Now Or Never - Nick Carter

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Now or Never is Nick Carters debut solo album. This was released in 2002, when many fans of the Backstreet Boys worried about what the future of the group may hold, with Nick going solo and the group postponing working on their next album, so there were those that were opposed to his album simply from the point of view that it might lead to them not releasing any more group material.

Now or Never features a pop/rock ...
.../> You know that baby now I want you,
Baby I can see you want me too,
Hot and scandalicious,
Oh, bedtime delicious'.

14 - Forever Rebel (Bonus Track) - This is another upbeat pop/rock track, that isn't quite as 'heavy' as other tracks but its also fairly catchy and again it has that kind of 'summer vibe' to it. It features guitars, bass and flute.


- CD Cover Artwork/CD Booklet -
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*Please note:-* I'm not sure that I can really think of much to say for this album compared to the group albums but I wanted to give it a shot and I may edit this review later, if I think of more to add but for now, here's what I've come up with:-

- Introduction/Background Information -

Now or Never is Nick Carters debut solo album. This was released in 2002, when many fans of the Backstreet Boys worried about what the future of the group may hold, with Nick going solo and the group postponing working on their next album, so there were those that were opposed to his album simply from the point of view that it might lead to them not releasing any more group material.

Now or Never features a pop/rock sound, with some faster and some slower tracks. Nick made music videos to three tracks from this album, which are Help Me, Do I Have To Cry For You and I Got You, though I believe only Help Me was ever officially released as a single here in the UK.

For more information on the tracks that make up 'Now Or Never', read on:-

- Track Listing -

1 - Help Me - This is the first single released from the album. Its upbeat with a teen rock edge to it and is quite fun and bouncy. Its also pretty catchy and has a sort of a summer vibe to it, I think.

2 - My Confession - This track is slightly more subdued than the last one. It features an acoustic guitar strumming in the background. This is an alright track, though I don't think its particularly memorable, its pleasant enough while its on but afterwards, its quite easily forgettable. Its a track that doesn't seem to lead anywhere, as such, so its a bit of a 'filler' track.

3 - I Stand For You - This is one of the better songs on this album, in my opinion. This is quite a fun track which is more similar to track one and it is quite catchy. It has electric guitar and drums as well as some disc scratching. There is also what I guess you could call a slightly slow rap part to the song too. All in all, its a fun, bouncy teen rock/pop track that has fun lyrics about enjoying our youth and enjoying life, basically.

4 - Do I Have To Cry For You - This is the first of the ballads, or ballad-esque, tracks on this album and it starts with a piano playing a soft tune in the background. It is pretty slow, though it does build up a bit during the middle of the song and it is mainly vocal based, though it does have a rock edge to it, with Nicks raspy voice making it more power ballad material. There is a music video for this song and it was an unofficial single.

5 - Girls In The USA - This is more of an anthemic rock track, with a heavy drum beat in the background. Here Nick clearly shows his favour for American girls lol.

6 - I Got You - This is another of the better tracks on the album, I feel. Its similar to track four in being lighter and a bit slower than other tracks but its got a nice beat to it and is also a good sort of a summer-y sounding track. It sounds like more of a personal track and is quite good pop/soft rock material.

7 - Is It Saturday Yet? - This is probably one of the weakest tracks that is really just pop material. Its rather daft but it is kind of catchy and younger fans would probably quite enjoy it, the chorus is particularly catchy, which mainly involves repeating the track title numerous times.

8 - Blow Your Mind - This is one of the louder rock tracks on the album. It has an electronic sound to it in the background and a particularly heavy/loud chorus. In it, he talks about a girl and what she did and how he's 'always falling for the easy'. It is also pretty catchy.

9 - Miss America - This track somewhat continues the theme of track five, I suppose, only in it he talks of a specific girl and his relationship with her. Its a quieter track compared to track eight and is more of a mid tempo track. I don't see this as being one of the more memorable or catchy tracks though, its another 'filler' track in my opinion, as I feel it drags on rather too long.

