AMG Review of I'm Taking Off

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Almost ten years after his solo debut, Nick Carter finally got around to releasing a second album in 2011. I’m Taking Off is something of a misleading title: if Carter’s career outside the Backstreet Boys was going to take off, it would have by 2011. Instead, he’s riding a wave created by Ryan Tedder, doing his best to turn I’m Taking Off into a slightly warmer OneRepublic album, thawing the chilly synthesizers but retaining the same glazed blend of R&B beats and soft rock melodies. Carter is better when the tempered glass cracks a little bit, when he dips into a Michael Jackson tribute (“Special”) or when the song’s melodic thrust overshadows the production.