New Kids on the Block vs. Take That vs. Backstreet Boys vs. *NSync

wait what is a "take that"

robbie williams old band

NKOTB had the worst songs ("Cover Girl" and "Step By Step" the only listenable ones) but Jon Knight is teh cute.

stop playing those games alfred

"Bye Bye Bye" was the first single by any of them to make me say "oh okay, I get it now." Spent many years not having the fun I could've had. I like the others in retrospect—a grudging like—but I must go with *NSync here.

N Sync i guess. i like some Robbie Williams solo stuff but i have no idea if Take That sounds anything like that. One Direction too new for the poll i guess but they have a joint or two.

BSB had the best ballads.

e.g. "Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely," "Quit Playing Games...," and "As Long As You Love Me."

but NSync's "Gone" is a killer.

Yeah, I didn't include One Direction because they could be the biological sons of members of any of the other groups.

I was a big NSYNC fangirl and they were the most musically ~interesting~ but I feel like BSB songs have held up better

and they were so harmless! even Nick Carter was like a pretty foal you wanted to feed oats to from your hand.

I'm actually pretty shocked at how well "I Want it That Way" held up after all those years

Once put "If You Go Away" on a Top 10...just checked, and it still sounds good. That's about all I like from the Americans, don't know anything by the other.

Oh man, listening to "Please Don't Go Girl" right now and this would never pass muster in the era of pitch correction and autotune. I kind of like how rough it is.

Joey couldn't hit those notes a year later

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F26hRlALWR4

Do the National Review cruises look like that?

NRO cruising looks like that

nsync really were interesting

BB have a bunch of classics

the other two suck balls

only one in that group does iirc

i really like Take That. it's either Take That or BSB

NKOTB were supercute tho.
hmm

Boyz II Men you disgusting savages

wtf @ u

Anyone remember a hardcore band at the time made up of 12-year-olds? Christgau gave their album or B+ or something...All their songs were about getting too much homework and stuff like that. Completely blanking out on the name.

old skull?

That's it--thanks.

before voting please consider the video for the first take that single. 'do what you like'. thank you.

They were 9, not 12; Christgau gave them a B, not B+; and, according to him, they sang about Reagan and AIDs and homelessness and hot dogs, not homework. But their album came out right in the midst of New Kids mania.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtEmcruWTso

I like "If You Go Away" a whole bunch more.

No Boyzone no credibility...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAOE2E9zxks

No wait, Boyzone = no credibility

Boyz II Men you disgusting savages

― Arty, Noisy, Weird, Funky, Punky Pope (crüt), Monday, February 11, 2013 6:08 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This poll question is a bit like being asked what type of cancer you'd like to have.

BSB by a very long way (musically)

NKOTB - before my time but i couldn't even name a song - they don't seem to have entered the pop canon at all
TT - maybe my lack of caring about them is coloured by the fact that their peak coincided with the very brief period of my life when i'd dismiss bands because i wasn't ~supposed~ to like them, boy bands were for girls etc. but then i did like several songs by east 17 (their british rivals, americans) and there are no TT songs i feel would make me reconsider nowadays. given how fucking boring gary barlow is now, and what a contemptible fool robbie williams turned out to be solo, i was probably right all along
BSB - SO many classics, both the ballads ("show me the meaning of being lonely" 4eva) and the bangers (they basically invented max martin with "larger than life" etc). i own their greatest hits and pretty much everything on it is a keeper
NS - i really like the obvious singles of their latter years, they were never inescapable over here though; feel like i'd probably like more of their stuff if i heard it, but the time has passed really

weirdly i can't remember actually being attracted to any of the dudes in any of these bands

obv justin, but only after he left

first Take That vid is ALL TIME
please consider

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpqAXZI0s0s

lex you were RONG about take that

admit it

Boyz II Men are so far above any of these four it's comic, they do not deserve to be named in this company. I have a lot of love for Take That and the Backstreet Boys have some jams for sure but "Water Runs Dry" is fucking bitchin' by any reasonable standard, come on, and that's post-peak Boyz.

N*Sync I think has the best musicians/singers/dancers of this lot but I can't stand that Swedish-hit-factory/Baby-One-More-Time sound, something about it creeps me the fuck out. NKOTB are a laugh riot. That leaves BSB vs. Take That, and BSB are in the same production line as N*Sync aren't they? They sound better to me though. Still, Take That have "Sure" and "Back For Good" which are both aces in my book, plus being American I could basically ignore them and never have to think about them if I didn't wanna, so Take That wins. Also whichever one's rocking the dreads on that one sleeve - Robbie Williams? - earns your vote with some of the most heinous dreads ever rocked.

