Revelation

98° and Rising The soul-tinged harmonies 98 Degrees showcased in the top 10 hit "Because of You" are far more credible than those of other late-'90s teen-beat groups, but then there's plenty of star-making power behind the scenes: producers Trackmasters and Pras provide the funk on the '70s-esq...	98 Degrees They may look like just another boy group, but Ohio's 98 Degrees more likely found their role models in smooth crooners Boyz II Men than in New Kids on the Block. It was backstage at a Boyz II Men concert, in fact, that they met their manager and scored a deal, going on to platin...	No Strings Attached Despite millions of album sales, 'N Sync are an obvious No. 2 to label mates the Backstreet Boys. Fittingly, they try harder--too hard, in fact--through most of their second non-Christmas disc, No Strings Attached. The quintet and Strings' dozen-plus producers fill these 47 minut...	The Collection 98 Degrees' smooth, sanitized soul and lush, precise harmonies are more akin to Boyz II Men than the Backstreet Boys. Which is not to say that they attract a different audience than their boy-band brethren; their simplistic but addictive songs of love and heartbreak seem torn fro...	Millennium For their hard-core under-18 fans, of course, the Backstreet Boys are all that, and a bag of chips and free soda to boot. Millennium, the follow-up to the quintet's umpteen-million-selling debut, offers more reasons why so many of the rest of us have found a place for them in our...
Black and Blue The Backstreet Boys' previous outing, Millennium, was a tough act to follow, combining as it did the storming pop of "Larger Than Life" and the sublime balladry of "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely." Black & Blue is a worthy successor, if a slightly more mature sound for t...	Celebrity The boy balladeers of 'N Sync have always kept in step with their competition, but with Celebrity, they've entered a different race altogether. Members Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez (who co-wrote and co-produced most of the tracks on this album) have drawn on R&B, hip-hop, ...	Backstreet Boys [ENHANCED CD] The world may be divided into two camps when it comes to the Orlando-based Backstreet Boys--detractors and hard-core fans--but no one can deny the fact that the boys produce perfectly polished pop that sells. The hits on this album speak for themselves: "Quit Playing Games (With ...	This Christmas Attention teenage girls: As vocal guy bands go, 98 Degrees sing and snap their fingers with the best in contemporary pop. And while This Christmas is not as engaging or musically adventurous as other holiday albums from vocal tour de forces such as the Persuasions, Take 6, or the...	What's Left of Me It's tough not to make a parlor game out of Nick Lachey's What's Left of Me. Five points if you knew that Mr. Jessica Simpson was more than just beefcake, but a pop star in his own right. Ten if you recalled that he was once a member of 98 Degrees, not Backstreet Boys or 'N Syn...

First half good, second half somewhat bland
I liked 98 Degrees'Revelation when it first came out. But 6 years later, it hasn't aged as well as their rival pop groups at the time. My favorite is still the Latin-flavored Give Me One More Night (Una Noche). It still sounds funky today with the strong percussion heavy sound. Perhaps lead singers Nick and Drew Lachey were influenced by what Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias were doing at the same time. The Way You Want Me To and Stay the Night are solid. But the album's second half of ballads drag the album down. My Everything is okay, but the other ballads around it range from bland to sometimes boring. They sound colorless and pointless sometimes, the same lovey dovey sappiness that they should have gotten away from. One of them nearly put me to sleep--that's how dull it sounded. They'd be compatible to the ballad style that Nick Lachey is doing now on his current 2006 album, "What's Left of Me." Perhaps the best thing about Revelation is of Jeff Timmons singing lead on a few more songs--it's not Nick singing lead on everything. This may have led to Jeff doing his own solo album. I think that these series of mediocre ballads led to many music critics panning it and putting Revelation on Worst Album of 2000 lists. But I thought the album was okay--it just lacked the punch of the 1998 album that had the most hits. Because I Do (Cherish You) did so very well for the last album, they wanted to see if that same formula could work for Revelation. It somehow didn't.

The Fab 4, Can We Have Some More?
98 degrees is one of the best singing outfits in the world today. They prove that on this album, Revelation. It was a revelation when I first heard it. I was surprised at how good they were. They really have mastered their craft. If you like modern pop flavored quartets, pick up this album. It delivers.

Revelation
I remember this album when I was in the 8th grade. I love this album. This album is about the men growing musically. This album is an eclectic and ambitious mix of intricate harmonies,symphonic strings,R&B grooves,pop melodies, and hip-hop-inflected rhythms. This record is a great step for the group. This album has been certified 2x Platinum. Remember,this was 2000-2001.

TOO MANY SLOW SONGS
The upbeat songs are great, even the pseduo-rap song "Dizzy" is pretty good. I never did like "Give Me One More Night" that much, but the rest of the faster songs are good. Just too many ballads. These guys could sing better than 'Nsync ever could, they should have been more popular. Oh well, we still have this album and the previous "98 degerees and Rising" album to listen to. Oh and by the way, Nick, Drew, and Jeff are the best looking of all of the boy bands put together. YUM!

YES!
The album that feature 98's #1 smash, "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche" that was clearly released to cash in on the latin trend brought out by Jennifer Lopez & Ricky Martin (with Marc Anthony and Louie Vega cashing in right before 98*). This was rather inventive as the pop tarts "above" them (Nsync & Britney) weren't doing it at the time. Christina was already just starting. The album also features their heavily underrated Adult Contemporary smash "My Everything." For those Jessica S. fans - the video to this featured her and all the other 98* girlfriends/wives. My favorite song overall was their heavily overlooked single "The Way You Want Me To Do." It was an awesome club=stomper that blended the boys' smooth voices with an electronic vocoder. It was funky and different. The music video was the best as well. The album even features Mr. Lachey rapping, along with more smooth ballads and club-stompers. The Revelation summer tour was going to be my first concert ever and I had 3rd row floor seats and they were so big they even had the Baha Men, Debelah Morgan AND Dream all as opening acts! It would've been such a great tour for me. Too bad they cancelled it. This teaches you - buy the cd so you don't miss a thing!