celebrating 25 years of "No Strings Attached"
*NSYNC soared even beyond it's highest reach with their dynamic sophomore album.
march 20, 2000. eleven-year old me is anxiously waiting in line at my local Media Play (if you know, you know…) anticipating to purchase the midnight release of *NSYNC’s sophomore album, No Strings Attached on the 21st. the five guys (JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, Lance Bass, & Justin Timberlake) hailing from the sunny and animated city of Orlando where they were orginally formed, *NSYNC was and still is my favorite boyband from the late 90s/early 2000s era of pop and i was definitely loud and proud about it - from always appreciating their vocal and performance abilities, their posters lining the walls of my bedroom from top to bottom, getting my hands on every collector’s item that i could, and getting into passionate arguments with my BSB-obsessed friend in middle school (last time i saw her almost a decade ago, we definitely cracked up at how ridiculous we were being, but i honestly don’t think you could teach preteen girls rational thought processes when it came to their favorite boyband!).
while waiting, i remember looking over to see the B 95.1 radio station van parked near the entrance, with their DJ’s waiting to interview a few fans that were just as excited as i was to get their hands on this album and finally experience it after a lengthy legal and financial battle with their manager and label at the time. i don’t remember being interviewed myself, but it didn’t matter as i and is many other fans were honestly not ready for what major history we were about to take part in. i’m not really a numbers or charts person because that has no merit on an artist’s talent, but the sole chart position detail that i was always fascinated with was their 1.1 million first-day going into their 2.4 million first-week sales of this incredible album - it forever blows my mind that i got to be a part of that momentous event firsthand.
as my mom and i got into the car to leave after finally getting the album, i found myself immediately ripping open the plastic packaging, carefully prying apart the cd-case and putting the red and yellow circus-themed cd in the cd-player. instantly the violin swells that opened up of the greatest pop songs ever created, “Bye Bye Bye” - of which i listened to and watched the video for over at least a hundred times each beforehand (and tormented my family members with making them learn the dance moves to) - filled the car and i was unaware of the musical greatness i was about to experience. this entire album was the first time i had ever been exposed to such experimental sounds within the world of pop, as a lot of music in that genre was borderline-saccharine and shimmery in how it was presented up until that time, and it was clear that *NSYNC was going to set themselves apart from the pack and did so with flying colors. i could sense of the energy of freedom flowing throughout the album and in turn, it helped me feel free any time i spent time with it which stands true to this day as a thirty-six year old. they had free reign on choosing who they could collaborate with as they were label-less at the time of recording (by way of the aformentioned legal battle) and every single producer and writer really brought their A-game to this album and putting focus on *NSYNC’s incredible blending vocal harmonies.
the year of 2000 and start of the new millennium brought upon the experimental styles of cutting-edge production in this particular era of pop. the only feature is an expressive highlight of the album, “Space Cowboy (Yippe-Yi-Yay)” with the late, incomparable Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes blasts a futuristic and grandiose sound, with lyrics painting a picture of not trying to focus on the doomsday mentality that people had in trying to figure out what the new millennium would bring, the idea of going to space seemed like a better idea. the album taps more into the futuristic sound with the immensely sensual “Digital Get Down”, which i couldn’t shy away from talking about because it was my first exposure to the idea of sexually connecting with someone in a virtual sense, with bold and suggestive lyrics that let you know they weren’t as coy as they maybe thought they were. was i too young to listen to it at the time? yeah sure, but it was honestly a well-crafted pop song and unlike anything i had ever heard before, hands down a top-five *NSYNC track for me. the eccentric production really fit the songs to a T, as their previously set-in influences of R&B and hip-hop intertwined flawlessly all throughout, with producers Riprock ’n’ Alex G putting their excellent production skills to use to only elevate the group’s sound. i also thoroughly enjoyed that JC (my favorite member from day one!) got a chance to put his writing skills to use on the album and delivered the album’s dynamic title track.
i know everyone knows the Richard Marx-penned ballad “This I Promise You’ and i completely understand the popularity around this beautiful track, but i want to highlight one of the other ballads on the album. “That’s When I’ll Stop Loving You” (penned by Dianne Warren) is an all-encompassing emotive track, the group crooning to the one they love that everything would have to be turned on its head to stop their love from being shown in their relationship. i especially enjoy JC’s powerful vocals that really draw the picture of said emotions throughout the song, perfect as a self-insert song as a young fan imagining that JC was actually singing about me himself. oh, to be eleven again!
this album is without a doubt my favorite pop album of all-time and has always possessed the best balance of fun and love that young pre-teen me and even adult me can always appreciate. i’m forever thankful that it exist within my musical realm and pop music in general.
