I will not be writing this from a fan's point of view but from a view of seeing the music world. Boy bands (I actually hate this term but it sounds better than boy group) have been around for centuries but in different forms. There was The Beatles (which was actually a band), The Osmands, Jackson 5, Beach Boys and so on. Those were the bands from my parents generation. In my generation there was New Kids On The Block. The following generations were Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees, N'sync, Hanson and so on. For every generation, there is and always will be a boy band (now I sound like the opening of 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'; Can you say nerd much?). The only difference between all these groups is the type of music. As each generation changes, so did the music, how these groups perform, look etc.
Back in the late 80's early 90's, all I heard was bad talk about NKOTB (mostly from guys). I wonder, was it like this with the boy bands from the past or is it a thing now? Why throw out negative comments about boy bands? I just don't get it. NKOTB have come back, well actually they have been back for awhile but they just put out another album called '10'. Sometimes I still hear talk like, "they are still around? More like old men on block. Ewwww new kids" and so on. I also hear the same things I heard back in the day about how they don't play their own instruments, they don't write their own songs, they can't dance, they lip sync, they can't sing. I never understood the comments and I still don't.
Not every singer writes their own songs (now NKOTB do write songs), not everyone has to play an instrument (although the term "band" does indicate instruments which is why I hate the term boy band but there isn't any other name that sounds good), they don't lip sync, so they are not the best dancers but most singers are average dancers unless the dancing is just as big of the performance as the singing and I will admit, they are not the best singers (I cringe saying it since I am a huge fan) but they are still pretty good and a hell of a lot better than a lot of artist out there.
When I hear comments or see that they are too old to be singing, to old to be dancing around and to be called New kids, I don't get it. What about The Beach Boys? They are grown men, still preform and yet they have the word 'Boys' in their name? There are so many singers out there that are well in their 50's and still make music. Everyone has their own taste in music. Music makes people feel a certain way and certain music doesn't apply to everyone. Doesn't make them bad singers. I just don't understand why so many people hate on boy bands or even on people like Justin Bieber. How many boy bands can go their separate ways, come back 20 years later and still hit it pretty hard? Not many and yet NKOTB has done it.
I guess I will never know why boy bands from my generation and today get so much negative attention. I do know it gets pretty old. If boy bands (or any singer for that matter) can make people happy and make money, what is the harm? Why does so much negativity have to be thrown around? Why is it the older generation boy bands don't get so much negativity like ours do? What is music to one persons ears, is crap to another which is fine. Not everyone is going to like their music.
Why I like NKOTB? I like the way it makes me feel. I like different types of music. They make me feel different things. NKOTB is my fun, let loose, feeling free, escaping from the stress of everyday life. Watching them on stage, well I'm a straight female who doesn't mind watching five guys on stage (just like men watching girls). I know this won't stop the feud but I needed to express it and just question it. I mean shouldn't we be discussing and worrying about more important things than "Oh my God they're still around"?
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