Look. I like N'SYNC. Deal with it.

I don't like N'SYNC in a trucker-hat wearin', irony-drippin', "that Justin is a dreamboat" sort of way, either. I genuinely think the group is one of the most legitimately interesting things to happen to pop music in a long time. Provided, its songs are simple, inorganic and vapid, but so what? Those kids can sing. And those vapid songs are higher caliber vapid songs than most others. Plenty worse things could be that popular.

But I've never really been big on JC Chasez. He's certainly not a fearless leader like Mr. Timberlake; he's got no interstellar ambitions like Lance Bass, and he's not the fat one like Joey Fatone (citing the "if you can't say anything nice" rule, we'll leave Chris Kirkpatrick out of this). JC has always just been the workhorse, the one you could count on for a verse not quite as good as Justin's. And when J.T. emerged as the de facto star of the group around the time of its ambitious Celebrity, it seemed as though Chasez would be doomed to a life in the shadows of his fellow Mouseketeer.

But JC, it seems, had more up his finely tailored sleeve than we thought. After a lauded jam from the Drumline soundtrack and a guest vocal spot with Basement Jaxx, JC veered a little closer to the cutting edge than his former bandmates' hip-hop aping Justified. And, on the vast majority of his solo debut, Schizophrenic, JC presents himself as a forward-thinking dance artist with a lot to say.

Schizophrenic kicks off with "Some Girls (Dance With Women)," a clattering bass-heavy jam that sets up the rest of the record's bustling grooves. "100 Ways" is Prince-lite in the best way, "Something Special" is a bright, easygoing pop-rock number and "If You Were My Girl" is devastatingly funky in ways Justin could never be. The Basement Jaxx-produced "Shake It" is predictably amazing, pairing sadistic carnival music with JC's low-key vocalizing.

JC's melodies are startlingly subtle, and athough I can't say I spent a lot of time caring about the lyrics, his over-amorousness with the ladies never seems too much. Even "All Day Long I Dream About Sex," which could've been a disaster, isn't at all; the disco beat and that Chasez charm carry it through its extra-long running time. You won't even mind that he screwed up the acronym.

What you will mind, however, is 10 tracks in, Schizophrenic falls off, big time. "One Night Stand" is just sort of goofy, and the space-obsessed, new-wavy "Come to Me" and the aimless funk of "Everything You Want" are both terrible. There's at least one too many unexceptional ballads, and it's really not till "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)" and the Dirt McGirt-laden "Some Girls" remix that Schizophrenic gets back on track. Five or six lousy cuts in a row put a bit of a damper on things, but if you're quick with the skip button, Schizophrenic remains a pretty tight little dance record.

So, even if JC didn't come up with another "Tearin' Up My Heart," you might still be willing to hear what he has to say, right? I hope so. His Schizophrenic isn't a classic, but it's surprisingly good, and, yes, even better than Justin's record. I'm hoping the N'SYNC juggernaut gets back together soon, because in that group's case, the whole will always be worth more than the sum of its parts. And, if there is another N'SYNC album, after Schizophrenic, I bet I'll pay a little more attention to JC.