98 Degrees Unveils 'Revelation'

09/25/2000 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(9/25/00, 5 p.m. ET) - 98 Degrees' new album, Revelation, is out Tuesday (September 26). Group members Nick and Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons, and Justin Jeffre will celebrate the release of Revelation with an autograph signing at the Virgin Megastore in New York City's Times Square Tuesday from 5 -7 p.m. ET.

Revelation is the follow-up to the group's 1998 multiplatinum sophomore effort, 98 Degrees & Rising, which spawned three top 10 hit singles, "Because of You," "The Hardest Thing," and "I Do (Cherish You)."

LAUNCH asked Timmons if the new album will surpass the tremendous success of the last one, which has sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S. to date. "We look at our last album and just try to better that," he replied. "As long as we continue to grow as artists and put music out there that people enjoy, I think that's the best benefit and the most gratifying thing for us."

The new album kicks off with the up-tempo, Latin-flavored first single, "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)," which was written by producers Anders Bagge and Arnthor Birgisson. The group also makes a move towards hip-hop when singer Nick Lachey shows off his rapping skills on the track "Dizzy." The album also contains the romantic ballads 98 Degrees is known for, such as "Stay The Night," "Yesterday's Letter," and "My Everything," which Nick Lachey wrote for his girlfriend, pop singer Jessica Simpson. He explained to LAUNCH what it is about Simpson that inspired him to write the track. "Because she's great," he enthused. "It's not even just physical--it's her entire spirit and her soul that makes her sexy, and I'm not just saying that because she's my girlfriend." The other tracks on the album include: "The Way You Want Me," "He'll Never Be," "You Should Be Mine," "You Don't Know," "The Way You Do," "Always You And I," and "Never Givin' Up."

Much like 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys did on their latest albums, the members of 98 Degrees exercised a little more creative control on Revelation than they did on previous works, co-writing 11 of the album's 13 tracks. Lachey told LAUNCH that true fans of the group should be able to distinguish 98 Degrees from the rest of the pop music pack. "It's a natural tendency that you see a lot of similarities between the groups," he noted. "At first glance, the imaging is probably the same between all the groups. I think you have to look a little deeper to see that there's definitely differences, and we feel like we're definitely different between (than) every other group out there."

As a group, 98 Degrees has come a long way from its1997 self-titled debut album, which featured the hit single "Invisible Man." Nick Lachey shared with LAUNCH his philosophy for success: "You have to follow your dreams. So many people limit themselves unnecessarily because they don't think they can get where they want to be. Always believe you can get wherever you want to be through hard work, determination, and practice. Just believe in yourself and go for what you want to."

Jeffre told LAUNCH that with Revelation, 98 Degrees is exactly where it wants to be. "It's just been a great ride so far," he said. "We love what we do, and we feel very fortunate and very blessed."

-- Jason Gelman, New York