Quick question: Do you know what is the top-selling album of the first decade of this century?
Well, No. 1 isn’t exactly a shock: The compilation album 1 by the Beatles (11,564,000 copies sold 2000-2009, according to Nielsen Soundscan) takes the crown, but No. 2 might sound crazy, but it ain’t no lie: *NSYNC‘s sophomore studio effort, No Strings Attached (11,113,000 copies). That’ll buy a lot of strings.
No Strings Attached is officially 15 years old this week (it dropped March 21, 2000), so for this week’s Throwback Thursday, we need your help to finally decide a fairly complicated question: What’s the best song from No Strings Attached?
Some things to think about:
1. Don’t land on an answer too quickly. The most notable video may be the iconic “Bye Bye Bye” (though I would argue the “dolls come to life” theme of “It’s Gonna Be Me” is far creepier than running atop a moving train…), but we’re keeping this contest solely to the studio music — not live performances or music videos.
2. Note that the boy band’s killer harmonies are often more on display during some of the later-in-the-album ballads, as opposed to the dance-ier front half. Don’t forget that Justin Timberlake and Co. could go toe-to-toe with the Backstreet Boys when it came to millennium-era A+ crooning — recall that five-part beginning to “Just-just-just-just-juuust Got Paid.”
3. Should “Digital Get Down,” a not-at-all-subtle ode to sexting/Skype sexxx sessions with gem lyrics such as “Digital digital get down just what we need/ We can get together naturally/ We can get together on the digital screen,” get points/votes for being ahead of its time, technologically speaking?
4. Did you forget that “I’ll Be Good for You” was a song on No Strings Attached until right now? Check it out here. It’s important to be educated so you can vote properly. (Side note: Do not vote for this song; it’s objectively not good.)
5. There’s just one song on No Strings Attached that features a guest artist, and it’s “Space Cowboy (Yippie-Yi-Yay)” featuring the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes. Decide how you feel about that for yourself.
Vote below (songs appear in the order of the track list).