Their last record, released 2009, recreated the dancepop of their golden era; this time, perhaps goaded by fear of looking foolish, they've abandoned the beats for mid-tempo adult pop. To that end, longtime songwriter Max Martin has cooked up a title track that ranks as one of the blandest songs of his career: its surging arena-rock chorus and platitudinous lyric are an unabashed stab at US radio's "adult contemporary" demographic.
Most of the first half carries on in this fashion, with the exception of the strummy anti-bullying ballad Madeleine, a showcase for AJ McLean's sweet voice. The second half is more interesting, making more of their spot-on vocal harmonies and offering, in Feels Like Home, a wonderfully incongruous Kings of Leon parody, complete with hoot'n'holler Southern accents.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/jul/25/backstreet-boys-world-like-review
