20th Anniversary of Backstreet Boys - Blu-ray

Content: It's hard to believe, really, but it's been over twenty years since the Backstreet Boys burst onto the scene, sparking the height of the '90s boy band boom. With over 130 million records sold, they are the world's most successful boy band of that era, ahead of Take That or New Kids on the Block. And even though the band hasn't been heard from for some time, they are still active in the music business after two decades. For example, starting in 2010, they went on a big tour together with their former rivals from NKOTB and released a new album in 2013, which they also presented live again with the original line-up. To celebrate the 20th anniversary, the documentary Show ´em what you´re made of was filmed during the making of the album and a concert from the In a World Like This tour was recorded. Both are now available on DVD and Blu-ray.

The documentary not only shows Nick, Brian, Kevin, James and Howard working on their album, but also takes fans on a journey back in time to the band's beginnings. With a lot of archive footage it is shown how they toured through schools and shopping malls before the big breakthrough came. In addition, each band member leads his colleagues to a place from his past, then tells about his family and the time before the Backstreet Boys. Sometimes this seems a bit too thick and too staged. But for fans it is just nice to learn so much about the boys and to see not only their professional, but also the very private side.

It is very pleasant that especially the early days are not glorified as pure fun. It is spoken here quite openly about difficult times and about not at all glamorous moments what frees the young gentlemen a little bit from the clean man image what boy groups have generally stuck to. So as a fan you get a really interesting and entertaining documentary with a high nostalgia and a little surprise factor. That alone makes the purchase of this disc worthwhile. But then there is also the concert that was recorded in Saitama, Japan. The Backstreet Boys perform 23 of their hits here and really get the sold-out venue buzzing in the process.

It has to be said honestly that the show is not really great. The dance choreographies are - which is probably also due to the age of the guys - not as spectacular as it was twenty years ago. And also the stage design or the lightshow are relatively reduced. What this concert lives on is the great atmosphere, which is created by the enthusiasm of the fans and of course also by the high sing-along factor of the many catchy tunes of the band. And you notice that some of the songs that you might have bitched about twenty years ago really are timelessly good pop songs. In the end, of course, all this leaves only one conclusion: for fans, this combo of documentary and concert is an absolute must!!!

Picture + Sound: The documentary uses a lot of archive material, partly recorded with old camcorders. Here, of course, the quality is very poor. But with the actual video and interview sequences, the picture pleases with a good sharpness of detail and coherent colors. In the concert recording, these positive aspects are even a little more pronounced. Overall, the sound is a bit more restrained on the documentary. Only during clips from the music videos or live performances does the whole thing come across as pleasantly lively. The concert pleases with a good DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that transports a little live feeling into the living room. Good.

Extras: There is additional material to go with the documentary, consisting of some outtakes (approx. 4:57 mins) and six additional scenes (approx. 18:25 mins). There are some nice moments in there for fans, as there are even more, sometimes very intimate, glimpses into the past of the individual band members.

Conclusion: 20 Years of Backstreet Boys is an absolute must for fans. Not only does the documentary feature a lot of rare archival footage, but it also lets viewers see the making of the last album. And the concert recording shows impressively that the Backstreet Boys still make their audience scream - even if the show is not really spectacular. The Blu-ray presents the documentary and concert in good picture and sound quality and also offers more than twenty minutes of bonus material to the documentary. Overall, there is a clear: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp