As my 1st blog post, I wanted to post something that's been on my mind the past few months. The comparison of the Backstreet Boys and One Direction. Although some may try to make comparisons to One Direction and The Beatles, I wanted to start here. But let me just say there will be NO Other band like the BSB, this is just for fun.
I grew up in the 90's, I seen boy bands come and go some successful, some flops. But none were more popular in my day then Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. But since we are comparing One Direction to the BSB, lets focus on the BSB.
Lets Begin:
The BSB were formed in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. It consists of 5 members. Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough and A.J McLean.
They started their path to stardom in 1995 with the release of "We've Got it Goin On". It wasn't a huge hit in North America but did receive success in other parts of the world. At this time the boys were of young age: Nick was the youngest at 15, A.J was 17, Brian was 20. Howie was 22 and Kevin was the oldest at 24, which is not that old. In 1997, the boys started to get noticed in the U.S when their second album Backstreet Boys and the song,
"Quit Playing Games with My Heart" peaked at #2 on the Billboards Hot 100.
Quit Playing Games with My Heart - Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys in 1995
Left to Right: Howie, A.J, Kevin, Brian and Nick.
I Want It That Way - BSB
The One - BSB
Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely - BSB
Larger Than Life - BSB
Let's Cross Over For the sake of Comparison:
While The Backstreet Boys were starting their peak to success in 1999, One Direction members were only either starting kindergarten or in elementary school. Harry would have only been 5, while the oldest Louis would be 8. However 11 years later in 2010, what we now know as One Direction would begin to form. Thanks to a T.V show called the X-Factor which one shows of their talent by singing, dancing or doing something to gain attention, the world was introduced to the boys, not as a group but as solo acts. Each boy auditioned before being put together as a boy band. The idea was a success. Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik would become One Direction.
Each Members Audition and Group Performance
SIMILARITY: This is similar to when the Backstreet Boys first started out in the sense they auditioned for their manger Lou Pearlman in his house with hundreds of other singers trying to also get their foot in the door. Much like the TV Show. And just like BSB, One Direction is also a 5 person boy band.
One Direction released their 1st record in 2011, Up All Night and their song, "What Makes You Beautiful" was a success at home, (UK) but never got it's fame in the States until 2012.
What Makes You Beautiful - One Direction
Granted it was only a few months compared to the BSB's 2 years, It still took the band time to get noticed world wide. At the time of the album Niall was 18 or 19 (album was released in September, same month as his birthday) , Liam, Harry and Zayn were 18 and Louis was 20.
One Direction formed on X-Factor (2010)
Left to Right:
Louis, Zayn, Liam, Niall, Harry
SIMILARITY:
Although you can argue they started younger,if you divide the two boy bands ages. BSB averaged 19.6 as a mean age while One Direction had an average of 18.6 . Therefore the two are not far off, especially when you consider both Brian and Louis joined their respective bands at the age of 20.
Both bands have matured with age and have gone through the stages of different images, including loosing the baby image: Whether that/s tattoos, facial hair, changing hairstyle, it's all evolving. Even the bands songs have evolved as they got older. The bands got into more serious issues than just being peppy and pop music.
Backstreet Boys- Shape Of My Heart and The Call come to mind, while One Direction have, Story of My Life, and Little Things.
The bands share similar song titles as well:
While there are many other comparisons to these two bands. You could break it down for days. I think the amount of success the bands have had, the age in which they started, their peppy like songs and fan base are reasons why they are similar. Not to mention, you could compare Harry to Nick or Zayn to Kevin, WHY LEAVE THE BANDS GUYS?
I think in my opinion ONE DIRECTION are the closest this generation will get to experience what my generation got to experience with BSB.
No one could touch BSB and it doesn't look like anyones gonna touch 1D.
Although One Direction still has a ways to go to compare with Backstreet Boys on hits, singles, cd's etc, they are on the right track (pun intended)
Backstreet Boys Music Facts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backstreet_Boys_discography
| Studio albums | 9 |
|---|---|
| ↙Live albums | 1 |
| ↙Compilation albums | 3 |
| ↙Singles | 26 |
| ↙Music videos | 25 |
"The Backstreet Boys have received a total of eight Grammy nominations, including five nominations in 2000. According to the RIAA, they are the forty-first best selling artist in the US with shipments of over 37 million albums.They are also ranked as the seventh best-selling group of the SoundScan era in the United States (nineteenth best-selling artist overall), with sales of 30,900,000 albums,[20] and as the third best-selling artist of the SoundScan era in Canada, with sales of 4,128,000 albums. As of 2010, the Backstreet Boys have sold over 130 million records worldwide"
One Direction Music Facts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Direction_discography
| Studio albums | 4 |
|---|---|
| ↙EPs | 2 |
| ↙Singles | 15 |
| ↙Video albums | 1 |
| ↙Music videos | 14 |
| ↙Other charted songs | 29 |
We Could keep going on comparing the two bands and breaking it down to exhaustion but let's just leave it at that.
And Here's something for you to enjoy:
One Direction Covers Backstreet Boys: I Want It That Way
Backstreet Boys talk about One Direction (skip to 4:55)
Backstreet Boys Advice to One Direction (1:20 - 1:58)
And to close it off, let's match photos.
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