The Big O

Predictable, typical teen-pop from a boy-band that still has a way to go.

A bunch of five young lads who churn out the same ideas with different beats in each song, O-Town's music is predictable, typical teen-pop with a lot of drum and electronic sounds that sound great, yet fail to get the feet moving. While their lyrics seem to revolve around wooing a girl with songs that celebrate her body, there are some nice touches in the accompaniment - the occasional pleasing guitar and some decent melodies often carry the songs over and above the sugary-sweet lyrics.

Among the notable tracks, "Love Should Be A Crime" has interesting lyrics and good vocals, as do "Shy Girl" and "The Painter". A mention should also be made of the cut, "Liquid Dreams", which is moving up the video charts, and will probably be their breakthrough track.

Much of the remainder is a mix of background rhythms, unsatisfactory drum beats, and the same sentiments repeated over and over again with different words. If you like clean-cut good looks, choir-boy voices and bubblegum-pop lyrics, you'll probably enjoy this album; the rest of you might prefer to avoid it.

This article was first published on23 May 2001.