Having been decidedly a non-fan of the New Kids on the Block (until I got older and they did, too), the Backstreet Boys were hardly ever on my radar. But I'll tell you something: they know exactly how to front-load an album with hits and then just fill the rest of the time however they please.
I mean, I suppose The One is a hit, but only in a vaguely recognizable way. The first three tracks (Larger Than Life, I Want It That Way, and Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely) are where they make their bacon, and it's an impressive album opening.
Other than those, I'd pick out Don't Want You Back as my top non-single track. My advice to them would be to simply not get into a relationship with that person again. I mean, calling a song I Want You Back implies a journey, but not wanting someone back seems pretty straightforward, unless you start talking about restraining orders.
Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette's previous Juno-winning album of the year, was not really the record of an angry person with the exception of the mega-hit You Oughta Know. The rest of the album featured plenty of introspection and contemplation, which happily continued with Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, also a Juno-winner for Album of the Year.
This album feels much more complete, in that ethereal way that some records feel like one track split up into smaller movements. Thank U, my favourite of her singles, led the charge for countering expectations and I remember it really confounding some people when it debuted.
That I Would Be Good, Unsent (which I remember well off the album but didn't remember, or ever know, that it had been released a single), UR, Would Not Come ... these are terrific songs but they sound out of place to me when I hear them on their own. Early on I knew that I wanted to only listen to the whole album and not pick and choose amongst the track, which is a fairly rare accomplishment.
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