The Battle of the Songs: The Ultimate 90s’ Boy Band Holiday Song Battle

Get ready to rumble for the Second Battle of the Songs. Since the holiday season is coming up, I thought it would be neat to have a battle with holiday songs. And, what wouldn’t be a perfect battle than a battle of the hearts of teenage girls in the 90s: The battle of boy bands!

Now, I can’t do one battle between all the boy bands of the 90s. That would be impossible. But, for this holiday battle, I picked two famous bands that were the talk of the town when I was in middle school.

That’s right; Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC.

*NSYNC – Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

First off the bat is *NSYNC with their holiday song “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays”. *NSYNC finished 1998 with a bang with the release of their holiday album. That is right, today is the 20th anniversary of the release of “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays”.  Don’t you feel old?

The collective vocal sound of *NSYNC has a charming quality. It’s smooth, soulful, and ear-pleasing. Although many have associated this group’s success to Justin Timberlake’s vocals, the truth is, the group’s success wasn’t solely because of him. As you can hear in this song, the reason why *NSYNC had a wonderful sound was that the talent of all the members. I do like Justin’s vocals but I thought Chris Kirkpatrick had the best vocals within the group. Lance, Joey, and JC had wonderful vocal skills too. Each member’s different vocal talent made *NSYNC a unique group with a wholesome blend of soulful, talented, and smooth vocals.

“Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” is a typical late 90s’ boy band song. Some people might like it, some might not. Whether or not you are a fan of boy bands, “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” is a mid-tempo, catchy tune that will make your holidays brighter. You might hum this upbeat tune and dance to it throughout your day or even when you put up the Christmas decorations.

Backstreet Boys – “Christmas Time”

If *NSYNC’s “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” is an upbeat tune that will have you dancing a little bit, Backstreet’s Christmas song will have you do something completely different. “Christmas Time”  is a meaningful mid-tempo ballad that will have you think about the true meaning of the Christmas season. Although written about spending Christmas time with your romantic partner, you could replace that thought with spending time with loved ones.

Though the lyrics are a pretty basic, there are good reminders within the different sections of what is the true meaning of Christmas. It never hurts to be reminded of such precious things in our lives with something basic and common. Especially with these lyrics featured in the chorus section:

“Christmas time 
Time to share our love 
Come and joy 
The tidings to the world 
Christmas time 
The best time of the year 
Yes, it’s Christmas time”

“Christmas Time” is a rare track that was featured on the winter pressing of the “Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)” single as well as two compilation albums in the early 2000s released by Jive Records. And like *NSYNC’s “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays”, “Christmas Time” was released early in Backstreet Boy’s professional careers. So, “Christmas Time” does have that 90s’ boy band sound to it. Yet, what makes this song ear-pleasing is the vocal talent among all the members as well as the soothing and meaningful melodies. “Christmas Time” is a relaxing holiday song that can be played anywhere at any time. But, it will make you think deeply about the Christmas season and have you reminisce about any holiday memories with loved ones.

What Will It Be?

Now it is your turn to vote! Who will be the victor of the first-ever “Battle of the Songs”? Tell me in the comments below! Also, tell me why you choose a particular version! I can’t wait to hear what you guys think!

I am also part of The “Battle of the Bands” blog collection. Please check out the leader’s blog site here. Thanks, Stephen for welcoming me to the team!



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193 thoughts on “The Battle of the Songs: The Ultimate 90s’ Boy Band Holiday Song Battle”

  7. The Color Coded Mom says:

    Yes, you definitely succeeded in making me feel old! I refuse to believe that that era was actually 20 years ago. Although I was a Backstreet Boys fan back in the day, I think I’m going to have to go with Justin on this one. He’s definitely stood the test of time.

    Reply
  8. foundationsandfairytales says:

    I love Christmas songs so I feel really bad that I don’t think I’ve heard either of these! If you’d have chosen East 17 that would have been my first choice I love Stay Another Day!!

    Jess // foundationsandfairytales.wordpress.com
    xx

    Reply
  13. Kristine Nicole Alessandra says:

    It is going to be Backstreet Boys for me. I loved listening to their songs when I was younger. I am a big fan of their music. I believe I rocked my daughter to sleep with their songs playing in the background. 🙂

    Reply
  21. rhianwestbury says:

    I was all about backstreet boys when I was younger so I’d definitely go for them. N Sync were always more of an American thing and weren’t quite as popular in the UK x

    Reply
    • aisasami says:

      It seems the case that NSYNC was an American thing and never got promoted outside of the US. BSB was promoted more. It’s the same in Japan, Japanese who are about my age know BSB but don’t know NSYNC except of Justin.

      Reply
    • aisasami says:

      Me either. The thing is “Christmas Time” was only released on a winter pressing of a hit single and was on some compilation albums. BSB did release an Xmas single in 2012.

      Reply
  33. philandkat says:

    LOL! Love this. And your right, definitely makes us feel old. Always been partial to the far more up beat NSYNC song to be honest.

    Reply
    • aisasami says:

      They are still active! They just released a new music video a couple of weeks ago and they will release a new album next year.

