98 DEGREES & Counting

Remember this?

At the time when boybands were sprouting like poisonous mushrooms everywhere, I've gotta say that 98 Degrees is definitely a class above them all. Unlike other boybands that were assembled by the recording/talent companies, these guys actually had formed a group on their own before getting themselves a manager and signing on with a record label.

I love their voices, how they harmonize and blend their voices with each other. And yes, they sound good live too! In fact, personally them singing live is way better than the recorded stuff. And I could still remember my sister telling me "Sedih kan sebenarnya lirik lagu Invisible Man ni? He likes her but she doesn't notice him. Cian kat dia..."
Ingat lagi tak ezra? ;P

They came to Malaysia a couple of years ago (when I was in college) to perform. At the time I was already a fan, and plus the tickets were very very affordable. Buy 1 cassette you get 1 ticket, buy 1 CD you get 2 tickets! Crazy right? It's as if the tickets were free only. Plus you get to keep the CDs/cassettes some more. Since it was a no brainer I went and bought 1 CD and 1 cassette, finally had gotten myself 3 tickets in total: 1 for me and 2 for my (younger) sisters. Bawak la diorang sekali sebab kesian tak penah gi tgk konsert kat mana2 lagi kan. Kakak mithali, chewah... :D

The showcase was at the Sunway Lagoon amphitheater. All through the show, there were lotsa screaming fans (it was mostly girls, go figure) and they were literally shrieking away when they were not singing along with the boys. Saya pun agak teruja lah jugak masa tu, tapi takleh nak lawan dgn adikku si dokter yg memula malu-malu tapi akhirnya terjerit-jerit keseronokan jugak, hehehe... It was really fun because I got to see and hear 98 Degrees live, watch the antics of fanatic fans, and see that my sisters had fun that night too. Well I've never really asked them how it was for them, but by them screaming their heads off and singing along means that they were having a good time then yeah, they might be. As for me, suffice to say that I had a sore throat that lasted for 2 days, a side effect from the sing-a-long cum shrieking session that night, lol...

98 Degrees didn't get as OTT famous as BSB or N'Sync back then although their sound has quality. Hey, I love BSB and N'Sync too ok. Yeah peeps, I was a boyband fan, huhu. But the truth is I like music for its sound and harmony regardless who performs it and from which genre it is. I can listen to any and all kinds of music EXCEPT for dangdut and house/club. Serious tak boleh layan ah lagu-lagu cenggitu, isk...

Eventhough they haven't split up 98 Degrees are now in a hiatus. I hope they will come out with something new soon because I'm sure their fans can't wait for their reappearance in the music scene (termasuk lah saya rasanya)... ^_^