Really, 98° is a great idea for a teen-pop band: take an attractive boy band in the vein of Take That or N'Sync and have them sing Boyz II Men crossed with the Backstreet Boys.
98° followed this formula on their eponymous debut and were more or less successful.
However, they've mastered the sound on their second record, 98° and Rising.
Like any teen-pop with chart aspirations, 98° and Rising is far from a perfect album, as it alternates sure-fire hits with filler cut from the same mold, but that should be expected.
What's nice is that songs like "The Hardest Thing" and "True to Your Heart" are well-crafted radio singles, with memorable hooks and excellent production.
That same production -- which makes the ballads smoove and the dance-pop infectious -- carries weaker moments of the record, but at the end of the day, it's the singles that make 98° and Rising entertaining.
And for many fans, that will be quite enough indeed.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro | 98° | Play | 00:41 | 1 MB | 2 MB |
| 2 | Heat It UpMark Adams, Steve Arrington, Mark Hicks, Tom Lockett, Sterlena Taylor, Raymond Turner | 98° | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 3 | If She Only KnewGordon Chambers, Chris Farren | 98° | Play | 04:29 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 4 | I Do (Cherish You)Dan Hill, Keith Stegall | 98° | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 5 | Fly With Me98°, Dave Deviller, Sean Hosein | 98° | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 6 | Still98°, Dave Deviller, Sean Hosein | 98° | Play | 04:01 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 7 | Because of YouAnders "Bag" Bagge, Arnthor Birgisson, Patrick Tucker | 98° | Play | 04:57 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 8 | Give It up (Interlude)98° | 98° | Play | 01:31 | 3 MB | 9 MB |
| 9 | Do You Wanna Dance98°, Samuel Barnes, Robert "Kool" Bell, Ronald Bell, George "Funky" Brown, Jean-Claude Olivier | 98° | Play | 04:15 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 10 | True to Your HeartMatthew Wilder, David Zippel | 98° | Play | 04:17 | 9 MB | 33 MB |
| 11 | To Me You're EverythingAnders "Bag" Bagge, Laila Bagge, Maurice White, Verdine White | 98° | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 12 | The Hardest ThingDavid Frank, Steve Kipner | 98° | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 13 | She's Out of My LifeTom Bahler | 98° | Play | 03:07 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 48 mins | 110 MB | |||||
| 47 mins | 328 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 98° | Arranger, Composer, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Mark Adams | Composer |
| 3 | Paul Arnold | Engineer |
| 4 | Steve Arrington | Composer |
| 5 | Andre Austin | Stylist |
| 6 | Anders "Bag" Bagge | Composer |
| 7 | Laila Bagge | Composer |
| 8 | Tom Bahler | Composer |
| 9 | Chris Bailey | Engineer |
| 10 | Samuel Barnes | Composer |
| 11 | Robert "Kool" Bell | Composer |
| 12 | Ronald Bell | Composer |
| 13 | Tom Bender | Assistant Engineer, Mixing |
| 14 | Devon Biere | Producer |
| 15 | Arnthor Birgisson | Composer |
| 16 | George "Funky" Brown | Composer |
| 17 | Gordon Chambers | Composer |
| 18 | Dave Deviller | Arranger, Composer, Engineer, Guitar, Mixing, Producer, Programming |
| 19 | Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis | Producer |
| 20 | Stephen Erdody | Cello |
| 21 | Chris Farren | Composer |
| 22 | Chris Fogel | Engineer |
| 23 | David Frank | Composer, Keyboards, Producer |
| 24 | Chris Gehringer | Mastering |
| 25 | Jason Goldstein | Engineer |
| 26 | Mick Guzauski | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 27 | Mark Hammond | Drum Programming |
| 28 | David Hartley | Art Direction |
| 29 | Mark Hicks | Composer |
| 30 | Dan Hill | Composer |
| 31 | Sean Hosein | Arranger, Composer, Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Programming |
| 32 | Mikael Ifversen | Engineer |
| 33 | Phil Kaffel | Engineer |
| 34 | John Kelton | Engineer |
| 35 | Gordon Kennedy | Guitar |
| 36 | Steve Kipner | Arranger, Composer, Producer |
| 37 | Tom Lockett | Composer |
| 38 | Matthew Marteinsson | Assistant Engineer |
| 39 | Mark Nevers | Assistant Engineer |
| 40 | Brian Newcombe | Bass (Electric) |
| 41 | Jean-Claude Olivier | Composer |
| 42 | Alex Olsson | Assistant Engineer |
| 43 | Greg Parker | Engineer |
| 44 | Poke & Tone | Producer |
| 45 | Pras | Producer |
| 46 | Cathe Rich | Assistant Engineer |
| 47 | Bob Rosa | Engineer, Mixing |
| 48 | Norman Jean Roy | Photography |
| 49 | Steve Smith | Engineer |
| 50 | Keith Stegall | Composer |
| 51 | Sterlena Taylor | Composer |
| 52 | Chris Theis | Engineer |
| 53 | Keith Thomas | Bass, Keyboards, Producer |
| 54 | Trackmasters | Producer |
| 55 | Richard Travali | Mixing |
| 56 | Patrick Tucker | Composer |
| 57 | Raymond Turner | Composer |
| 58 | Maurice White | Composer |
| 59 | Verdine White | Composer |
| 60 | Bill Whittington | Engineer, Mixing |
| 61 | Matthew Wilder | Composer, Producer |
| 62 | Gary Winger | Assistant Engineer |
| 63 | Stevie Wonder | Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Performer, Vocals (Background) |
| 64 | David Zippel | Composer, Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |