Sooner Or Later

Handsome British trio BBMak break away from the Backstreet Boys/'N Sync axis with a debut album the sounds of which revolve more around guitar-driven pop-rock rather than synthesizer-heavy big ballads and attempts at hip-hop cred. With classic-sounding vocal harmonies and arrangements reminiscent of a cornucopia of '90s lite-rock stars, the disc is well produced and particularly likable on its first few mid-to-uptempo cuts. It's when the group slows down, as on "Ghost of You and Me" and "I Can Tell," that it starts to come far too close to Richard Marx territory for comfort. Though such tracks don't display BBMak at their best, they're unfortunately the ones that radio programmers may be most likely to embrace. --Rickey Wright