ALBUM REVIEW: New Kids on the Block - “The Block”
The New Kids on the Block are sneaky. I’ll admit- having been a fan back in the day, I was interested in hearing what these mostly non-active musicians had to bring to the table 14 years after their last studio release (94’s Face the Music). I was underwhelmed at first by “Summertime” but after some production re-tooling, producer RedOne shifted this project into overdrive just in time for this Tuesday’s release of The Block. Yes, I rolled my eyes when I saw the album title too, you’re not alone.
But wait, The Pussycat Dolls, Ne-Yo, Lady Gaga, Akon, and NKOTB ex-rivals New Edition all on the roster of collaborators?? This is the point I officially became interested.
The high-energy vibe of over half of the album (noticeably “Big Girl Now” [featuring Gaga] and “Put It On My Tab” [featuring Akon]) stand out so-much-so that they could survive on their own as unpromoted singles in the club scene.
“Click Click Click” signifies that these kids are officially grown men, so comfortable rhyming about sexual exploits in front of and behind a camera lens, it puts less subtle attempts like Ray-J’s “Sexy Can I” to shame.
“Dirty Dancing” and “Lights Camera Action” along with “2 in the Morning” and the Ne-Yo-assisted “Single” are all stand out tracks making this album one of the most solid pop albums of the quarter. The Timbaland-produced “Twisted” is nice too.
The only drawbacks on the album are Donnie Wahlberg’s rapping (on more than a couple tracks), Jonathan Knight’s non-existent presence (kinda like he’s just along for authenticity purposes) and the uber-trendy use of the vocoder on the banally-titled “Sexify My Love” (doesn’t Madonna get some kind of royalty cut from the title alone?).
OVERALL RATING: 8.5/10
POSTED BY: DJ Sidekick
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