10 - I Just Wanna Take You Home - This track is louder than the previous one and is also quite light and bouncy and I suppose it also has a bit of a 'summer vibe' to it. The title pretty much says it all. Its quite a youthful and energetic track, with what some might see as rather cheeky lyrics.

11 - Heart Without A Home (I'll Be Yours) - This track is similar to track four, in that its a slower track with a ballad feel to it. Its quite a nice track which show off his vocal range pretty well and it has a nice, quiet/understated backing to it, featuring guitar, drums, keyboards and percussion. Its quite a pleasant track that is quite hummable.

12 - Who Needs The World - This is another mid tempo track, which starts off with a guitar in the background as he sings the first verse. Its quite a low-key song at first and its quite pleasant. There are some percussion instruments added to give it its low key beat but mainly the track is his vocals as he sings about 'Who needs the world when I've got you, switch off the sun, the stars and the moon, I've all I need inside of this room, who needs the world when I've got you'.

13 - Scandalicious (Bonus Track) - This is another fun, upbeat track, similar to tracks seven and eight. Its got a strong pop/rock 'vibe' to it and its pretty catchy too. Its another slightly 'cheeky' song in terms of its subject matter, some might say! but its basically just a good fun pop rock track, with lyrics including:-

'She must be scandalicious,
Oh yeah, Caught in a cat suit a package so cute,
Scandalicious, oh yeah,
You know that baby now I want you,
Baby I can see you want me too,
Hot and scandalicious,
Oh, bedtime delicious'.

14 - Forever Rebel (Bonus Track) - This is another upbeat pop/rock track, that isn't quite as 'heavy' as other tracks but its also fairly catchy and again it has that kind of 'summer vibe' to it. It features guitars, bass and flute.

- CD Cover Artwork/CD Booklet -

The front cover and back of the box features a photo of Nick leaning against a classic car, wearing a tshirt, jeans and trainers, which are pretty dusty, with rubble on the ground.

The booklet contains different photos of him in different poses standing by the beach, near water. It also features all the usual other info., ie. song credits, Nicks thank you messages and lyrics (to Help Me, My Confession, I Stand For You and Do I Have To Cry For You).

Also possibly worth mentioning are the drawings/doodles on the third last page of the booklet, which I believe were drawn by Nick himself.

- Conclusions/Any Other Thoughts or info? -

Nick did have a hand in writing a few of the tracks on this album, being a co-writer for the following tracks:- My Confession, I Stand For You, Do I Have To Cry For You, Girls In The USA, Is It Saturday Yet? and the two bonus tracks, Scandalicious and Forever Rebel.

Some of the tracks are really quite good, such as I Got You and I Stand For You and others aren't particularly memorable, in my own opinion. It is very much teen pop/rock material which some will quite enjoy and its not entirely awful as that, there are a good amount of fun, energetic tracks but as a whole, I wouldn't say that its overall excellent as such, with a few weaker 'filler' tracks I feel but on the whole, if your a fan of Nick and are interested to hear what he sounds like on his own and/or if you like a bit of fun teen pop/rock, then yes I would recommend this album.

For future reference, I read online that apparently Nick said at a recent BSB soundcheck that he is working on a follow up solo album and that there *might* be a first single released from his next solo album coming out around next February time, so be on the lookout for that.

I do think its a bit of a shame that while he did have a fair amount of promotion as a solo artist, at the time of the albums release, the media didn't particularly pick up on it and I didn't feel that many non BSB fans were really all *that* aware of the albums release.

Subsequently, record sales weren't very favourable, which is probably at least partly why he hasn't gotten around to releasing any new solo material for some time (that plus the fact that the group have been busy with two album releases and tours, since Now Or Never came out in 2002).

Some fans were worried that the release of this album would mark the end of BSB but this clearly hasn't happened and it seems as if the members of BSB are closer than ever now, so I wouldn't let that put you off purchasing this.

I hope this review either serves as a nice trip down memory lane for some or that its useful to anyone looking to add to their CD collection from this time... thanks, as always, for all r/r/c's. 

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