NKOTB is back on the block 

The New Kids on the Block are back and smiling. The pop teen icons of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s took a short 14-year hiatus to shed their parachute pants and high tops for wedding rings and 401-k’s. Donnie Wahlberg (Marky Mark’s little brother), Danny Wood, Joey McIntyre, and Jordan and Jonathan Knight are back to show they can still make people move.

“The Block” is the group’s first album since 1994, and while it’s clear the members have gotten older and grown up (Donnie talks to his 6-year-old son on the beginning of one track), the fun is still there.
Lyrically, the group’s new songs are incredibly sexual but packed with classic pop-style club energy.
What else is expected from NKOTB? A great dance song. Tracks like “Full Service,” featuring fellow veteran boy band New Edition, proves no one is safe from the lately popular voice synthesizing, also known as “T-Paining.” The trend train sure doesn’t stop there.

Renaissance man Akon, who seemed to be featured on every 2007 radio hit, makes an appearance on “Put It on My Tab” and Ne-Yo stops in on “Single.” While the Kids’ apparent obsession with the female form is somewhat tiring by the end of a few tracks, “Big Girl Now” with Lady Gaga seems to represent the entire album and possibly the NKOTB as a whole. The song declares: “Back in the day when I was young (kinda dumb) / but I always knew I’d be the one (girl here you come) … gonna give you something you ain’t ever gonna forget.”

This is a good pop album. The mix of saccharine sweet love songs and pulsing boy band grooves makes “The Block” an acceptable novelty throwback.
In no way does this album represent what is good and whole in music other than making you smile and feel good. This is a “girl’s night out” kind of album. These tracks are for dancing in the shower and singing while you brush your teeth. This is a reminder music can still be fun and New Kids on the Block — who certainly are not new and have been around the block a few times — can still make the girls scream.

Sometimes not everyone or everything in the music business needs to stand for something noble or serious. Sometimes all listeners need is to hear the Pussycat Dolls or NKOTB singing about something ridiculous. “The Block” fills the need for silly, ridiculous fun.

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