Greatest Hits

In a four-year span, from 1998-2002, boy band NSYNC ruled the pop world. The five piece ensemble sold close to 45 million albums worldwide and enjoyed enormous success on the touring circuit, selling a million tickets in one day for the No Strings Attached outing. What's so remarkable, though, is that the group did all of this with only three studio albums and one Christmas release to their credit.

Greatest Hits collects 10 of NSYNC's hits, one previously unreleased track (in the United States), and a duet with Gloria Estefan, from the Music Of The Heart movie soundtrack. The songs aren't featured in chronological order here; "Bye, Bye, Bye," the group's top five smash from No Strings Attached, gets the ball rolling. The infectious cut reminds listeners why NSYNC were so popular. The bombastic production and pellucid vocals are too good to be ignored. Even a song like "Tearin' Up My Heart," with its outdated '80s flavoring, snags you after only one listen.

Hip-hop lite track "Girlfriend," with guest Nelly, bops along nicely, not quite pop, not quite rap. Nelly spits out his portion of the lyrics at a mile-a-minute clip, while the boys beef the track up with their glossy vocals. The honeyed "God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You" is a guilty pleasure for many music fans who claim to dislike boy bands. NSYNC sing the words men everywhere want to say to their sweethearts but don't have the courage to. For "It's Gonna Be Me," the group doesn't just tear a page out the Michael Jackson book of songwriting, they steal an entire chapter. The boss track gets the juices flowing.

"Pop" from NSYNC's final studio album, Celebrity, focused on the naysayers and haters of the band. Member Justin Timberlake had a hand in writing the greasy cut. "Gone," a song from the same album, once again co-written by Timberlake, is the polar opposite of "Pop." The decelerated number is an emotional piece that finds Timberlake drowning in sorrow without his woman, who has left him. "I'll Never Stop," the one previously unreleased track, isn't nearly as strong as the other material, which explains why it was previously unreleased. The hip-grinding "I Want You Back" and the breathy "I Drive Myself Crazy," are album highlights.

Greatest Hits is a short but pleasant snapshot of a band that perhaps went on hiatus a bit too soon, but shook the foundation of popular music if only briefly. Had the record label convinced the guys to get together and record three or four new songs, the album would have no doubt broken chart records upon its release.

By Todd Sterling