DNA (Backstreet Boys album)

DNA is the ninth studio album (eighth in the US) by the Backstreet Boys.[4] 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.[5] This is the group's second album, after 2007's Unbreakable, to neglect involvement from longtime producers and friends Max Martin and Kristian Lundin. It also serves as the follow-up to their eighth studio album (seventh in the US) In a World Like This. It was preceded by the singles "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "Chances", "No Place", and will be supported by a world tour, the band's most expansive in 18 years, beginning on May 11, 2019, in Lisbon, Portugal,[6] before visiting North America in July 2019.[7] The album is their first on one of Sony Music's subsidiary companies since In a World Like This (2013), which was released independently through BMG.[8] 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.

DNA
Studio album by Backstreet Boys
Released	January 23, 2019 (2019-01-23)
Recorded	2018
Genre	Pop[1][2] synth-pop[3]
Length	39:18
Label	K-BAHN RCA
Producer	Stuart Crichton Kuk Harrell Jamie Hartman Ryan OG Lauv Andy Grammer Steve James Ben Bram Elof Loelv Jake Troth The Stereotypes The Wild Mitch Allan Ian Kirkpatrick Ryan Tedder Zach Skelton Steven Solomon Ross Copperman Josh Kear
Backstreet Boys chronology
In a World Like This (2013) DNA (2019)
Singles from DNA
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" Released: May 17, 2018 "Chances" Released: November 9, 2018 "No Place" Released: January 4, 2019

Background and promotion

A press release stated that the group "analyzed their individual DNA profiles to see what crucial element each member represents in the group's DNA".[7] 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."[6] DNA is also short for Digital and Analog which is how the boys started recording in the 1990s.

The group announced the name of the album and its 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.[9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Album of the Year	55/100[10]
Metacritic	67/100[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Flood Magazine	6/10[12]
The Guardian	[13]
God Is in the TV	2/10[14]
The Independent	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]

DNA received mostly 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 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[11]

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.[15] 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).[15]

In Canada, the album debuted at number one with over 46,000 first week sales. On January 3, 2020 the album was certified platinum with over 80,000 sales. This is also the 5th highest-selling album in Canada in 2019.[16]

Track listing

Credits adapted from Apple Music.

Standard edition[17]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"	Stuart Crichton Jamie Hartman Stephen Wrabel	Crichton Hartman	3:36
2.	"Nobody Else"	Ryan Ogren Nicholas Bailey Ari Leff Emily Warren Gamal "LunchMoney" Lewis	Ryan OG Steve James Leff^[a]	3:38
3.	"Breathe"	Ogren Bailey Brandyn Burnette	Ben Bram	3:06
4.	"New Love"	Elof Loelv Jake Troth Erik Hassle	Loelv Troth^[a] Kuk Harrell^[b]	3:00
5.	"Passionate"	Mitch Allan Andy Grammer Lindy Robbins Louis Schoorl	The Stereotypes The Wiild Allan^[b]	3:43
6.	"Is It Just Me"	Ian Kirkpatrick Robbin Alexander "Xplicit" Izquierdo	Kirkpatrick Crichton^[b]	3:37
7.	"Chances"	Edei Zach Skelton Casey Smith Fiona Bevan Ryan Tedder Shawn Mendes Geoff Warburton Scott Harris	Tedder Skelton Harrell^[b]	2:53
8.	"No Place"	Brett James Joshua Miller Troy Verges	Steven Solomon	2:59
9.	"Chateau"	Crichton Wrabel Michael Pollack James Newman Cole Citrenbaum	Crichton	3:08
10.	"The Way It Was"	Crichton Garrison Starr Justin Jesso	Crichton	3:26
11.	"Just Like You Like It"	Ross Copperman Josh Kear Dustin Lynch	Copperman Kear^[a]	3:42
12.	"OK"	Crichton Newman Joe Kirkland Jason Allen	Crichton	2:31
Total length:				39:19

Japanese edition bonus tracks[18]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Said I Love You"	Mike Sabath Dewain Whitmore Patrick "J. Que" Smith	2:50
14.	"Do You Remember"	Alexander Isaak Mason Levy Tom Meredith	2:54
15.	"Best Days"	Crichton Newman Jesso	3:40
Total length:			48:43

Notes

• ^a signifies an additional producer
• ^b signifies a vocal producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from album’s liner notes.[19]

Backstreet Boys

• Nick Carter
• Howie Dorough
• Brian Littrell
• AJ McLean
• Kevin Richardson

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
• 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

Weekly charts Chart (2019) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[20] 5 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[21] 1 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] 3 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] 13 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[24] 1 Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[25] 47 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[26] 31 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[27] 4 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[28] 26 French Albums (SNEP)[29] 124 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[30] 2 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[31] 8 Irish Albums (IRMA)[32] 25 Italian Albums (FIMI)[33] 14 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[34] 2 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[35] 40 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[36] 20 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[37] 2 Scottish Albums (OCC)[38] 3 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[39] 4 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[40] 28 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[41] 1 UK Albums (OCC)[42] 7 UK Digital Albums (OCC)[43] 4 US Billboard 200[15] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2019) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[44] 132 US Billboard 200[45] 164

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[46]	Platinum	80,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Country	Date	Format(s)	Label	Ref.
Japan	January 23, 2019	CD	Sony	[47]
United States	January 25, 2019		RCA	[48]
United States	February 1, 2019	LP		[49]

References

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2. Dolan, Jon (7 February 2019). "Review: Backstreet's Back With Contemporary-Pop Magic on 'DNA'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
3. Yeung, Neil Z. "DNA - Backstreet Boys". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
4. "Backstreet Boys Are Back With 'DNA': Stream It Now". Billboard.
5. Kelly, Aoife (November 9, 2018). "Backstreet Boys announce 3Arena date on world tour and new album DNA". Irish Independent. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
6. Johnson, Zach (November 9, 2018). "Backstreet Boys Announce New DNA Album and World Tour in 2019". E! Online. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
7. Kreps, Daniel (November 9, 2018). "Backstreet Boys Announce Biggest Arena Tour in 18 Years". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
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11. "DNA by Backstreet Boys Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
12. Hurst, Josh (February 5, 2019). "Backstreet Boys, "DNA"". Flood Magazine. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
13. Hutchinson, Kate (25 January 2019). "Backstreet Boys: DNA Review". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
14. Etheridge, Loz (February 5, 2019). "They Also Ran - Albums Roundup". God Is in the TV. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
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35. "VG-lista – Topp 40 Album uke 5, 2019". VG-lista. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
36. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
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