Never Gone
Studio album by
Backstreet Boys
ReleasedJune 14, 2005
RecordedJanuary 26, 2004 – March 2005
Studio
GenrePop[1]
Length47:41
LabelJive
Producer
Backstreet Boys chronology
The Hits – Chapter One
(2001) 		Never Gone
(2005) 		Unbreakable
(2007)
Singles from Never Gone
  1. "Incomplete"
    Released: April 11, 2005[2]
  2. "Just Want You to Know"
    Released: July 18, 2005[3]
  3. "Crawling Back to You"
    Released: October 24, 2005[4]
  4. "I Still..."
    Released: November 25, 2005[5]

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.

Background

Backstreet Boys performing on the Never Gone Tour.

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 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.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(40/100)[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Blender[6]
E! OnlineC[8]
Entertainment WeeklyC[9]
People[10]
PopMatters2/10[11]
Robert ChristgauC[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]

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 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.

The album sold over 3 million copies worldwide.[19][20]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Incomplete"
Muckala3:59
2."Just Want You to Know"
3:53
3."Crawling Back to You"
  • Chris Farren
  • Blair Daly
John Fields3:44
4."Weird World"John OndrasikGregg Wattenberg4:12
5."I Still..."
  • Martin
  • Rami
3:49
6."Poster Girl"
  • Mann
  • Supa'Flyas[a]
3:56
7."Lose It All"
Fields4:04
8."Climbing the Walls"
  • Martin
  • Gottwald
  • Martin
  • Dr. Luke
3:43
9."My Beautiful Woman"
3:38
10."Safest Place to Hide"
  • Tom Leonard
  • Robin Lerner
John Shanks4:40
11."Siberia"
  • Christian Nilsson
  • Johan Brorson
4:17
12."Never Gone"
Mark Taylor3:45
Tour edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."Song for the Unloved"
Mann3:40
14."Rush Over Me"
The Underdogs3:27
15."Movin' On"
  • David Thomas
  • Mark Kibble
3:29
Tour edition bonus DVD
No.TitleWriter(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 HarrisMann3:26
DualDisc DVD side
No.TitleLength
1."Entire album in PCM Stereo and 5.1 Digital Surround Sound" 
2."Incomplete" (music video) 
3."Incomplete" (making of) 
Notes

Personnel

Credits adapted from album’s liner notes.[21]

Backstreet Boys

Additional personnel

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
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.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  2. ^ "Going for Adds". Radio & Records. No. 1601. April 8, 2005. p. 21.
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