Never Gone is the fifth (fourth in the U.S.) studio album released by the Backstreet Boysas the follow-up to their fourth (third in the U.S.) studio album Black & Blue (2000), after a short hiatus. Never Gone was originally due for release in 2004, but the release date for the album was pushed to June 14, 2005, for unknown reasons.
The album differs musically from their previous albums, moving from teen pop to pop-rock tendencies. Unlike earlier albums, it featured only live instruments. The album's title track mourns the loss of Kevin Richardson's father, Jerald, who is also Brian Littrell's uncle. It sold over 3 million copies worldwide.
Background[]
The Never Gone Tour commenced soon after the album's release. On December 20, 2005, the group released the DVD Never Gone: The Videos, which included behind-the-scenes footage and the music videos for "Incomplete," "Just Want You to Know," and "I Still...". The DVD consists of a slideshow with the instrumental audio of "Just Want You to Know" and an interview in Germany regarding their upcoming tour.
Singles[]
The singles released from Never Gone were "Incomplete", "Just Want You to Know", "Crawling Back to You" and "I Still...". Following the success of the first single, "Incomplete," which peaked at No. 13 and spent 20 weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the second single, "Just Want You to Know," performed moderately well, hitting the top ten in the UK and Spain, and reaching the top twenty in Italy, Germany and Ireland, and charting inside the top 40 in most other charts.
Critical reception[]
Template:Music ratings
Critical response to "Never Gone" was generally mixed to negative, with most critics ambivalent of the band's change from its traditional pop style to a more mature adult contemporary sound. At Metacritic, which assigns a Standard score|normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a Weighted mean|average score of 40, based on seven reviews.
Commercial performance[]
Never Gone debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, selling 293,000 copies in its first week of release. This is the band's fifth consecutive top ten album on the chart, following The Hits – Chapter One]] in 2001. On July 14, 2005, the album was certified RIAA Certification|platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over a million copies in the United States.
In Japan, it was the second biggest Western album in 2005 and had sold more than 750,000 copies by January 2006. It was also certified a Gold and Platinum record in 11 different countries.
The album sold over 3 million copies worldwide.
Track Listing[]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Incomplete" |
|
Muckala | 3:59 |
2. | "Just Want You to Know" |
|
|
3:53 |
3. | "Crawling Back to You" |
|
John Fields | 3:44 |
4. | "Weird World" | John Ondrasik | Gregg Wattenberg | 4:12 |
5. | "I Still..." |
|
|
3:49 |
6. | "Poster Girl" |
|
|
3:56 |
7. | "Lose It All" |
|
Fields | 4:04 |
8. | "Climbing The Walls " |
|
|
3:43 |
9. | "My Beautiful Woman" |
|
|
3:38 |
10. | "Safest Place To Hide" |
|
John Shanks | 4:40 |
11. | "Siberia" |
|
|
4:17 |
12. | "Never Gone" |
|
Mark Taylor | 3:45 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
13. | "Song For The Unloved" |
|
Mann | 3:40 |
14. | "Rush Over Me" |
|
The Underdogs | 3:27 |
15. | "Movin' On" |
|
|
3:29 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Incomplete" (music video) | |||
2. | "Incomplete" (behind the scenes) | |||
3. | "Just Want You to Know" (music video) | |||
4. | "Just Want You to Know" (music video; alternate version) | |||
5. | "Just Want You to Know" (behind the scenes) | |||
6. | "I Still..." (music video) | |||
7. | "I Still..." (behind the scenes) | |||
8. | "Photo Gallery" | |||
9. | "Last Night You Saved My Life" | Billy Mann, Jesse Harris | Mann | 3:26 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Entire album in PCM Stereo and 5.1 Digital Surround Sound" | |
2. | "Incomplete" (music video) | |
3. | "Incomplete" (making of) |
Unreleased[]
Before they went with the adult contemporary route for the album, they originally went for more of an R&B album. They originally recorded 18 R&B songs for the album but got unreleased.
All 18 songs that were cut from the album are listed below:
- Forces of Nature
- Love Is...
