Hey hey, we're 2gether... people say we 2gether around... we're too busy singing, to put anybody down.  OK, so that's not any of the lyrics on fake boy-band 2gether's new album, but it makes you wonder.  When MTV first debuted the 2gether movie, it was so popular that now they have a TV series.  2gether Again seems to be less an "album", but more of a "soundtrack" to the TV show, featuring full versions of the snippets of songs featured in each of the episodes.

   For those who've never heard any 2gether songs, they are the ultimate stereotypical boy-band.  But then that's what makes them so loveable.  The songs on this album parody the hip-hop-boy-band (e.g. 5ive) in songs such as "5gether" (hmmmm.... 5ive, 5gether?), the "traditional"-R&B-boy-band (e.g. 98 Degrees) in songs like "Every Minute, Every Hour", and the Latiny-boy-band (the "new" 98 Degrees, like "Just Give Me One More Night [Una Noche]) in the song "That's When I'll Be Gone" and it's accompanying "Taco Version".  Then there are the songs that cram every possible stereotype of a boy band song into one ("The Hardest Part Of Breaking Up [Is Getting Back Your Stuff]").

   Although there is a satirical aspect to all these songs, like a friend of mine remarked, "Dude, it's just like a regular boy band." While all songs have some funny line or aspect to them, it's true that this is almost a "real" album, and less a straight so-cheesy-it's-good parody the original album was.  Some of the songs, like "Every Minute, Every Hour" and "I Gave My 24-7 To You", are genuinely touching, but since they're not real songs, what does it make them? The best songs are still the totally off-beat ones ("Regular Guy", "Sister", and the best song on the album, "The Hardest Part Of Breaking Up [Is Getting Back Your Stuff]"), but if 2gether is to put out more albums, what then? Will more serious songs show up? Is a real album coming next? More importantly, what does this say about pop music, that what was originally a total goof on boy bands can go on to become a huge success? I've seen enough 2gether fan-sites, but, then again, Monkees albums are curios now too.