New Kids on the Block

As the biggest teen-pop group of the late '80s and early '90s, New Kids on the Block are an integral link in the chain connecting the Osmonds to the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync -- Max Martin certainly learned a thing or two from listening to the music that impresario Maurice Starr penned for the New Kids. Starr, who had founded New Edition several years earlier, wrote a fresh chapter in the twisty, turny saga of rock 'n' miscegenation, finding five white kids to make famous (for a little while, at least). Step by Step signaled that the bloom was already off the rose, and teenypop would go into deep freeze for a half dozen years.

Alas, NKOTB's music hasn't aged well, mostly because Starr played it so safe. The albums are dominated by harmless, light pop funk that has neither the spritz of schlock nor the exuberance of true pop. While "I'll Be Loving You Forever" is a serviceable ballad and "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" a peppy dance tune, no one born after Reagan left office will care. (If you care, seek out Jordan Knight's self-titled 1999 solo disc, featuring "Give It to You" and a surprisingly credible version of "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" rendered in ballad form). Evolution -- you never know where it's going to take you. (KEITH HARRIS)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide