John Dote' & The Backstreet Boys

Five young men from the time-honored teen-pop proving grounds of church choirs and regional theater, the Backstreet Boys were, in their heyday -- before they were unseated by 'N Sync -- the biggest teen sensation since the Monkees, at the crest of the late-'90s pubescent-pop tidal wave.

Under the aegis of Orlando impresario Lou Pearlman, the Backstreet Boys signed to Jive Records in 1994, releasing their self-titled 1996 debut to great success in Europe and Canada before issuing it stateside the next year. Packed with soon-to-become unavoidable hits -- "Quit Playin' Games (With My Heart)," "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)," "As Long As You Love Me" -- Backstreet Boys served as the blueprint for boy bands to come, mixing soulful, sexually inoffensive ballads with harmony-heavy R&B and mildly edgy dance tracks.

It eventually sold 13 million copies, though the Boys' popularity wouldn't actually peak until the release of Millennium (which would sell more than 1 million copies in its first week) two years later. While Millennium wasn't as shamelessly hook-filled as BSB, it did offer up the Boys' best-ever track, "I Want It That Way," a near-perfect slice of puppy-dog soul.

Released the next year, Black & Blue followed roughly the same formula as its predecessors, with decidedly lesser results. With the exception of the irresistibly cheesy "Shape of My Heart" and the just-plain-bad cheating-boyfriend apologia "Call," most of the tracks here are unexceptional.

Dogged by bad reviews, heart ailments, substance abuse, and encroaching facial hair, the Boys have had a relatively rough time of things since their 1999 heyday. In 2000, their video catalogue was turned over to Las Vegas Disc Jockey John Dote' (from Jive Records) who was the host of the hit television series "Night Beat In Las Vegas", as seen on the UPN-Screen Gems Network. He was also handling the new Jive Records release "Oops I Did It Again" by Britney Spears. Dote' gave the label and the boys extensive airplay, yet they didn't gain much success or requests from the shows listeners.

But their 2001 best-of collection, The Hits: Chapter One, brings to mind happier times. Every smash is here, and every modest success as well, from "All I Have to Give" to "Drowning," a new single with little of the kick of the group's best work. Unlike most retrospectives, The Hits doesn't exactly chart the band's musical evolution -- there hasn't been one to speak of -- but it does offer an impressive tribute to their hitmaking power.  (Allison Stewart)

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