"Incomplete" is a song by American vocal group

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. The gr ...

from their fifth studio album, '' Never Gone'' (2005). The

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

was released on April 11, 2005, as the group's first single since they decided to reunite after a two-year hiatus. It was written by

Dan Muckala Daniel John Muckala Work ID No. 881409494 ISWC No. T9052468594 is an American songwriter and producer. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, Muckala was a musical composition student at Belmont University in Tennessee. Awards (selec ...

Lindy Robbins Lindy Robbins is an American songwriter from Los Angeles, whose songs include Demi Lovato's " Skyscraper", Jason Derulo's "Want to Want Me", David Guetta's " Dangerous" featuring Sam Martin, MKTO's "Classic", Hot Chelle Rae's " Tonight, Toni ...

, and

Jess Cates Jess Cates (born July 27, 1976 in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American songwriter who has co-written songs such as Nick Lachey's " What's Left of Me" and the Backstreet Boys hit of 2006, " Incomplete". In recent years, Cates has worked in a songwr ...

, and it was produced by Muckala with Kevin Richardson on

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

. According to ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine's Chuck Taylor, the song is an "emotion-packed, grown-up tome about relationship struggle and strife." "Incomplete" marked a stylistic change for the band, with member

AJ McLean Alexander James McLean (born January 9, 1978) is an American singer, dancer, actor and a member of the pop vocal group Backstreet Boys. Early life McLean was born on January 9, 1978, in West Palm Beach, Florida, to Denise (née Fernandez, n ...

saying that the band wanted to break away from the image they had attained during the 1990s and early 2000s. The song was a commercial success, peaking at number 13 on the US ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and earning a gold

certification Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

for selling over half a million copies in the US. It additionally became a hit in several European countries and debuted at number one in Australia, becoming the group's only number-one hit there and receiving a double-platinum sales certification in 2020.

Critical reception

Chuck Taylor from ''

'' magazine compared the band's vocals to those of

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

and

Blessid Union of Souls Blessid Union of Souls (sometimes abbreviated to Blessid Union or BUOS) is an American alternative rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, that was formed in 1990 by friends Jeff Pence and Eliot Sloan. The band's first studio album, '' Home'', had som ...

, going on to say that the song would be refreshing to hear on the radio "like crisp white sheets." British columnist

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

wrote that "Incomplete" proved that the band had not lost their talent following their hiatus, going on to call the track's production "bombastic".

Music video

Directed by

Joseph Kahn Joseph Kahn may refer to: *Joseph Kahn (director) (born 1972), a film and music video director *Joseph Kahn (journalist) (born 1964), American journalist * Joseph Kahn (shipping executive) (1916–1979), American businessman See also *Joseph Hahn ...

, the music video for "Incomplete" sets the band in an arid desert environment and features each of the band members in a different element or force of nature:

Brian Littrell Brian Thomas Littrell (born February 20, 1975) is an American singer and a member of the Backstreet Boys. He is also a contemporary Christian music artist, and released the solo album '' Welcome Home'' in 2006. He is the father of country singer ...

, water; Nick Carter, fire;

Howie Dorough Howard Dwaine Dorough (born August 22, 1973) is an American singer. He is a member of the pop vocal group Backstreet Boys. Early life Dorough was born August 22, 1973, in Orlando, Florida, where he met his friend and bandmate A.J. McLean throu ...

, rain; Kevin Richardson, snow; and

, the Sun.

Track listings

US promo CD # "Incomplete" (album version) – 3:59 # Call-out research hook – 0:16 European CD single # "Incomplete" – 3:59 # "Movin' On" – 3:30 UK CD1 # "Incomplete" – 3:59 # "Incomplete" (instrumental) – 3:59 UK CD2 and European maxi-single # "Incomplete" – 3:59 # "My Beautiful Woman" – 3:36 # "Movin' On" – 3:30 # "Incomplete" (video)

Personnel

Credits are lifted from the '' Never Gone'' liner notes. *

Songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

– Dan Muckala,

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, strings arrangement and additional keyboards – Dan Muckala *

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

– Kevin Richardson *

Recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

– Dan Muckala, David Dillbeck * Additional engineering – F. Reid Shippen, Skye McCaskey * Additional engineering assistant – Lee Bridges, Aaron Fessel * Mixing –

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

– Joe Porter * Bass –

Brent Milligan Brent Milligan is an American record producer and session bass guitar player currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. Background Brent Milligan was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and moved to Nashville after graduating from Louisiana State U ...

Electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

– Alex Nifong, Chris McMurtry *

Acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

–

Brandon Heath Brandon Heath Knell (born July 21, 1978) is an American contemporary Christian musician, singer, and songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee. He has released six studio albums: ''Don't Get Comfortable'' (2006), ''What If We'' (2008), ''Leaving Ede ...

* Mastering –

Tom Coyne Tom Coyne may refer to: * Tom Coyne (writer), American writer and professor * Tom Coyne (broadcaster) (1930–2015), British television presenter * Tom Coyne (music engineer) (1954–2017), American mastering engineer * Thomas Coyne (cricketer) ( ...

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions

In 2017, international symphonic metal supergroup

Exit Eden Exit Eden is an international symphonic metal supergroup (music), supergroup that performs cover versions of well-known pop and rock songs. Background The band was formed in 2017 by the American singer Amanda Somerville (Avantasia, Alice Cooper ...

covered "Incomplete" as the 3rd track of their debut album entitled '' Rhapsodies in Black''.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

References

{{Authority control 2005 songs 2005 singles 2000s ballads Backstreet Boys songs Jive Records singles Music videos directed by Joseph Kahn Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in the Czech Republic Number-one singles in Hungary Song recordings produced by Dan Muckala Songs written by Dan Muckala Songs written by Jess Cates Songs written by Lindy Robbins