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Now's The Time!

October 25, 2002 
By Tim Jaramillo 

NICK CARTER has melted the hearts of countless ladies as the youngest member of pop supergroup BACKSTREET BOYS. Now, he's on his way to a bright solo career with his debut album Now Or Never! 

When describing the experience of creating a solo album, Nick sounds as excited as a kid going off to college. He exclaims, "It's a release of energy -- all sorts of energy that I've held inside for God knows how long. Now, I get the freedom to do everything that I, myself want to do." 

The album has a more rock-oriented sound than the tunes he performed with the Backstreet Boys. He told our ET correspondent, "I've been wanting to do this for so long, because I've always been very passionate about rock music." 

Things start heating up when the first single, "Help Me" kicks in. Nick's voice comes in as a breathy whisper, then builds in intensity until he lets it all out in the melodic chorus. You can hear his band crankin' behind him through the whole song! 

"My Confession" is a snappy number that gets pretty intimate. Nick told ET that the song is about "being at the point where I wanted to confess everything to a girl." A thick barrage of heavily distorted guitars kick off the rockin' tune, "I Stand For You." This song has a singalong chorus that may remind some of the more mature music fans out there of pop-metal supergroup DEF LEPPARD. 

Nick pumps out several slow and sweet love ballads including, "Do I Have To Cry For You," "Heart Without A Home," and "Who Needs The World." And he turns the volume all the way up to 11 on "Girls In The USA," a heavy tune reminiscent of KISS' stadium rock. 

So what's on Nick's mind these days? He told ET, "I want to kick butt with what I'm doing, and have fun." He adds, "That's my whole motto in life now: If I can't have fun doin' it, I ain't gonna do it!" 

When asked if his solo career signals the end of the Backstreet Boys, he responds, "No, this isn't the end of the Backstreet Boys. I feel this is going to make me a better person, a better entertainer. I feel that when I go back to the Backstreet Boys I'll have more to offer." 

And then there's the ever-looming question about him and pop-queen BRITNEY SPEARS. He insists, "I'm not dating Britney. I mean, she's a cool girl and all, but I'm not dating her. I'm single. I like being single. I like being able to do my thing." 

He sure is doin' his thing, and he's doin' it well! Be sure to check out his solo debut, Now Or Never, which hits stores October 29! 

1. Help Me
2. My Confession
3. I Stand For You
4. Do I Have To Cry For You
5. Girls In The USA
6. I Got You
7. Is It Saturday Yet? 
8. Blow Your Mind
9. Miss America
10. I Just Wanna Take You Home
11. Heart Without A Home
12. Who Needs The World 

Source: http://www.entertainmenttonight.com/music/a12898.htm

From E-Online.com Artist / Band: Nick Carter
Record Label: Jive
Release Date: October 29, 2002

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Our Review:
Now or never? Well, we're leaning toward never as far as Backstreet Boy Nick Carter's solo debut is concerned. Unless you're 12 and you choose CDs based on the crushability quotient of whoever is on the cover, you'll be turned off by Carter's crossover from his "Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)" days to Never's second-rate Sugar Ray pop. Memories of his past remain on "I Got You," however the song also elicits Bryan Adams flashbacks. Otherwise, this trip is full of overly sensitive moments and some really bad geographical rhymes about ladies in "Girls in the USA." Trust us, nobody wants it that way.

Our grade: C- 

Source: http://www.eonline.com/Reviews/Facts/Music/RevID/0,1107,2814,00.html 



NICK CARTER: "NOW OR NEVER" 

By DAN AQUILANTE 
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October 29, 2002 -- NICK CARTER
"Now or Never"
Jive Records 

Backstreeter Nick Carter takes a chance with his first solo record, "Now or Never," combining old-fashioned boy-band catchiness with elements of rock. 

It's a formula that doesn't always work, but when it does, it's excellent. 

On this album Carter chooses not to rock the Backstreet boat very hard, leaning heavily on the boy-band side of the mix. 

But he finally lets loose with "Girls in the USA" which has guitar crunch, power drumming and vocals that seem more influenced by Kid Rock than the kiddie ballads of Carter's past. 

His ballads are still pretty poopy, but the rock material which peppers the effort - like "I Just Wanna Take You Home" and "Help Me" - makes you take note. 

Had Carter taken a giant step into the realm of rock this would have been a better album, but it still stands as an interesting record by an artist in transition - who hopefully won't regress when he hooks up with his bandmates.

Source: http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/60801.htm

 

Reviews
Barnes & Noble

With the popularity of boy bands waning once again (think New Kids on the Block) and his younger brother Aaron's career soaring, Nick Carter -- the youngest and arguably the most marketable member of the Backstreet Boys -- has taken flight and gone solo. In BSB, Carter's more timid vocals were often overshadowed by Brian Littrell's earnest, country-tinged crooning and A. J. McClean's flamboyant vocals. But on his urgently titled, rockin' debut, Now or Never, Carter sounds surprisingly convincing as a frontman. With a carefree pop-rock sound, Carter charms fans throughout the 12-track disc, most notably on the guitar-driven lead single "Help Me," the Bryan Adams-reminiscent ballad "Do I Have to Cry for You," and the Bon Jovi–esque "Miss America." On the latter track, Carter cleverly serenades his dream girl with smooth lyrics such as, "In the land of the free/Make a prisoner of me/Close my eyes and you're all that I see." Only time will tell, but like his 'N Sync counterpart, Justin Timberlake -- who also released his first solo disc, Justified, in late 2002 -- Carter's boy band–less future looks bright. After all, it's Now or Never. Tracy E. Hopkins

Source: Barnes & Noble

GRADE
EW Grade: C

LEAD PERFORMANCE
Nick Carter 

RELEASE DATE
Oct 29 2002 

GENRE
Pop/Rock 

RELATED
Help Me (Music) 

PRODUCTION
Jive Records 

Now Or Never 

Reviewed by David Browne

POP LOCK Carter sticks to boy-band stylings on his solo debut

Compared with the style-shifting Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake, Nick Carter is a classicist. None of their lofty ambitions for him -- on Now or Never, Carter brings new meaning to the phrase ''kicking it old-school'' by keeping the boy-band sound alive, albeit with heavier guitars and a wholesale embrace of hair-metal choruses. Carter just wants simple sugar-pop kicks, and he gets them in the creamy ''My Confession'' and ''Help Me.'' It's fluff and he knows it, and he scores points for lack of pretension.

Alas, he's docked for ''Girls in the USA,'' a grating Def Leppard-meets-dancehall mess in which Carter brags about how he has ''a little thing in the Denver hills/A real fine mama with a sex appeal.'' (And that's just one city.) And like Timberlake and Aguilera, Carter seems compelled to sit down next to a piano and ooze the most generic melody he's handed. Still, Carter's determined to have fun even as his world crumbles around him -- which, in some twisted way, proves that at least one teen-pop veteran remains in synch with our times. EW Grade: C
(Posted:10/28/02)

Source: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/music/0,6115,384412~4~6~nowornever,00.html