There’s even a bit of Black Or White-esque face morphing included. And there’s plenty of that as well the chair choreography is iconic and includes some impressively slick editing to create shots of the group transitioning into one another during a solo dance sequence. It portrays an endearing sense of what the Backstreet Boys are like and sells the individual personalities behind the polished end product. In essence, it’s a video within a video, as the Backstreet Boys perform the song to a group of women who are conducting some sort of screen test by using a remote control to flick through various scenarios, many of which apparently require the group to act awkwardly goofy while kitted out in fancy dress. It’s a real testament to how powerful a simple concept can be when executed well. If you remain unconvinced of As Long As You Love Me’s credentials as an era-defining song, then surely there can be no such quibbles over the video? Everything about it has that unmistakeably warm glow of the late ‘90s with its crisp, vivid blue colour scheme. The last minute or so is a brilliantly layered finale, where the chorus peels away, and the group start jamming with the core elements, while also throwing in some killer ad-libs ( “Yeah-EH-EH”). The pay-off is that when the group do come together on the choruses, there’s a palpable depth to their collective vocals that lifts the song and warmly envelops you into the melody. The highlight of this combination is undoubtedly the middle-eight and Brian’s: “As long as you love me baby…” followed by Nick’s falsetto over the shimmering chords as they run into the finale. As Long As You Love Me places a little more emphasis than usual on Nick and Brian as the lead vocalists, certainly during the verses in any case.
And then we have the Backstreet Boys themselves their contribution is far more than merely reciting the material that’s been handed to them. Moreover, he manages to make it look like the easiest thing in the world, when it most certainly is not.
It’s yet another example of Max Martin’s ability to compose a song that sounds distinctly ‘90s and yet has a timeless, nursery rhyme-like simplicity to it.
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