Yaaaay I knew I liked you for more than yr pretty scarves Mr Tyler

HOWARD had dreads
and they weren't that heinous

well I'll let these dreads speak for themselves

http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu11/take_that_lurve/Take%20That/Howard%20Donald/howardspeak3.jpg

you just made 19 yo me swoon fyi

Wikipedia with inadvertent Take That slashfic

During the Beautiful World Tour in 2007, Donald suffered a collapsed lung after performing a series of gymnastic stunts on stage, and was kept on a hospital ward for the two days, while the rest of the band performed as a threesome

BSB have "I Want It That Way".
And nobody else on this list does.

Boyz II Men are so far above any of these four it's comic, they do not deserve to be named in this company.

Yeah, I didn't even consider aligning them with this bunch. They were a whole 'nother thing.

a whole other layer of bland? The early post-New Jack singles aside, I still haven't learned how to appreciate those massive ballads.

BSB.

http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/you-can-t-keep-calm-if-you-love-take-that.png

idk anything about nkotb or take that but bsb had so many more good songs than nsync

boyzIImen weren't really marketed this way (i think my feelings on bIIm are halfway between aero and soto's - loved all the uptempo hits and 'uhh ahh', generally had no time w/ the megahuge slow hits w/ the notable exception of 'water runs dry' which is more adult than anything anyone associated w/ the above acts has recorded STILL including solo), the east coast family boy band entrant was this - http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/617/969/1600/img.jpg. new edition were profoundly better than any of the above also (at every hitmaking step of their career - maurice starr boyband, jam-lewis adults, supergroup reunion)(better solo goes w/o saying i hope) and predate the above just enough to justify the exclusion. the boys and hi-five were never quite as big phenoms either, though their music smokes nkotb at the very least. nkotb and bsb/nsync are different eras really. take that bridges the two but that's cuz boy bands never really go away in the uk. jackson five vs new edition might be interesting, i'd have to give it to j5 but it's a real contest at least. goes w/o saying also that tony defranco smokes these clowns also.

I forgot about "I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)," which certainly deserves love but fits here as an adjunct: boy band R&B (ABC, The Boys).

Menudo!

corny rockist choice i know but always my fave nkotb - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTo3N73hpPg

fun fact: we are now as far away from step by step in years as step by step was from sgt peppers

NSync performed on my high school football field freshman year.

One of the old school guys died :-(

dammit, trumped by balls

story of my life

Jon is so cute :(d

someone on ILX mocking Nick Carter was the first time I read the phrase "cocaine fattey", which has a special place in my heart right next to "chazbaps"

this isn't very good and what happens four minutes into this broke my heart at the time but it is hard to imagine any contemp boy band coming out against a war 10 days after it started on national tv today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqSKN0e48dE

warning: contains uncut 1991. also damn jennifer lopez could dance.

years after nkotb (height of bsb and nsync), jam-lewis past peak, clearly taking notes from timbaland, writing credits also feature robin thicke, better than 'suit and tie'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijXcYLV1aNg

^^^^ classic

Give it To You is still awesome.

goes w/o saying also that tony defranco smokes these clowns also.

I see you workin man

I found Boyz II Men to be quite a chore at the time. They were practically the Four Freshmen.

I agree with Lex re the general superiority of BSB except to note that:

BSB - SO many classics, both the ballads ("show me the meaning of being lonely" 4eva) and the bangers (they basically invented max martin with "larger than life" etc)

really it was "backstreet's back" that did this, right? I was like 14/15 when this came out and didn't really think of it as a sonic milestone at the time, I'm wondering if anyone else went O_O at the production on it.

yeah i was too young to pay attention to stuff like that but "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" was their breakthrough US hit and the song that kicked off that whole TRL/teenpop era. i also remember there being a lot of confusion about it ("Backstreet's back? Back from where?") when of course by that time, BSB was already huge in Europe/Asia.

hilarious moment while out dancing a couple of years ago, watching a crowd of corporate jock types who would never have admitted to being BSB fans go absolutely apeshit after the DJ unexpectedly drops backstreet's back in the middle of a bosh-y electrohouse set.

no kidding - you play any BSB song at a bar or whatever and the place goes mental. 40 off-key people singing "I want it that way" at the top of their lungs. one guy who keeps jumping the "don't wanna hear you saaaaaaaaay" prechorus every fucking time (ok, it's me). I kinda dread to think of the kids who'll be doing this to One Direction in 15 years but this is kind of a unique thing to Backstreet from what I've seen, you play NSync or Britney or Xtina Aguila and people will roll their eyes out of their god damn heads at you.

