Really, 98 is a great idea for a teen pop band: Take an attractive boy band in the vein of Take That or *NSync 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 & Rising. Like any teen pop with chart aspirations, 98 & 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 & Rising entertaining. And for many fans, that will be quite enough indeed. [The Holland edition features two bonus tracks, "Invisible Man" and a remix of "Hardest Thing," a slightly different track order, and three bonus videos.

Asian edition of the hit urban quartet's second album, 1998's top 40 album '98 Degrees And Rising' includes four bonus tracks on the audio disc, 'Invisible Man', 'Fly With Me', 'The Hardest Thing' (Love to Infinity 12-inch mix) and 'Because of You' (Hex Hector Dance Mix) while the bonus VCD (viewable on most DVD players features the videos to, 'I Do Cherish You', 'The Hardest Gift', 'Because of You', 'Invisible Man' and 'Was it Something I Didn't Say'.