      Reply
  37. Jessica Phelps says:

    Well, this is easy for me. I have been an N’SYNC* fan-girl, since I was teen. Went to all of their concerts, and stayed at the same hotel as them, which we got to see them walking around. My fondest memories!

    Reply
  40. Gervin Khan says:

    Wow, reading this makes me feel so old. I was exactly 15 years old the first time I’ve heard these songs. I am not going to choose which one is the best for me because both songs are really beautiful and I like it!

    Reply

  45. Excellent battle! Glad to see you joined the other battle of the banders 🙂

    Christmas battles are always a bit difficult. I never really did get into the boybands back in the day, but I did listen to their music from time to time.

    My vote is for Backstreet Boys.

    ~Mary
    Jingle Jangle Jungle

    Reply

  47. Oh, this brings me back to my middle school days! Boy bands started when I was in 5th grade and my first ever concert was BSB. But, having said that, I’ve always been more of an NSYNC girl myself!

    Reply
  48. Arlee Bird says:

    Twenty years ago? It makes me feel older since I kind of felt old when these songs first came out.

    This music is not exactly my cup of tea, but it was pleasant enough. My vote goes to the Backstreet Boys–kind of a sweet song.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

    Reply

  49. I definitely liked the one by ‘NSYNC better than the one by the Backstreet Boys.

    Hey, we do Battle of the Bands, too, but you already know that, because you voted in mine…

    Reply
    • aisasami says:

      Haha, that is great to know. You might start dancing along like NSync too! Every time “Bye Bye Bye” plays, I have to do the dance routine.

      Reply
  62. Kristine Nicole Alessandra says:

    I love listening to more meaningful and slow/mid-tempo Christmas songs. It just makes me feel happy to have such a wonderful family to spend Christmas with. With that being said, my vote goes to Backstreet Boys.

    Reply
  69. Stephen T. McCarthy says:

    Hi, AMY! It’s good to have you as a new member of ‘Battle Of The Bands’ (aka BOTB). You sure do have a popular blog here with a large following. Obviously you’re doing things right.

    As a [Link> “Confident Heterosexual” old guy (Class of ’77), these groups are pretty far afield of my wheelhouse. I’ve heard of both groups before, but not sure I’d ever heard any of their songs… until NOW, that is.

    I’m casting my vote for the The Backstreet Boys because I preferred the ballad to the energetic song by Nsync. That first song sounded (to me) like bumper music one would hear when a morning TV talk show is about to go to a commercial break. (Does that make any sense to you? Ha! I’m not sure if anyone would get my meaning there, but contrary to popular belief, I DO know what I’m yakking about… at least 40% of the time. ;o)

    I hope you will enjoy being a member of BOTB. It’s a small but pretty eclectic group.

    ~ Stephen
    (aka D-FensDogG @ STMcC Presents ‘BATTLE OF THE BANDS’)

    Reply
    • aisasami says:

      Thanks for the warm welcome! Haha, you and my dad are the same age and my dad was like “Whatever man, I am just going to let her go and see the BSB”. He said he had a repellant towards screaming fan girls.

      I do get the bumper reference!

      Reply
  70. XmasDolly says:

    Well, I guess we all have our own way to celebrate Christmas. *NSYNC – Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays is just too cute! Wow, Timberlake is such a baby here, right! Wow! Thanks for sharing! HUGS

    Reply

  71. Super love your feature re: the battle of songs. It’s really fun and this match up just brought me good memories. I love them both but voting for Backstreet Boys this time. 🙂

    Reply

  73. ahhhh, the 90’s. You are speaking to my soul. I, like many other 90’s babies, had a severe infatuation with these boy bands (insert girl scream). NSYNC’s song has always been one of my fave throwback Christmas pop songs, though. So, I have to give it to them.

    Reply

  74. Wow! This is such a blast from the past for me. Growing up, my kids absolutely loved both of these bands and would fight for hours over who was the best and had the better dance moves. I don’t remember which group won!

    Reply
  81. Surekha Busa says:

    I love backstreet boys but when it comes to sentimental and love or Christmas songs, nsync is really my bet. Their voices is really so sweet.

    Reply

  102. I will pass on *NSYNC and the Back Street Boys holiday music. I vote for Boys II Men. They hold more records than either in your article and stayed at number 1 longer on the billboards. You can’t deny them especially with the amazing baritone they had. Wish this list was more inclusive and exhaustive.

    Reply
    • aisasami says:

      I love Boys II Men too. I looooooooooooooooooove their first album the most but that is because I am a huge fan of new jack swing. Sadly, this is a battle between two boy groups. I wish I had time to include all the boy bands and their holiday songs but the list would long and take a lot of time.

      Reply

  103. Girl, I’m sorry that I didn’t get you added to my blog till today, but welcome to the Battle of the Bands!

    You’ve got two powerhouse boy bands here, but I gotta give it to Backstreet Boys!

    Well done!

    Hugs,
    Cherdo

    Reply
  104. blair villanueva says:

    OMG these are gold! Gone are the days when new music artists nowadays will sing and released their own Christmas songs.

    Reply

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