I don't think anybody is rmde at NSync or Britney or Christina but "I want it that way" is a crown jewel in the pop canon and transcends the band and this poll

BSB were monstrously great from the get-go while *NSync became monstrously great as time went on

RIP 98 Degrees

roz and frogbs otm about BSB's effect on parties

"backstreet's back" is just...universal. every type of party, every type of person, it never fails to go down a storm.

Perhaps 99% universal.

98%

If we're going by songs, BSB. If we going on looks, Jordan Knight is the only one of these dudes I've ever found attractive.

Not enough Take That love itt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2ICtCO8TCw

If someone put 'Backstreet's Back' on at my house, I would be fairly fucking annoyed.

If we're going by songs, BSB. If we going on looks, Jordan Knight is the only one of these dudes I've ever found attractive.

otm plus "Give It To You" is the only song from that era I still listen to regularly.

gonna throw a vote to NSYNC on behalf of my 14yo self though.

I wish I hadn't voted so early on in this poll. Now I want to change my vote about every hour depending on whose song I'm listening to.

RIP 98 Degrees

they're touring with NKOTB this year iirc

And Boyz II Men, fwiw.

okay so 98 Degrees had EIGHT top 40 hits????? I thought they had two at most (a drippy ballad and "GIVE ME ONE MORE NIGHT/UNA NOCHE/FUCK ME, I'M BILINGUAL")

Yeah, that surprises me. I only remember two (probably the same two you remember).

I don't remember any of the 98 Degrees hits but for now I'm going to live under the assumption that those lyrics are verbatim.

for all the talk of the homoerotic, er, bent, of late nineties boy bands, 98 Degrees really came off like gunsels and ass-for-hire.

were O-Town supposed to be attractive?

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxkmiy6W3Y1ql7z4d.jpg

"Back for Good" is the best individual song, but BSB is the best overall.

Also underappreciated

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx7DC2xEs2U

xposts one of the 98 degrees guys went on to join chippendales so...

back when I actually bothered to watch the VMAs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfaF-Og3iP0

On January 22, 2013, the group appeared on The View along with New Kids on the Block and Boyz II Men to announce their joint tour that will take place in summer 2013.[18] This tour has been named "The Package" and the 12 members on tour (Boyz II Men with 3 members, NKOTB with 5 members and 98 Degrees with 4 members) jokingly refer to themselves as "The Dirty Dozen." The North American tour begins on May 31, 2013

Didn't B2M have four member? And didn't 98 Degrees have 3 members?

I can understand someone getting older and bowing out of B2M, but how did 98 Degrees recruit a NEW guy?

The Bulge Tour

Late '80s/early '90s teen idol group New Kids on the Block broke up years ago, but groupies are still talking about the former members. Jordan Knight, the biggest heartthrob of the group, is said to have a huge ego and is a selfish lover, says one lady who claims to have been with him. He's also rumored to have "played for the same team." Joey McIntyre is a pretty good lover but he can be an unfaithful dog, according to another lady who experienced him. Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood were the biggest sluts in the group, and they also had a taste for ethnic women.

Don't be fooled by 98 Degrees' nice-boy image because most of the guys in the group are just as slutty as rock stars with a raunchy image. Jeff Timmons likes to pick up strippers and Justin Jeffre can occasionally get fixated on his sex partners. Drew Lachey has a short-guy complex and loves all the attention he can get from attractive females. And "The Hardest Thing" that Drew's brother Nick Lachey could ever do is keep an erection for more than 10 minutes during sex. Word is that Nick is a quick shooter.

