''Never Gone'' is the fifth studio album (fourth in the US) released 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 ...

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 Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards preteens and teenagers.Lamb, Bill"Teen Pop" About.com. Retrieved January 28, 2007. Teen pop incorporates different subgenres of pop music, as well as elements o ...

into

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

for adults. Unlike previous albums, the album featured only live

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. The album's title track mourns the loss of Kevin Richardson's father Jerald, who is also

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 ...

's uncle. It sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

Background

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 "Just Want You to Know" is a song performed by American vocal group Backstreet Boys. The song was released on July 18, 2005, as the second single from the group's fifth studio album, '' Never Gone'' (2005). The single performed well in European c ...

", " 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

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

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, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an

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score of 40, based on 7 reviews.

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

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by the

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(RIAA) for selling over a million copies in the United States, becoming their second platinum-selling album in the country. In Japan, it was the second biggest Western album in 2005 and had sold more than 750,000 copies by January 2006. And certificated Gold and Platinum record at 11 different countries. The album sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

Track listing

;Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from album’s liner notes. Backstreet Boys * Nick Carter *

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 ...

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 ...

* Kevin Richardson Additional personnel *

Alex Acuña Alejandro Neciosup Acuña (born December 12, 1944), known professionally as Alex Acuña, is a Peruvian-American drummer and percussionist. Background Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands such as La Orquesta de los Hermanos Neci ...

– additional percussion (track 9) * Keith Armstrong – mixing assistant (track 4) *

– 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 Michael Bland (born March 14, 1969) is an American musician best known as a drummer for Prince starting in 1989. He was with Prince during The New Power Generation era and played with him live and on albums for seven years. From 1995 to 1997, ...

– drums (tracks 3, 7) *

Paul Boutin Paul Boutin (born December 11, 1961 in Lewiston, Maine) is an American magazine writer and editor who writes about technology in a pop-culture context. Boutin, who began writing for ''Wired'' in 1997, wrote for ''The New York Times'' from 2003 ...

– 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 Paul John Buckmaster (13 June 1946 – 7 November 2017) was a Grammy Award-winning British cellist, arranger, conductor and composer, with a career spanning five decades. He is best known for his orchestral collaborations with David Bowie, Sha ...

– string arrangements (track 4) * Grecco Buratto – guitar (track 9) * Paul Bushnell – bass (tracks 9, 10) *

Teddy Campbell Glendon Theodore "Teddy" Campbell, Sr. (born February 24, 1975) is a gospel drummer & singer. He was the drummer on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''. He is the lead singer for the Soul Seekers. Biography Christian Youth M.B. of Chicago, is ...

– drums (track 14) * Dan Chase – Pro Tools technician (track 2) *

Ken Chastain Kenneth Lee Chastain (born October 15, 1964, Hanover, New Hampshire) is a musician, engineer, and producer currently living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is featured on percussion on Ziggy Marley's ''Love Is My Religion'' album and many other well ...

– percussion and effects (tracks 3, 7) *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Colai ...

– drums (tracks 9, 10) *

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) ( ...

– 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 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 ...

– 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 Corky James (born February 10, 1954) is a Los Angeles-based session guitarist and bassist who has appeared on a considerable number of music albums and motion picture soundtracks. His genres encompass rock, pop, country, singer-songwriter, and fi ...

– guitar (track 14) * Mark Kiczula – assistant engineer (track 3), mixing assistant (track 7) * Mark Kibble – producer (track 15) *

The London Session Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

– strings (track 8) *

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 ...

– mixing (tracks 1, 4, 5, 8, 9) *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...

– mixing (track 7) *

Wil Malone Wil Malone (born 1952, in Hornsey, North London) is a British music producer and arranger, who has worked with artists including Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Todd Rundgren, The Verve, Massive Attack, Depeche Mode and Italian rocker Gianna Nannini ...

– string arrangement and conducting (track 8) *

Billy Mann William H. Mann (born William Isaiah Erlichman; December 20, 1968) is a Grammy-nominated American songwriter, record producer and founder of independent music publishing company Green & Bloom/Topline, as well as chairman of management firm Man ...

– producer, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, arrangements, programming, and vocal arrangements (tracks 6, 13); engineer (track 13) *

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (; born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
allmusic.com known profess ...

– producer and engineering (tracks 2, 5, 8), instruments (tracks 2, 5), guitar (track 8) * 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 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 ...

– bass (track 1) * Brian Montgomery – Pro Tools technician (track 4) *

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 (select ...

– producer, engineer, acoustic piano, additional keyboards, and string arrangements (track 1) *

Jamie Muhoberac Benjamin Edward "Jamie" Muhoberac is an American session keyboardist with numerous credits. He is best known for his work with Seal and Was (Not Was). Biography Muhoberac has worked with acts including The All-American Rejects, Fleetwood Mac, Bob ...

– 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 Vladimir John Ondrasik III (born January 7, 1965), also known by his stage name Five for Fighting, is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. He is best known for his piano-based soft rock ballads, such as the top 40 hits "Superman (It's Not ...

– executive producer (track 4) *

Shawn Pelton Shawn Pelton is an American drummer and percussionist. He has recorded with a wide range of artists and has been a first call player since moving to New York in the late 1980s. Shawn has recorded with artists such as Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, ...

– 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 (tracks 1, 4, 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 John Matthew Shanks (born December 18, 1964) is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist. Early life and education John Matthew Shanks was born in New York City. Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17 years old. He was in a ban ...

– 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 Greg Suran is the lead guitarist in the B-52s, a role he has performed since 2013. He replaced Keith Strickland on the road after Strickland announced in December 2012 that he would no longer be touring with the B-52s but would continue as a me ...

– 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 Paul Lancaster Wiltshire (born 25 July 1970) is an Australian entrepreneur, record producer and songwriter. Early life Wiltshire was born in Kingston, New York, United States to British parents and moved with his family to Australia in 1971 wh ...

– producer, engineer, and arranger (track 9) * Frank Wolf – drum and bass engineer (track 9) *

Gavyn Wright Gavyn Wright is a British violinist and orchestra leader with the London Session Orchestra and Penguin Cafe Orchestra. He is best known for his orchestral arrangements on pop productions (including Elton John, Simply Red, Bush, Mecano, Oasis, ...

– strings leader (tracks 8, 12) *

Ghian Wright Ghian Wright, known under the pseudonym G, is an American music producer, mixer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist currently based in Los Angeles, California. Career He has worked on projects for Paul McCartney, Oasis, Foo Fighters, Colbie ...

– assistant vocal engineer (track 12), assistant engineer (track 15) * Victoria Wu – additional production (track 9) *

Andy Zulla Andy Zulla (born 1966) is an American record mixer, record producer, composer and songwriter. Over the last 20 years, Zulla has been part of a diverse collection of projects including mixing major label and independent albums and singles, produci ...

– mixing (tracks 6, 13)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2005 albums Backstreet Boys albums Jive Records albums Albums produced by Dr. Luke Albums produced by Gregg Wattenberg Albums produced by Mark Taylor (music producer) Albums produced by Max Martin Albums produced by the Underdogs (production team) Albums recorded at Westlake Recording Studios