THE BACKSTREET BOYS: Teenage Dream In Second Album Poll

While Millennium is technically the Backstreet Boys' third album, here in the U.S. of A., it is considered their sophomore release (a follow-up to their self-titled debut album). So, we'll let the facts slide on this one for the sake of the argument that perhaps that album, released in the spring of 1999, stands as one of the best sophomore releases in pop history, and it's not particularly surprising that it came in second place with 36 percent of the vote in the sophomore pop albums poll from Tuesday (August 24), which proposed that Katy Perry's Teenage Dream the greatest. (Perry ended up in fourth place with a mere three percent of the vote.)

Besides the fact that it contains one of the most beloved pop songs of all time ("I Want It That Way"), it also consistently delivered quality tunes, written for the most part by the pop powerhouse Max Martin (who managed to have a hand in all of the album's singles including the aforementioned "I Want It That Way," the more morose "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely," their fame-obsessed party track "Larger Than Life" and a classic BSB midtempo track "The One").

Aside from a few missteps (fine, we'll name names: "Spanish Eyes" and "The Perfect Fan"), the album gave BSB fans (and general pop fans of the time, for that matter) exactly what they wanted from Nick, Kevin, Brian, A.J. and Howie. Songs about love, songs about breakups, songs for their fans and a Nick carter solo track.

Much like the album's contemporaries like Oops… I Did It Again by Britney Spears (which narrowly finished in first place with 37 percent of the total vote) and 'NSYNC's No Strings Attached (also 2000), it would become one of the defining albums of the late '90s pop explosion. They not only played non-stop on MTV and "TRL," but also on radio and in my brain. Those albums made those artists stars that could easily rival Lady Gaga (third place, 18 percent) or Justin Bieber (less than one percent). So is Millennium the best sophomore effort of all time? 14-year-old Jocelyn would certainly make that argument.

http://newsroom.mtv.com/2010/08/25/backstreet-boys-britney-spears-poll-results/