| Product: |
Boyband/Girlbands |
| Date: |
01/08/01 (169 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Some good songs, They can actually sing, they just choose to do it with rubbish songs, They feed a hormonal culture of teenagers
Disadvantages: Umm, have you heard one lately?, They'll never go away
Have you looked at the charts recently. There is something very very strange about them, especially the top five. There are no boy bands!
Having come through the respective years of New Kids On The Block, Take That, Nsync, Boyzone and Backstreet Boys there is no doubt in my mind that boybands have a certain something that makes them a chart sucess. If I was to be superficial then I would say it is their looks, but how many hetrosexual males have stored a Backstreet Boys CD under the bed in the hope nobody notices? I know I was never that sad, I kept mine on top of my stereo and blamed my sister for it :)
So, is it all down to the teeny girls who buy for their ehem, talent? Well, a part of me knows thats why they get to number one. They have an adoring fan base that will buy their music no matter how dire it is, simply because the face fits their own desires of the time. Indeed, many a psychological profile has shown that women will live out a sexual fantasy during their pubescent years with an unassailable person. In this instance its a popstar. By choosing them, they run no risk of having to attempt to fulfil their relationship and so it will never become a pressure to them, they can basically imagine it to be whatever they like. It's a risk free introduction to relationships and sex.
How right are they? I wouldn't really like to comment on that, although there is certainly something that makes teenagers go potty over the likes of Ronan Keating and Robbie Williams.
Right, thats the teenager fancies the band argument, but now for something too many people overlook. Can they actually sing?
I listen everyday to a guy who's telling his best mate that there is nothing to being in a boy band, that they cant sing, cant dance and just stand there to look pretty. Well, I have to argue against this. Any guy you hear saying that, get them to sing 5 chords! Simply put, they can sing, just not as well a
s maybe some others.
If you wish to prove this, try listening to the Backstreet Boys album 'millenium' where there are several high key notes that are not only sung but held for sustained periods. They also have similar low notes. You tell me thats not singing? What about the harmony too. They are able to sing as a group and they are able to make it sound good enough to passify the public if nothing else.
So, why do we hate them so much? Its a hate thing. Sorry guys but it truly is a hate thing. We all want to be rich and famous, and seeing some guy walk about a stage and open his mouth for four minutes while earning over £100,000 for doing so makes us squirm. We all want to be in their shoes, we all want that chance and very few of us get it. So what do we do? We turn to our natural instincts, when we cant reach their level, you bring them down to yours!
Still, this is nothing new, its been going on for years and its not halted sales for groups. So if jealousy isnt going to stop them, poor music and performances aren't going to stop them and scandals galore wont prevent them entering our top 10, then what will?
Like I said, look at the charts today. We see in there, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Linkin Park and various others. Those Teenagers have now developed a new style of music and are entering the world of 'pop' rock. This not so hardcore version of rock music is leaving the likes of the Backstreet Boys behind in every chart imagineable. So is this the end of boybands?
Alas I fear not. There is simply no way that a band genre that survives on human hormones is going to be disrupted for too long. While hormones are in the teenage body, the body will always want. While the body wants, records will sell and boybands will be a hit in the charts. What we are witnessing now is a lull before the next big thing arrives. We had the sanity of a 6 month break after Take That split up (they wer
e then followed to the top by Boyzone) and thats simply what is happening again now. We'll soon see them back.
As for the girl groups? Well, Atomic Kitten seem to be giving the Spice Girls a run for their money, but they wont last and like everything else guys will turn back to FHM for the bodies and hip-hop for their music. Still, while there are hormones ......
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