2000's Guilt #01: 'N Sync “Gone” (2001) / "Girlfriend" (2002)

We have no desire whatsoever to defend 'N Sync, mostly because they're fucking awful. But we will verify that their last 2 singles are the only two things in the entire "boy band" genre worth anyone's attention. Once we move past the awkward-as-fuck intro of "Gone," the production subtitles are kind of out-of-this-world amazing. Whoever worked on this got REAL fuckin paid and absolutely knew what they were doing. Plus, "Girlfriend" is probably The Neptunes' most understated hit song simply because of who sings on it, but when that Neptunes boxed set drops, "Girlfriend" absolutely deserves to be in the first 5 songs on Disc One.

And we'll give some credit where it's due: The awesomeness of these 2 jams are partially due to Just Timb's vocal performance. While the other four dudes in the group may have considered it unfair, Jive absolutely made a wise business decision to not issue singles featuring the other group members singing lead. Seriously, when you're a grown man approaching 30 and getting paid millions of dollars to sing and dance around like a fucking asshole for the sole purpose of teaching 11-year-olds to masturbate, are you really going to take your job seriously enough to get angry over one group member receiving too many solos? Who the FUCK cares. You're in fucking 'N SYNC. But since it led to the group's demise, this should be considered a positive thing.

"Gone" was our #6 guilty pleasure jam of 2001... 5 songs from that list appeared throughout the "2000's Guilt," which makes 2001 the winner. Also whoever cast the chicks in these 2 videos deserved their pay raise.