Larger Than Life by Backstreet Boys

Album: Millennium (1999)

Charted: 5 25

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This dance-pop hit from the Backstreet Boys' third album, Millennium, is a thank-you letter to fans for sticking with the band through their ups and downs. Leading up to the album's release, they were experiencing many of the downs in their personal and professional lives. While they were embroiled in a lawsuit with their manager Lou Pearlman, who pocketed millions of the band's earnings, their beloved producer Denniz Pop died of stomach cancer. Meanwhile, band members Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough were grieving over the deaths of family members, and Brian Littrell was facing open-heart surgery. Through it all, the devotion of their fans helped keep their spirits up.
Littrell wrote this with Max Martin and Kristian Lundin, Swedish pop mavens who also wrote and produced hits for 'N Sync, Britney Spears, and Celine Dion.
The album was originally named after this song, which was intended to be the lead single before "I Want It That Way" was chosen. The title "Larger Than Life," however, followed the Backstreet Boys throughout their career. They re-recorded it as "Lager Than Life" for a series of commercials for the Swedish warehouse company NetOnNet in 2014. It was also the name of their two-year Las Vegas residency (2017-2019) at Planet Hollywood.
That's AJ McLean screaming "Yeah!" at the beginning of the track.
The futuristic music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, opens with a shot of a spaceship that's broadcasting a number of the group's earlier hits, including "I Want It That Way," "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" and "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)." Onboard we're introduced to a robot (played by Starsky & Hutch actor Antonio Vargas), who awakens the boys from their sleeping pods.

With its $2,100,000 budget, it was one of the most expensive videos ever made.
This was the longest-running #1 video on MTV's Total Request Live until it was surpassed by another Backstreet Boys' clip: "Shape Of My Heart."
In 2015, Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson performed a bluegrass rendition of this at the Kentucky Music Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, accompanied by bluegrass musicians Carson McKee and Josh Turner.
This was used in the movies Joe Somebody (2001) and Napoleon Dynamite (2004).

Comments: 1

Mark Thomas from NashvilleAnybody know who played the guitar solo on the record?

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