Backstreet Boys? 98 Degrees? O-Town? Honestly, we had to think for a second to recall which interchangable boy band JC Chasez once called home -- 'N Sync.

Hey, it's not our fault they all sounded alike. Or that Chasez never managed to steal the spotlight away from Justin Timberlake -- and still seems to be living in his shadow on his debut solo album Schizophrenic.

Like JT, the 27-year-old JC is apparently out to make the leap from teen-pop heartthrob to adult chart-topper by repositioning himself as some sort of happenin', dance-club sex monster. To that end, he recruits the now-mandatory list of hip trackmasters -- Rockwilder, Basement Jaxx, and so on -- to help him craft a raft of priapic, pelvis-pumpin' party-pop. And to his credit, he eschews Justin's Jacko fixation in favour of a more varied approach that justifies the album's title.

Some of these 17 tracks recall the nasty sex-funk of Prince; others the cartoon freakiness of OutKast or George Clinton. Most come packing some seriously funky techno-grooves. Trouble is, even when JC walks the walk, he can't talk the talk. Vocally, he still relies on the sort of treacle-laced sound and affected delivery that reveals he hasn't outgrown his boy-band roots. Lyrically, he's not much of a mack daddy either, judging by rhymes that range from laughable ("She's such a sexy dame / I just can't control my thang") to lamentable ("When I'm all alone / I lay awake and masturbate").

Don't get us wrong; Schizophrenic is a fairly listenable effort, especially from a boy-band balladeer. But if JC wants us to end up as more than a forgotten teen-popper, he's going to have to do better.

Track Listing
1. Some Girls (Dance With Women)
2. She Got Me
3. 100 Ways
4. Mercy
5. Build My World
6. Something Special
7. If You Were My Girl
8. Shake It (featuring the Basement Jaxx)
9. All Day Ling I Dream About Sex
10. One Night Stand
11. Come To Me
12. Dear Goodbye
13. Everything You Want
14. Lose Myself
15. Right Here By Your Side