DNA (Backstreet Boys album) explained
DNA is the ninth studio album (eighth in the United States) by the Backstreet Boys.[1] 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.[2] This is the group's second album, after 2007's Unbreakable, without involvement from long-time producers and friends Max Martin and Kristian Lundin. It also serves as the follow-up to their eighth studio album, In a World Like This (2013). The singles preceded it "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "Chances", "No Place", and is supported by the DNA World Tour, which is the band's most expansive in 18 years. The tour began on May 11, 2019, in Lisbon, Portugal,[3] before visiting North America in July 2019.[4] The album is their first on one of Sony Music's subsidiary companies after In a World Like This was released independently through BMG.[5] 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.
Background and promotion
A press release stated that the group "analyzed their DNA profiles to see what crucial element each member represents in the group's DNA."[4] 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," yet any group members wrote no song on the album.[3] DNA is also short for "Digital and Analog", which is how the boys started recording in the 1990s.
The group announced the album's name and its release date of 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.[6]
Critical reception
DNA mainly received 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 four reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
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.[7] 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) and set the group's record of generating number-one albums for three consecutive decades (1990-2010).[7]
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 in terms of physical copies.[8]
In Japan, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart selling 26,210 physical copies and 3,644 digital downloads.[9]
Track listing
Notes
- signifies an additional producer
- signifies a vocal producer
Personnel
Backstreet Boys
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
Year-end charts
Release history
Notes and References
- Backstreet Boys Are Back With 'DNA': Stream It Now . Billboard.
- Web site: Backstreet Boys announce 3Arena date on world tour and new album DNA. Irish Independent. Kelly. Aoife. November 9, 2018. November 11, 2018.
- Web site: Backstreet Boys Announce New DNA Album and World Tour in 2019. E! Online. Johnson. Zach. November 9, 2018. November 11, 2018.
- Backstreet Boys Announce Biggest Arena Tour in 18 Years. Rolling Stone. Kreps. Daniel. November 9, 2018. November 11, 2018.
- Web site: Backstreet Boys Release Brand New Single & Video For 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' . . November 17, 2018 . May 17, 2018.
- Backstreet Boys Announce Massive 70-Date World Arena Tour: See the Dates. Billboard. Bajgrowicz. Brooke. November 9, 2018. November 12, 2018.
- Backstreet Boys Score First No. 1 Album in Nearly 20 Years on Billboard 200 Chart With 'DNA'. Billboard. Caulfield. Keith. February 3, 2019. February 4, 2019.
- Web site: 2019 Nielsen Music/MRC Data Canada Year-End Report. Nielsen. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200402131151/https://static.billboard.com/files/pdfs/NIELSEN_2019_YEARENDreportCANADA.pdf. April 2, 2020.
- Backstreet Boys' 'DNA' Tops Billboard Japan's Hot Albums Tally After TV Appearances . Billboard . February 1, 2019 . May 10, 2023.
- Web site: Album Top-40 Uge 4, 2019. Hitlisten. February 6, 2019.
- Web site: Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 5, 2019). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. fr. February 4, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190202053155/http://www.snepmusique.com/tops-semaine/top-album-megafusion/?ye=2019&we=5. 2019-02-02. dead.
- Web site: Album – Classifica settimanale WK 5 (dal 2019-01-25 al 2019-01-31). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. it. February 2, 2019.
- Web site: DNA on Billboard Japan Hot Albums. Billboard Japan. September 8, 2020. ja.
- Web site: Top 100 Albumes – Semana 5: del 25.1.2019 al 31.1.2019. Productores de Música de España. es. February 6, 2019.
- Web site: Sverigetopplistan – Sveriges Officiella Topplista. Sverigetopplistan. February 1, 2019. Click on "Veckans albumlista".
- Web site: Jaaroverzichten 2019. Ultratop. December 20, 2019.
- Top Canadian Albums – Year-End 2019. Billboard. December 3, 2020.
- Web site: Top 100 Albums Annual 2019. El portal de Música. January 21, 2022.
- Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2019. Billboard. December 5, 2019.
- Web site: DNA [Japan Bonus Track] Backstreet Boys CD Album]. Cdjapan.co.jp. 29 January 2019.
- Web site: Backstreet Boys - DNA - Amazon.com Music. Amazon.com. 29 January 2019.
- Web site: Backstreet Boys - DNA - Amazon.com Music. Amazon.com. 29 January 2019.
