Jive
2001
Celebrity
About This Album
*NSYNC is nothing if not literal. Last time around, they freed themselves from their manager and titled the record No Strings Attached. This time around, after that album moved millions of copies, they've released an album called Celebrity, none too subtly drawing attention to the fact that they're stars. That's right -- this is a trials-n-tribulations of fame album, in the grand tradition of Bad, Use Your Illusion, and In Utero, complete with a garish cover that's a cross between Sgt. Pepper and a Sammy video. The difference is, of course, that the boys have been thirsting for this attention since they were children, so they're entirely comfortable with their position as kings of teen pop, and they celebrate their celebrity. And, let it not be said that they're not clever, since "Pop" isn't just a defense of their music, it stands as a rallying cry for their fans. And that signals what is so right about the record too -- *NSYNC is self-aware, not just of their position in the pop world, but how to consolidate their strengths while pushing forward. Since time immemorial (or at least since 1987), any pop group rounds up hot producers before making a new record, but *NSYNC has found producers that accentuate different sides of their music, from Brian McKnight smoothly delivering JC Chasez's "Selfish" to the Neptunes' subtle harpsichord groove on "Girlfriend.
Track List (try tracks 1,3,4,6,10 and 13)

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