Never Gone | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | June 14, 2005 | |||
Recorded | January 26, 2004 – March 2005 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | Pop[1] | |||
Length | 47:41 | |||
Label | Jive | |||
Producer |
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Backstreet Boys chronology | ||||
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Singles from Never Gone | ||||
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Never Gone is the fifth studio album (fourth in the US) released by American vocal group Backstreet Boys as 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 away from teen pop into pop rock tendencies. Unlike previous albums, the album 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.
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 also includes a slideshow with the instrumental audio of "Just Want You to Know", and an interview in Germany regarding their upcoming tour.
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 spend 20 weeks on 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.
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | (40/100)[6] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [7] |
Blender | [6] |
E! Online | C[8] |
Entertainment Weekly | C[9] |
People | [10] |
PopMatters | 2/10[11] |
Robert Christgau | C[12] |
Rolling Stone | [13] |
Sputnikmusic | [14] |
USA Today | [15] |
Critical response to Never Gone was generally mixed to negative, with most critics ambivalent of the change from 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 7 reviews.[6]
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 platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over a million copies in the United States.[16]
In Japan, it was the second biggest Western album in 2005 and had sold more than 750,000 copies by January 2006.[17][18] And certificated Gold and Platinum record at 11 different countries.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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1. | "Entire album in PCM Stereo and 5.1 Digital Surround Sound" | |
2. | "Incomplete" (music video) | |
3. | "Incomplete" (making of) |
Credits adapted from album’s liner notes.[21]
Backstreet Boys
Additional personnel
Weekly charts[edit]
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Year-end charts[edit]
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA)[57] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada)[58] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
Germany (BVMI)[59] | Gold | 100,000^ |
Ireland (IRMA)[60] | Gold | 7,500^ |
Japan (RIAJ)[61] | 2× Platinum | 500,000^ |
Mexico (AMPROFON)[62] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[63] | Gold | 20,000^ |
Portugal (AFP)[64] | Gold | 10,000^ |
Russia (NFPF)[65] | Gold | 10,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI)[66] | Gold | 100,000^ |
United States (RIAA)[68] | Platinum | 1,771,000[67] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |