Never Gone

In November 2000, Backstreet Boys released their fourth studio album Black & Blue, which achieved record-breaking commercial success by selling over five million copies worldwide in its first week. The album went on to sell more than 15 million copies globally, and spawned the singles "Shape of My Heart", "The Call" and "More than That." To promote the album, the band embarked on the Black & Blue World Tour, which spanned five continents. The tour was suspended in July 2001, when member AJ McLean entered rehabilitation for alcoholism and depression, leading the group to take a sabbatical. During the break, Howie Dorough explored real estate and an English/Spanish album; Brian Littrell had a son and signed a deal for a Christian album; Kevin Richardson performed in London and on Broadway in the musical Chicago; Nick Carter released his solo album Now or Never (2002), which underperformed commercially and contributed to legal disputes with Jive Records and tensions within the group. Following management changes, Backstreet Boys reunited publicly in late 2003 on The Oprah Winfrey Show, with the rest of the band surprising McLean, sparking the reunion. Shortly after, they resumed working with longtime collaborator Johnny Wright. ==Production==

Never Gone was created following a nearly five-year hiatus, during which the Backstreet Boys pursued individual projects, leading to uncertainty about the viability of their return as former teen-pop stars. Recording began in early 2004 with initial sessions alongside R&B producers The Underdogs, though early experiments, including attempts at trend-driven and rap-oriented material, failed to resonate with the group. ==Promotion==

Singles "Incomplete," produced by Dan Muckala, was released as the album's first single to US radios on March 28, 2005. Never Gones second single "Just Want You to Know," co-produced by Dr. Luke, was released in July 2005. While it was less successful in the United States, the song reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and Spain and peaked within the top 20 in Germany, Ireland, and Italy. A third and final US single, "Crawling Back to You," produced by John Fields, was released in October 2005, in support of Music For Hurricane Relief, an organization founded to support the families affected by the catastrophic tropical Hurricane Katrina that had caused extreme damage in late August 2005. The song peaked at number 30 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Most shows sold out within just 20 minutes. From September 28, 2005, to February 2, 2006, the tour continued internationally, covering Europe, Asia, and Australia. To further promote the album, the group made appearances on NBC's morning show Today and talk show The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, ABC's daytime talk show The View and CBS' morning show The Early Show. ==Critical reception==

Critical response to Never Gone was generally mixed to negative, with most critics ambivalent about changing the band's traditional pop style to a more mature adult contemporary sound. 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. AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album a "well-made record." He argued that Never Gone was marking a shift from the group's late-1990s teen pop sound to a more adult contemporary style, drawing comparisons to early-1990s Bryan Adams, also critics describing it as a modest but effective evolution rather than a full reinvention. E! Online found that Never Gone "mostly sounds like a band going through growing pains of its own. The Boys don't really sound like their old, 70-million-album selling selves, but they don't really sound like they're doing anything different either. Even if they aren't Never Gone, their inspiration certainly is." Writing for People, Chuck Taylor found that Bubblegum-flavored cuts like "Poster Girl," a fetching guitar-pop ditty, and "Weird World," with its buoyant "hey hey heys," would be better suited for, say, Jesse McCartney. And rock-tinged tracks like "My Beautiful Woman" fail to bring the desired edge. Backstreet Boys are still smooth crooners on sweet if sappy ballads such as "Safest Place to Hide" and the first single "Incomplete." Rolling Stones Barry Walters wrote that Never Gone "never attains the dizzy heights of previous hits and never reaches far enough toward new territory [...] Backstreet men rarely accelerate beyond a midtempo thud." Maura McAndrew from PopMatters argued that the Backstreet Boys' overly serious, irony-free image and unchanged sound made them feel stale and joyless, especially as they age without acknowledging their own pop absurdity. She felt that Never Gone "has not offered anyone a reason to like boy bands, and the Backstreet Boys seem content to fade into top forty hell with so many others. But they could at least have the decency to show us their strings." ==Commercial performance==

Prior to its release, Never Gone was predicted to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200, with first-day sales estimates suggesting it could reach around 300,000 copies in its first week. Despite these projections, the album did not achieve the top position, eventually opening at number three, falling short of becoming the group's third number-one album. reaching double platinum status. ==Track listing==

;Notes • signifies a co-producer • signifies an additional producer ==Personnel==

Credits adapted from 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 – mixing assistant (track 4) • Rasmus Bahncke – co-producer, keyboards, programming, and arrangements (track 6) • Tommy Barbarella – keyboards and string arrangements (tracks 3, 7) • Jerry Barnes – bass (track 4) • Matt Beckley – assistant engineer (track 3), mixing assistant (track 7) • Michael Bland – drums (tracks 3, 7) • Paul Boutin – engineer and 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 • 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) • 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) • 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) • 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 – producer, engineer, and instruments (track 5) • Johan Reivén – drums (track 8) • Tim Roberts – assistant Pro Tools engineer (track 2) • 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) • 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==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==