GOSSIP!

O-Town - OOOOOOHHHH - Town
O-Town, Making the Band

You've got to hand it to the brains behind O-Town: At least they had the guts to be honest about their approach, which was to put a group together from scratch by following a very familiar formula for boy-band success. In this era of prebabricated pop, it's refreshing to see somebody with a profile as high as former 'N Sync-Backstreet Boys Svengali Lou Pearlman being so open about the behind-the-scenes machinations and studio puppetry that we all suspected goes on at the top of the charts. With a hit TV show (ABC's 'Making The Band') and a top 10 single ('Liquid Dreams') under its belt, the ultra-photogenic O-Town is poised to increase its domination of the teen market now that its debut album has arrived.

O-Town won't have it easy though. With all the sweat, toil and fumbling many witnessed on the series, there is a real danger that O-Town would pale next to the Real World-like backstage drama of the show. Addressing that concern, Svengali Lou Pearlman, record-label kingpin Clive Davis and the usual army of producer-songwriters try much too hard to prove their hitmaking prowess, at the risk of coming off feeling strained and desperate. But it might surprise some to note that O-Town is actually chock full of strong vocals and harmonies, not to mention several hook-laden songs. O-Town does attempt to dig a little deeper than today's sound du joir with its R&B/ hip-hop-splashed pop beats and offers elements of rock ('Love Should Be A Crime'), 70s-laced funk ('Take Me Under') and classic dance/ soul ('Every Six Seconds'). The bumpin', finger-snappin' 'Girl' is a smash single waiting to happen - ditto the tear jerker 'All Or Nothing' and the closing track, the Dianne Warren-penned 'Baby I Would'.

The band's lead single is 'Liquid Dreams', an up-tempo love-lite number with the same sort of whitebread harmonies and arm-waving teen-dream rythms favored by the majority of the boy band brigade. Perhaps the only distinguishable thing about the track is that it moves away from the universal lyrics favored by the likes of the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, offering instead contemporary pop culture references to the dream girl being likened to everyone from Destiny's Child and Angelina Jolie to Jennifer Lopez and Tyra Banks.

Unfortunately, most of the rest of the album is along the same lines; sugary-sweet love anthems with awkward lyrics and a few amusing moments. At one point, O-Town promises to 'See You Again', but that will largely depend on how the thrown-together group is seen by the prepubescent music buyers of America. If those 'Liquid Dreams' turn into a nightmare for Lou Pearlman, the band's name could well change to Ghost-Town.

Tracklisting

1. Liquid Dreams
2. Every Six Seconds
3. Girl
4. Sexiest Woman Alive
5. Love Should Be A Crime
6. Shy Girl
7. All Or Nothing
8. Sensitive
9. The Painter
10. Take Me Under
11. All For Love
12. Baby I Would

To listen to sample tracks from the album click here.