DNA is the tenth (ninth in the U.S.) studio album released by the Backstreet Boys. The album was first released in Japan on January 23, 2019, and everywhere else on January 25, 2019, through a collaboration with the group's own K-BAHN record label and RCA Records. The album features tracks written by Edei, Lauv, Andy Grammer, Stuart Crichton, Ryan Tedder, and Shawn Mendes. This is the group's second album, after 2007's Unbreakable, without involvement from long-time producers and friends Max Martin and Kristian Lundin. It also serves as the follow-up to their ninth studio album, In a World Like This (2013). It was preceded by the singles "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," "Chances," "No Place," and is supported by the DNA World Tour, which is the band's most expansive in 18 years. The tour began on May 11, 2019, in Lisbon, Portugal, before visiting North America in July 2019. The album is their first on one of Sony Music's subsidiary companies after In a World Like This was released independently through BMG Rights Management|BMG. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, becoming the Backstreet Boys' third number-one album there and the first since Black & Blue in 2000.
Background and promotion[]
A press release stated that the group "analyzed their DNA profiles to see what crucial element each member represents in the group's DNA." Kevin Richardson said of the album: "We were able to bring all of our influences and styles into one coherent piece of work. These songs are a great representation of who we are as individuals and who we are as a group. It's our DNA. We're really proud of that," yet any group members wrote no song on the album. DNA is also short for "Digital and Analog," which is how the boys started recording in the 1990s.
The group announced the album's name and release date on November 9, 2018. The same day, they also released the single "Chances" and announced the DNA World Tour in support of the album, which began in May 2019.
Critical reception[]
DNA mainly received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 67 based on four reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."
Commercial performance[]
DNA debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 234,000 album-equivalent units, of which 227,000 were pure album sales. It is the Backstreet Boys' third number-one album and first in 19 years, the last being Black & Blue (2000). It also makes this their eighth consecutive top-ten album following In a World Like This (2013) and set the group's record of generating number-one albums for three consecutive decades (1990-2010).
In Canada, the album debuted at number one with over 46,000 first-week sales. On January 3, 2020, it was certified platinum with over 80,000 sales. This is also the fifth highest-selling album in Canada in 2019 in terms of physical copies.
In Japan, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart, selling 26,210 physical copies and 3,644 digital downloads.
Track Listing[]
Credits adapted from Apple Music.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" |
|
|
3:36 |
| 2. | "Nobody Else" |
|
|
3:38 |
| 3. | "Breathe" |
|
Ben Bram | 3:06 |
| 4. | "New Love" |
|
3:00 | |
| 5. | "Passionate" |
|
|
3:43 |
| 6. | "Is It Just Me" |
|
|
3:37 |
| 7. | "Chances" |
|
|
2:53 |
| 8. | "No Place" |
|
Steven Solomon | 2:59 |
| 9. | "Chateau" |
|
Crichton | 3:08 |
| 10. | "The Way It Is" |
|
Crichton | 3:26 |
| 11. | "Just Like You Like It" |
|
|
3:42 |
| 12. | "OK" |
|
Crichton | 2:31 |
| Total length: | 39:19 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Said I Love You" |
|
Mike Sabath | 2:50 |
| 14. | "Do You Remember" |
|
|
2:54 |
| 15. | "Best Days" |
|
Crichton | 3:40 |
| Total length: | 48:43 | |||
Notes[]
Personnel[]
Credits adapted from the album’s liner notes.
Backstreet Boys
Additional personnel
- Mitch Allan – vocal production (track 5)
- Ed Boyer – mixing (track 3)
- Ben Bram – producer, arranger, engineer, and additional vocals (track 3)
- Ross Copperman – producer, engineer, mixing, programming, guitars, and keyboards (track 11)
- Serge Courtois – mixing (track 8)
- Stuart Crichton – producer, beats, and programming (tracks 1, 9, 10, 12); engineer (tracks 1, 9, 10); piano and synthesizers (track 1); vocal producer (track 6)
- Josh Ditty – assistant engineer (track 11)
- Eric J. Dubowsky – mixing (tracks 9, 10, 12)
- Serban Ghenea]] – mixing (tracks 1, 4, 7)
- Josh Gudwin – mixing (tracks 2, 5, 6)
- John Hanes – mix engineer (tracks 1, 4, 7)
- Kuk Harrell – vocal production (tracks 4, 7)
- Jamie Hartman – producer, engineer, piano, synthesizers, and bass (track 1)
- Erik Hassle – electric piano (track 4)
- Hunter Jackson – mixing assistant (tracks 2, 5, 6)
- Steve James – producer (track 2)
- Josh Kear – additional production (track 11)
- Scott Kelly – assistant engineer (track 7)
- Joe Kirkland – guitar (track 12)
- Ian Kirkpatrick – producer, engineer, instruments, and programming (track 6)
- Dave Kutch – mastering
- Lauv|Ari Leff – additional production (track 2)
- Elof Loelv – producer, instrumentation, programming, and engineer (track 4)
- Elijah Marrett-Hitch – mixing assistant (tracks 2, 5, 6)
- Ryan Ogren – producer (track 2)
- David Phelan – engineer (track 4)
- Michael Pollack – additional keyboards (track 9)
- Rich Rich – engineer (track 7)
- Zach Skelton – producer, guitar, drums, keyboards, and programming (track 7)
- Casey Smith – backing vocals (track 7)
- Steven Solomon – producer, guitar, bass, and programming (track 8)
- Garrison Starr – guitar (track 10)
- The Stereotypes – producers (track 5)
- Ryan Tedder – producer and additional programming (track 7)
- Simone Torres – vocal engineer (tracks 4, 7)
- Jake Troth – additional production (track 4)
- Tim Watt – mixing assistant (tracks 9, 10, 12)
- The Wiild – producer (track 5)
Charts[]
Certifications[]
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada) | Platinum | 80,000‡ |
| ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Release history[]
| Country | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | January 23, 2019 | CD | Sony | |
| United States | January 25, 2019 | RCA Records|RCA | ||
| United States | February 1, 2019 | LP |
Critical Response[]
DNA received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 67 based on four reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."
Trivia[]
- DNA debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 234,000 album-equivalent units, of which 227,000 were pure album sales.
- It is the Backstreet Boys' third number-one album and first in 19 years, the last being Black & Blue (2000).
- It also makes this their eighth consecutive top-ten album following In a World Like This (2013).
Video[]
Backstreet Boys DNA (Full Album)