Chris Martin of Coldplay had first tweeted about the album, prompting The Chainsmokers to confirm it.[8] It was revealed during an on-screen Grammy red carpet interview with the duo that their album title was to be named Memories...Do Not Open and it would be released on April 7, just before they embark on the tour of the same name. As seen in the interview,[9] Taggart was hesitant after revealing the release date of the album, before asking Pall if he should say it.[5][10] Taggart said "We're ready. We've got a full album; it's going to be amazing. It's coming out April 7, was I supposed to say that?" before Pall responded "No, but it's alright".[11]
Singles
The lead single,[12] "Paris", was released on January 13, 2017. The lead single peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song went on to receive multiple certifications.
The second single, "Something Just Like This", which is a collaboration with British alternative rock band Coldplay, was released on February 22, 2017, along with the pre-order of the album. The single peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. During the week of March 18, 2017, "Something Just Like This", "Paris" , along with "Closer" were simultaneously within the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. The Chainsmokers became the third group to have three simultaneous top 10 hits.[13]
The third single, "Honest", was sent to top 40 radio on July 11, 2017.[14] The single has peaked at number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The fourth single, was a remixed version of "Young", and related on September 29, 2017.[15]
Promotional singles
A promotional single, titled "The One", was released on March 27, 2017. It peaked at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100.
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 43, based on 8 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[16] Damien Morris of The Guardian noted the group's music as "instantly memorable yet completely forgettable", comparing the album to US President Donald Trump: "shallow, always betraying its influences, with a third-grade vocabulary and ambition that runs no further than emptying the nearest wallet."[19] In Entertainment Weekly, Barry Walters highlighted the duo's commercial success, describing their style as "smoothed-out, mid-tempo, nearly easy-listening formula", but opined it sounds "as if you're playing the radio instead of one solitary album". He considered "Break Up Every Night" as the only dance cut, while "the other cuts are basically ballads with beats — modernized Moby without the soul-searching or gospel samples."[18]
Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine criticized Taggart's lack of personality and vocal ability, also saying: "the downside to the wild success of that approach is that Taggart and Pall have been forced to discover their creative voices in front of the whole world. And unfortunately, the sound they've settled on is parked firmly in the middle of the road."[21] Maeve McDermott of USA Today questioned: "is this the worst album of 2017?", calling Taggart's vocals "hilariously bad".[23] Philip Sherburne of Pitchfork claimed that "The debut album from the celebrity production duo is a somber departure from their EDM days—a lifeless, anodyne pop record that wallows in basic feelings of regret and narcissism."[1] Along with comparing the album to 2014 single "#SELFIE", Sherburne wrote: "None of it sounds anything like '#SELFIE,' but its worldview is barely any bigger than that song's narrow perspective".[1]
Commercial performance
Memories...Do Not Open debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 221,000 album-equivalent units, of which 166,000 were pure album sales.[24] As of July 5, 2017, the album has moved 760,000 album-equivalent units in the United States.[25]
Captain Cuts – co-production ("Break Up Every Night")
KIN – co-production ("Bloodstream")
Mac & Phil – co-production ("Bloodstream")
Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young – additional production ("Young", "Bloodstream", "It Won't Kill Ya" and "Honest"), vocal production, mixing, recording (all tracks excluding "Something Just Like This", "My Type", "Last Day Alive")
Chris Gehringer – mastering
Emily Lazar – mastering ("Something Just Like This")
Chris Allgood – mastering assistant ("Something Just Like This")
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 14.Týden 2017 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved April 26, 2017.