Five Unreleased Songs That Should’ve Made An Album

 

You ever have one of those moments where you hear a song on your playlist and you’re just like…’Damn that’s a good song’?

I had one of those the other day. One of my coworkers caught me at my desk jamming to a BSB song during my lunch and asked me what it was. She recognized it was the Boys but not the song. Mainly because well…the song never actually got released. Which was pretty disappointing as this particular song was one of my favorites. It ended up spawning a full conversation where I insisted she look it up on YouTube later. (I hope she did. I’m always trying to convert people or pull them deeper into the fandom.) It also got me thinking about all the wonderful songs that most of the general population don’t even know exist. How depressing is that? It definitely inspired this post about the unsung songs of their catalogue that absolutely deserved better.

I have one rule for this post.

All songs on this list are TRULY unreleased. So was never put on a CD single, was never released as a bonus track, nothing. (Fun fact – it hit me as I wrote this post that one of the songs I’d picked WAS a bonus track. I literally cursed out Wikipedia for it. This self made rule made this list difficult.) So if you’re wondering why Song For The Unloved isn’t on here, it’s cause it made it as a bonus track in Japan. (Anyone notice Japan gets the BEST bonus tracks? Song For The Unloved, Light On, and Said I Love You…all bonus tracks in Japan.) Also, the song needs to be FINISHED. (So please don’t comment talking about Spotlight haha. They never finished the song, so how could it have been released?!)

 

While I had a list of my own…I also asked you for YOUR opinions. As they always matter.

What was neat is that several of you lined up with my own list.

Let’s get going! I’m hopeful new Backstreet fans see this post and this sends them on a journey of music discovery! (Which for anyone who might need this, I have a page on here of the A-Z of BSB which literally list every song the Boys have done, both group and solo. Maybe that will help too.)

 

5. Who Do You Love

I’m starting with a track that goes way back. It’s a damn CRIME this never reached the masses. Even us die-hards don’t get a moment to hear it in all it’s glory! All we have is a live version of it. It’s beautiful. They performed it thinking it would make it. But some issues came up and sadly this never got out. It’s somewhere in the BSB vaults just wasting away. Maybe one day we’ll get it. It’s a holy grail of sorts, just like the “wet” drowning video used to be before that finally leaked online. Prayers this will happen to this song too. Or…some soul manages a way to RELEASE IT. But it’s not likely.

 

4. Don’t Try This At Home

This is a personal pick. It’s one of my favorites from the This Is Us leaks. Talk about upset when I found it didn’t make the album. This song feels like it’s straight out of a nineties rom-com. It’s just got this easy melody to it that really captures it. I love songs that make me feel like it can take me to another place in my imagination. I think it speaks to the book lover in me honestly. Nick and Brian really bounce off each other beautifully in this song. I think the only thing missing from it is Kevin. So if you Boys ever want to re-record it to release it someday? I wouldn’t say no.

 

3. Forces of Nature

Anyone remember the Never Gone promo? Anyone remember just how many times the word “organic” was used? It was literally the running joke at one point, up there with “Backstreet Time”. This is a song that I felt TRULY fit that description. The only one if you want me to be completely honest. (Maybe Rush Over Me too but that’s a discussion for another time.) This song is so pretty. The acoustic feel of it. The way the harmonies blend and soar…it’s enough to make you melt. Had this been a single, could you imagine the video? This is the type of song you could see them singing on stage, with maybe a couple of acoustic guitars and their voices sitting on stools. It’s also the kind of song that feels completely timeless. It’s a gem.

 

2. Trouble

I will say this till the day I die that the BIGGEST tragedy of the This Is Us era was this song never getting released. In fact when this song very first leaked among a few fans on the Live Daily message board (this was just before it gave birth to the TDS forums and died.) everyone scrambled to try and make sure it didn’t leak very far. This song was so loved that everyone was scared that if it leaked it wouldn’t make an album. When a fan posted it to the main boards, it caused an outrage like few other fandom fights due to so many hoping this song would make it. It did not. But if you haven’t heard it…LISTEN to it. I’ve got the YouTube links here for a reason. It’s like a vocal showdown between Nick and Brian at one point and I’m still not sure who won. It’s amazing. I’ll forever rage that this song never made it out there. And it’s this song that I was referring to at the beginning of this post.

 

1. Lift Me Up

This was originally number two on my list (I swapped it with Trouble)…but SO many of you guys mentioned this song that I bumped it up. Because MAN do I love this song and agree. Did you know it’s actually a cover? Not that it matters because as always, they manage to put their own spin on it. This is a ridiculously happy song. It’s a song that you can’t help but smile to. Are you having a bad day? Play Lift Me Up and by the end you’ll be feeling better. Songs that have that kind of effect are songs to treasure. This ended up leaking during the Unbreakable era but was actually recorded during the Never Gone sessions. It was like a delayed gift to the fans in a way. The only thing that would’ve been better would’ve having it be released.

 

Just a suggestion Boys but if you ever want to release an album of unreleased songs…we wouldn’t say no. In fact I’ve pitched this idea before. We even have a list of songs for you to throw on there! Just saying!

Do you agree with me? Comment below with your five songs you think should’ve made an album!