort does represent a more advanced and mature sound than their first two efforts. The progression has been a first album of bubble gum pop, a second album of straight up pop, and a third album of dirty pop. OK, in reality there is nothing dirty at all about N’Sync’s music. It’s still almost as wholesome as it gets. But Celebrity does represent a pop sound with far more R’B influence and experimental (at least to American teen pop music) beats than has ever been seen before.

The album kicks off with the ultra-fast dance-happy first single “Pop.” The track, which was written by Timberlake and choreographer Wade Robson and produced by underground electronica wizard B.T., sets the tone for the album: cool beats accompanied by simplistic lyrics.

While the production is excellent on the entire album, the lyrics that were written by Timberlake and band mate J.C Chasez are often laughable in their simplicity, and their obsession with making consecutive lines rhyme. Case in point: the Neptunes-produced track “Girlfriend,” where Justin spouts, “I Don’t even know why you care/ He doesn’t even know you’re there.” Or the chorus of “Why don’t you be my girlfriend?/ I’ll treat you good.”

Even so, the strength of the production is more than enough to carry the album. The Chasez-produced tracks all hit in this sense. “Game Over” features a squeaky Pac Man-esque sample, and the happy go lucky track “The Two of Us” features a beat that sounds like it was sampled off of “The Ringling Brothers” soundtrack, if there is such a thing. The jumpy “Up Against The Wall” -with some inspiration from Craig David and the U.K Garage Movement – also succeeds with it’s catchy beat laid over quick biting words.

The main difference between the Chasez and the Timberlake produced tracks (if your wondering what the other three members of N’Sync -Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, and Joey Fatone – do, the answer is not much other than collect their paychecks and dance around in concert) is that the Chasez-produced tracks have a more dance flavored and at times overproduced feel to them. Timberlake’s tracks are basic R’B numbers that sound like songs churned out by today’s R’B stars like Usher, 112, or R Kelly. From the melancholy lyrics to the stellar production, to the angst-driven tone of Timberlake voice, the track “Gone” is by far the best thing any “boy band” has ever done in terms of producing a genuine non-popish R’B song. It’s easy to see the Michael Jackson influence in his track – “See Right Through You” -so much so that the track could easily be mistaken as one from the “King of Pop” himself.

A noticeable thing about Celebrity is that aside from “Pop,” which is the catchiest thing on the album, is that the N’Sync-produced tracks tend to outshine the tracks produced by the all star production crew that was brought on board. The Rodney Jenkins-produced title track “Celebrity,” is adequate, but certainly not among his best work. The slow ballad “Selfish” – produced by Brain McKnight – is a pleasant love song, but is a throwback to N’Sync’s “God Must Have Spent A Little More Time on You” days, with its cheesy wedding reception type lyrics, and McKnight’s constant plays on phrases and words that is his hallmark.

Buried in the album are two tracks produced by the Swedish production team that has brought the world virtually all the hits from N’Sync, Backstreet, Britney etc. “Tell Me Tell Me Baby” sounds like “It’s Gonna Be Me Part 2,” just not as catchy as the original, complete with Timberlake pronouncing “me” like “may.” “Just Don’t Tell Me That” is brought to us by the two people that brought us “Bye Bye Bye” with similar results as an attempt at recreation of the previously mentioned song. The tracks rewind N’Sync’s sound back to No Strings Attached, and provide a dose of the flavor of pop music that has been common these past few years.

One striking aspect of Celebrity is that it’s hard to pick out another bona fide radio hit on the album. Most of the tracks are actually…and this might come as a shock to some…a little too advanced and different for Top 40 radio. It’s obvious that N’Sync has tried to make an album of quality music from start to finish rather than simply produce radio hits. No doubt to the surprise of many, they have succeeded in doing so.