Backstreet Boys, Pressekonferenz, Köln, 100053, Promi, (Photo by Peter Bischoff/Getty Images)
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This year is shaping up to be a big one for Backstreet Boys, who are set to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their best-selling album, Millennium, with a reissue and a July residency at the groundbreaking Sphere Las Vegas.
On July 11, the legendary boyband will release Millennium 2.0, a deluxe edition of the album featuring 13 additional tracks, including the never-before-heard track, "Hey," demos, live cuts and alternate versions. One of those is the long-awaited official release of their hit song "I Want It That Way."
Speaking to CHUM's Ruby Carr, Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough explained the story behind this storied alternate version, which over the years has been nicknamed "No Goodbyes" to reflect the different lyrics. (On Millennium 2.0, the song is titled "I Want It That Way (Alternate Lyrics).")
"When we recorded ['I Want It That Way'], I remember after singing it, it was like, 'Okay, this is interesting. It doesn’t make 100 percent sense, when you listen to the lyrics. But there is a good flow to it. I wonder what’s gonna happen to this,'" he said. "And sure enough, our record label asked for Mutt Lange to come in and do a rewrite on the song."
"So we re-recorded the song, with the lyrics that made a bit more sense," Howie continued. "But it’s so interesting how music has a way of hitting you or not hitting you. And the lyrics actually lost the feel of the music. So along with the label, we discussed it in depth and said, 'We’re willing to gamble with this song and even though it doesn’t make 100 percent sense, and it’s not our most grammatically correct English, let’s go with it. It has the feel.' Lo and behold it’s our biggest song. We leave up the lyrics to having anybody’s interpretation.”
Dorough notes that the only difference between the two versions is the lyrics. Instead of choosing the words that made sense, they chose the ones that didn't!
"It’s just the words. The music was exactly the same," he said. "I think it was instead of “tell me why” it was 'no goodbyes,' and instead of 'I never want to hear you say, I want it that way,' I think it was, 'I love it when I hear you say, I want it that way.' So it definitely gave it a different twist and made it more of a love song. But now the lyrics being so out there, it kind of leaves it up to interpretation about what they want the song to mean for them.”
As for what to expect from the upcoming shows at the cutting edge facility of Sphere, which sees Backstreet Boys become the first pop group to take over the venue, Dorough says the sound will be like none other.
"We are very honoured, to come after U2, the Eagles and Phish. We had a chance to see the Eagles there and it's just amazing. The acoustics are unbelievable. I think there are something like 160,000 speakers all over the place, the screen is like 300-feet tall, it's an immersive experience. When you're in this room watching it, the artist is almost more like the soundtrack to this movie you're seeing. But I think it's going to be a great way to take our fans on a trip down memory lane with our Millennium album, some fan favourites and some of our favourites."
There are also discussions about having fans in attendance dress in all white, to match the group and their look on the album's iconic cover.
"We've been playing around with that idea," Dorough said, "about having the fans get that Millennium experience with us. White was definitely the colour that people remember of the album, with the 'I Want It That Way' video and the album cover. So yeah, I think we're gonna make it into a white party."
