Never Gone

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 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.

This article is about the Backstreet Boys album. For other uses, see Never Gone (disambiguation).

Never Gone
Studio album by Backstreet Boys
Released	June 14, 2005
Recorded	January 26, 2004–March 2005
Studio	Westlake Audio, Henson Recording Studios, Conway Recording Studios (Hollywood, CA) Dr. Luke's New York (New York City) Woodland Ranch (Woodland Hills, CA) Maratone Studio (Stockholm, Sweden) The Village Recorder, The Underlab (Los Angeles, CA) Turtle Sound Studios (New York City)
Genre	Pop rock, pop
Length	47:41
Label	Jive
Producer	Johan Brorson, Dr. Luke, John Fields, Billy Mann, Max Martin, Dan Muckala, Christian Nilsson, John Shanks, Supa'Flyas, Mark Taylor, Gregg Wattenberg, Paul Wiltshire, Victoria Wu, Rami
Backstreet Boys chronology
The Hits – Chapter One (2001) Never Gone (2005) Unbreakable (2007)
Singles from Never Gone
"Incomplete" Released: April 1, 2005 "Just Want You to Know" Released: October 4, 2005 "Crawling Back to You" Released: October 11, 2005 "I Still..." Released: January 31, 2006

The album varies musically from their previous albums, moving away from teen pop into pop for adults. Unlike previous albums, the album featured only live instruments. The album is named after a song on it which mourns the loss of Kevin Richardson's father, who is also Brian Littrell's uncle. It sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

Background

Backstreet Boys at Never Gone Tour.

Never Gone was the last album to feature their full original lineup with Kevin Richardson, who departed from the group in 2006 to pursue other interests, until his return in April 2012 (with the release of their 2013 album In a World Like This).

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.

Singles

The singles released in Never Gone included "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.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(40/100)[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Blender	[1]
E! Online	C[3]
Entertainment Weekly	C[4]
People	[5]
PopMatters	[6]
Robert Christgau	C[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
USA Today	[9]

Initial critical response to Never Gone were surprisingly generally negative due to 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,[1] becoming the seventeenth worst reviewed album on the site.

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 platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over a million copies in the United States. Making this their second platinum-selling album in the country.[10]

In Japan, it was the second biggest Western album in 2005 and had sold more than 750,000 copies by January 2006.[11][12] And certificated Gold and Platinum record at 11 different countries.

The album sold over 3 million copies worldwide.[13][14]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Incomplete"	Dan Muckala Jess Cates Lindy Robbins	Muckala	3:59
2.	"Just Want You to Know"	Max Martin Lukasz Gottwald	Martin Dr. Luke	3:53
3.	"Crawling Back to You"	Chris Farren Blair Daly	John Fields	3:44
4.	"Weird World"	John Ondrasik	Gregg Wattenberg	4:12
5.	"I Still..."	Martin Rami	Martin Rami	3:49
6.	"Poster Girl"	Billy Mann Rasmus Bähncke René Tromborg	Mann Supa'Flyas^[a]	3:56
7.	"Lose It All"	Wally Gagel Shelly Peiken Alexander Barry	Fields	4:04
8.	"Climbing the Walls"	Martin Gottwald	Martin Dr. Luke	3:43
9.	"My Beautiful Woman"	Paul Wiltshire Victoria Wu	Wiltshire Wu^[b]	3:38
10.	"Safest Place to Hide"	Tom Leonard Robin Lerner	John Shanks	4:40
11.	"Siberia"	Martin Rami Alexandra Talomaa	Christian Nilsson Johan Brorson	4:17
12.	"Never Gone"	Kevin Richardson Gary Baker Steve Diamond	Mark Taylor	3:45

Tour edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"Song for the Unloved"	Mann Christopher Rojas	Mann	3:40
14.	"Rush Over Me"	Harvey Mason, Jr. Damon Thomas Howie Dorough AJ McLean Nick Carter Richardson Brian Littrell	The Underdogs	3:27
15.	"Movin' On"	Dorough Wade Robson Nate Butler	David Thomas Mark Kibble	3:29

Tour edition bonus DVD

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

DualDisc DVD side

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Entire album in PCM Stereo and 5.1 Digital Surround Sound"
2.	"Incomplete" (music video)
3.	"Incomplete" (making of)

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from album’s liner notes.[15]

Backstreet Boys

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

Additional personnel

• Alex Acuña – additional percussion (track 9)
• Keith Armstrong – mixing assistant (track 4)
• Backstreet Boys – vocal arrangements (tracks 6, 13)
• 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)
• Steve Lunt - A&R
• 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)
• Kevin Richardson – piano (track 12)
• 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 Chart (2005) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 6 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[17] 4 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] 13 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[19] 19 Brazilian Albums (ABPD)[20] 7 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[21] 2 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[22] 11 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] 3 European Top 100 Albums[24] 2 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[25] 5 French Albums (SNEP)[26] 19 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[27] 1 Greek Albums (IFPI)[28] 1 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[29] 8 Irish Albums (IRMA)[30] 13 Italian Albums (FIMI)[31] 4 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[32] 3 Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[33] 3 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[34] 21 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[35] 20 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[36] 8 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[37] 2 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[38] 3 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[39] 3 UK Albums (OCC)[40] 11 US Billboard 200[41] 3

Year-end charts Chart (2005) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[42] 92 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[43] 78 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[44] 35 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[45] 99 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[46] 22 US Billboard 200[47] 98

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[48]	Platinum	70,000
Canada (Music Canada)[49]	Platinum	100,000^^
Germany (BVMI)[50]	Gold	100,000^^
Ireland (IRMA)[51]	Gold	7,500^^
Japan (RIAJ)[52]	2× Platinum	500,000^^
Mexico (AMPROFON)[53]	Gold	50,000^^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[54]	Gold	20,000^^
Portugal (AFP)[55]	Gold	10,000^^
Russia (NFPF)[56]	Gold	10,000^*
United Kingdom (BPI)[57]	Gold	100,000^^
United States (RIAA)[58]	Platinum	1,771,000[59]
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

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