They're rich. They're young. They're famous. So why are the Backstreet Boys "Black and Blue" on their new album? Maybe it's because they serve as the whipping boys of pop culture, getting abuse from everyone from Eminem to Student reviewers, who offer any other album as an alternative to the Boys' formulaic music.

Or maybe it's because most of the songs on this album are about cheating on a loved one or healing a bruised relationship. In the first song on the album, "The Call," a man ruins his relationship after calling his girlfriend to tell her not to wait up for him. The song is pretty gimmicky, and the lyrics are also lame: "Let me tell you the story about the call that changed my destiny" and "My battery is low / Just so you know / We're going to a place nearby / Gotta go." But "The Call," which will be the second single off the album, like most Backstreet Boys songs, is well-produced and catchy.

So is the album's second track and already overplayed first single, "Shape of My Heart." A potential third single could be "Get Another Boyfriend," a fast-paced, fun song in which the Boys urge a woman to leave her obnoxious boyfriend. Not all of the songs are about bad relationships, though. "Everyone," like "Larger than Life" from "Millennium," thanks the Boys' faithful fans.

No, the songs aren't innovative, but they're harmless, catchy tunes. The Boys may not be musical geniuses, but they have good voices that blend very well. They even branched out on this album to write several of the songs themselves.

Though "Black and Blue" contains too many ballads that sound similar to each other as well as to ballads on previous albums, it doesn't matter. They have a formula, and it works. As they sing on "Everyone," "Whatever comes around, we'll always stay the same."