What was the title of New Kids on the Block’s 1988 breakthrough studio album?

New Kids on the Block’s 1988 breakthrough studio album was “Hangin’ Tough.”

The album was released on 6 September 1988 by Columbia Records. It initially performed modestly, but the group’s growing popularity and a successful series of singles helped it become a major commercial success. The album eventually reached number one on the US Billboard 200.

Its title track and songs such as “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” and “Please Don’t Go Girl” became central to the group’s late-1980s pop profile. “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” was especially important in introducing the band to a wider audience through radio and television.

The album is sometimes confused with “Step by Step,” the group’s 1990 follow-up album. “Hangin’ Tough” came first and established New Kids on the Block as one of the defining American boy bands of the period.