- Love Knows I Love You
- Loving You
- Tell Me
- Dance (Set It Off)
- Can We Get Back to Love Again
- Welcome to My Heart
- All In This Together
- Not No More
- Don't Disturb This Groove
- For The Love of Money
- Memories
- Lift Me Up
- Let's Do it For Love
- Divine Intervention
- Over Her
- Color My World
- Notes
Personnel[]
Credits adapted from the album’s liner notes.
Backstreet Boys
- Nick Carter – vocals (all tracks), vocal arrangements (tracks 6, 13)
- Howie Dorough – vocals (all tracks), vocal arrangements (tracks 6, 13)
- Brian Littrell – vocals (all tracks), vocal arrangements (tracks 6, 13)
- AJ McLean – vocals (all tracks), vocal arrangements (tracks 6, 13)
- Kevin Richardson – vocals (all tracks), piano (tracks 1, 4, 12), vocal arrangements (6, 13)
Additional personnel
- Alex Acuña – additional percussion (track 9)
- Keith Armstrong – Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixing assistant (track 4)
- Rasmus Bille Bahncke|Rasmus Bahncke – co-producer, keyboards, Programming (music)|programming, and arrangements (track 6)
- Tommy Barbarella – keyboards and string arrangements (tracks 3, 7)
- Jerry Barnes – bass (track 4)
- Matt Beckley – assistant Audio engineer|engineer (track 3), mixing assistant (track 7)
- Michael Bland – drums (tracks 3, 7)
- Paul Boutin – engineer and Audio editing software|editing (track 14)
- Lee Bridges – assistant engineer (track 1)
- Johan Brorson – producer, engineer, guitar, and bass (track 11)
- Adam Brown – string engineer (track 8)
- Paul Buckmaster – string arrangements (track 4)
- Grecco Buratto – guitar (track 9)
- Paul Bushnell – bass (tracks 9, 10)
- Teddy Campbell – drums (track 14)
- Dan Chase – Pro Tools technician (track 2)
- Ken Chastain – percussion and effects (tracks 3, 7)
- Vinnie Colaiuta – drums (tracks 9, 10)
- Tom Coyne – Mastering (audio)|mastering
- John Silas Cranfield – engineer (track 6)
- Dave Dilbeck – engineer (track 1)
- Aaron Fessel – assistant engineer (track 1)
- John Fields – producer, engineer, piano, bass, guitar, keyboards, and effects (tracks 3, 7); mixing (track 3)
- Jon Gass – mixing (track 14)
- Serban Ghenea – mixing (track 2)
- Dr. Luke|Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald – producer and engineer (tracks 2, 8), instruments (track 2), guitar and bass (track 8)
- Isobel Griffiths – string contractor (track 12)
- Chris Haggerty – digital editing (tracks 1, 8, 9)
- John Hanes – additional Pro Tools engineering (track 2)
- Dabling "Hobby Boy" Harward – engineer and editing (track 14)
- Brandon Heath – acoustic guitar (track 1)
- Femio Hernandez – mixing assistant (track 7)
- Michael Ilbert – guitar engineer, bass engineer, drum engineer, and Pro Tools editing (track 8); mixing (track 11)
- Lana Israel – production coordinator (tracks 6, 13)
- Corky James – guitar (track 14)
- Mark Kiczula – assistant engineer (track 3), mixing assistant (track 7)
- Mark Kibble – producer (track 15)
- London Philharmonic Orchestra|The London Session Orchestra]] – strings (track 8)
- Chris Lord-Alge – mixing (tracks 1, 4, 5, 8, 9)
- Tom Lord-Alge – mixing (track 7)
- Wil Malone – string arrangement and conducting (track 8)
- Billy Mann – producer, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, arrangements, programming, and vocal arrangements (tracks 6, 13); engineer (track 13)
- Max Martin – producer and engineering (tracks 2, 5, 8), instruments (tracks 2, 5), guitar (track 8)
- Alan Mason – assistant engineer (track 2)
- Skye McCaskey – additional engineering (track 1)
- Chris McMurtry – electric guitar (track 1)
- Steven Miller – engineer (tracks 3, 7), mixing (track 3)
- Brent Milligan – bass (track 1)
- Brian Montgomery – Pro Tools technician (track 4)
- Dan Muckala – producer, engineer, acoustic piano, additional keyboards, and string arrangements (track 1)
- Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards (track 10)
- Pablo Munguia – engineer (track 4), vocal engineer (tracks 9, 12)
- Alex Nifong – electric guitar (track 1)
- Christian Nilsson – engineer (2, 11), Pro Tools technician (track 2), producer and percussion (track 11)
- Five for Fighting|John Ondrasik – executive producer (track 4)
- Shawn Pelton – drums (tracks 2, 4, 5), percussion (track 2)
- Ross Petersen – assistant Pro Tools engineer (track 4)
- Marc "Fafu" Pfafflin – programming (track 3)
- Adam Phillips – guitar (track 12)
- Randy Poole – mixing (track 15)
- Joe Porter – drums (track 1)
- Steve Price – strings engineer (track 12)
- Brian Pugh – assistant engineer (track 8)
- Ed Quesada – assistant engineer (track 14)
- Rami Yacoub|Rami – producer, engineer, and instruments (track 5)
- Johan Reivén – drums (track 8)
- Tim Roberts – assistant Pro Tools engineer (track 2)
- Christopher Rojas|Chris Rojas – engineer, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, arrangements, keyboard programming, and drum programming (track 13)
- Jeff Rothschild – engineer and mixing (track 10)
- Dave "Natural Love" Russell – engineer and editing (track 14)
- Will Sandalls – engineer (track 13)
- Brian Schueble – engineer (track 4)
- John Shanks – producer, mixing, and guitar (track 10)
- Tony Shepperd – engineer (track 15)
- F. Reid Shippen – additional engineering (track 1)
- Alex Smith – assistant engineer and mixing assistant (track 12)
- Robin Smith – string arrangement and conducting (track 12)
- James Stone – assistant strings engineer (track 12)
- Greg Suran – guitar (tracks 3, 7)
- Shari Sutcliffe – contractor and production coordinator (track 10)
- Ren Swan – engineer and mixing (track 12)
- Kennie Takahashi – mixing assistant (track 3)
- Mark Taylor – producer, engineer, mixing, and string arrangement (track 12)
- Christopher Mario Testa|Chris Testa – engineer (tracks 3, 7)
- David Thomas – producer (track 15)
- Michael Thompson – guitar (track 14)
- René Tromborg – co-producer, keyboards, programming, arrangements, drums, and percussion (track 6)
- The Underdogs – producers (track 14)
- Mark Valentine – additional engineering (track 10)
- Seth Waldmann – engineer (track 2), assistant Pro Tools engineer (track 4)
- Greg Wattenberg – producer, engineer, guitar, programming, and string arrangements (track 4)
- Paul Wiltshire – producer, engineer, and arranger (track 9)
- Frank Wolf – drum and bass engineer (track 9)
- Gavyn Wright – strings leader (tracks 8, 12)
- Ghian Wright – assistant vocal engineer (track 12), assistant engineer (track 15)
- Victoria Wu – additional production (track 9)
- Andy Zulla – mixing (tracks 6, 13)
Charts[]
Certifications[]
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
ARIA) | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada) | Platinum | 100,000^ |
BVMI) | Gold | 100,000^ |
IRMA) | Gold | 7,500^ |
RIAJ) | 2× Platinum | 500,000^ |
AMPROFON) | Gold | 50,000^ |
IFPI Switzerland) | Gold | 20,000^ |
AFP) | Gold | 10,000^ |
NFPF) | Gold | 10,000* |
BPI) | Gold | 100,000^ |
RIAA) | Platinum | 1,771,000 |
* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Critical Response[]
Initial critical responses to Never Gone were surprisingly generally negative due to the change from the band's traditional pop style. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 40 based on seven reviews.
Trivia[]
- The album is named after a song that mourns the loss of Kevin Richardson's father.
- This is their last album as a quintet until In A World Like This; Kevin announced he would leave for personal reasons in 2006.
- Much like with Millennium, Nick has a message in the linear notes: (4)(34368)(36)(48). The message is decoded as with Millennium's message, using the letters on a keypad. The message translates to "I didn't do it." What does this mean?