Members of the Backstreet Boys are some of the biggest playboys of the teen idol groups. A.J. McLean and Nick Carter are said to be the biggest sluts in the group. Nick is said to be very into the white stuff nicknamed "blow" and "snow." Groupies say that A.J. doesn't like to use condoms and he's a "backdoor" man. Kevin Richardson used to be a male slut but he's toned it down now that he's gotten married. Howie Dorough has a reputation of being a overall nice guy who likes to keep his love life very private. Meanwhile, religious married man Brian Littrell is the least likely to fool around with groupies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDcpXlttqq4

yeah i was too young to pay attention to stuff like that but "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" was their breakthrough US hit and the song that kicked off that whole TRL/teenpop era.

"Quit Playing Games With My Heart" was their first big US hit, "Backstreet's Back" was second.

98 Degrees always had 4 guys IIRC

Didn't B2M have four member?

Michael McCray left (at least ostensibly) for health reasons

lol why did I look at that acronym and think "Butt 2 Mouth? waht"

98 Degrees were never a going concern in my sphere, so I'm not surprised I was wrong about the number of members.

Sorry, Michael McCray. :(

I thought "Buggers 2morrow"

Meanwhile, religious married man Brian Littrell is the least likely to fool around with groupies

I knew it!

I dont know how many women over 18 were really in to these groups, now that I think about it

It's been a few years and they're all over 18 now.

Although if the number of women I know my age who want to smash Justin Bieber to tiny pieces is any indication, their appeal probably wasn't as limited as you suspect.

Brian Littrell is the least likely

"least likely" implies there's some wiggle room in there.

"Quit Playing Games With My Heart" was their first big US hit, "Backstreet's Back" was second.

huh was under the impression at the time that "Quit Playing Games" was bigger outside the states, but I just checked and it actually went to no. 2 on the charts. i still think of "Everybody" as the song that really made them huge though, prob because of the video.

East 17: Classic or Dud?

considering they namedrop NKOTB, surprised no one's mentioned:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHuGG_FsC20

Lead guy died of leukemia btw. :(

Yeah, I heard "Games" way more at the time. That song was everywhere. xxp

It's possible my relative perception of the two songs' popularity is influenced by the fact that the r&b station here played "Quit Playing Games" and never touched "Backstreet's Back".

eh they were both massive and inescapable IIRC

lol and mine because i lived on a diet of MTV xpost

Yeah, possibly. I just happened to have heard the one 1000 times that year and the other like 10 times that year.

on a related note this is insane

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Martin_production_discography

East 17 were terrible and no-one should talk about them imo

wasn't there also a super terrible group named 5ive

Yes. Here are some more third rate uk boy bands with numbers for a band name:

A1: Who reached number 1 with a cover of 'Take on Me'
911: Their most memorable single being 'Party People... Friday Night'

I don't think anyone was as horribly misconceived as the original Making the Band group O-Town

I mean, "Liquid Dreams" is seriously one of the worst songs in the universe

Lead guy died of leukemia btw. :(

Poor Rich Cronin. I really like Summer Girls but I mostly remember his war with ONTD over some perverted emails.

what kind of title is 'Party People... Friday Night'? Put friday night in brackets you monsters!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul_hcxlA5KU

Brian Harvey from East 17: last seen posting a video online of the forced installation of a pre-payment electricity meter at his house, after repeatedly failing to pay Southern Electric outstanding charges on his electricity bill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCiowdcHJ0U

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

This poll question is a bit like being asked what type of cancer you'd like to have.

― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Monday, February 11, 2013 11:39 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

East 17 stay another day rules over all this pussywank

Pfft gtfo noob east 17's standout will always be 'alright'

And tbrr house of love and home rank higher than that christmas bellringing shit

peace out

anyone talking about East 17 itt will heretofore be lifebanned forever

Didn't tony mortimer have a big cock, too?

According to smash hits apr 95 iirc

What size?

I dont have an exact length confirmed, but one of his favourite pranks was to slip it into the mic holder for the slow numbers and let brian croon into the eye of it while the fans went wild

tony, what a character

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

fair results.

nkotb/take that: cage fite

take THAT

;_;

damn yanks

The fuck are NKOTB ranked the same as some made-up bullshit that didn't even exist? Might as well rate them with O Town or whatever.

MADE UP BULLSHIT HOW DARE U

I can kind of get with Take That's poor performance, as outside of "Back For Good" they had virtually no US presence, but NKOTB having only 6 votes means ilm is skewing younger than I'd previously imagined.

East 17 were terrible and no-one should talk about them imo

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, February 12, 2013 1:49 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark

'House of Love' is as good as music can get

music videos too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a3ETB5QFrM

hate u