DNA is the ninth studio album (eighth in the United States) by the Backstreet Boys.[3] 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.[4] 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 "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "Chances" and "No Place" preceded it. The album was supported by the DNA World Tour, which was the band's most expansive in 18 years. The tour began on May 11, 2019, in Lisbon, Portugal,[5] before visiting North America in July 2019.[6] The album is their first and only on one of Sony Music's subsidiary companies after In a World Like This was released independently through BMG.[7] 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.
A press release stated that the group "analyzed their DNA profiles to see what crucial element each member represents in the group's DNA."[6]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.[5] 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.[8]
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".[9]
AllMusic editor Neil Z. Yeung called DNA "elegant and unexpectedly fresh, especially on sparkling electronic tracks such as the Lauv-produced "Nobody Else" and the Chainsmokers-esque "Is It Just Me." [...] Though the tail-end of the album loses some steam, DNA remains pleasant and engaging, [...] taking enough steps forward to continue their pop maturation without ignoring the hooks and harmonies that carried them all this way."[10] Jon Dolan, writing Rolling Stone, found that on DNA, Backstreet Boys "pair their group-vocal magic with contemporary pop written and produced by top-tier technicians," and added: "There's a down-to-earth sense of crisp, hooky economy à la Mendes and Puth, gentlemanly horniness mixed with bittersweet innocence they wear well, even as grown men who know what it's like to soldier their way to hard-earned redemption."[2] Kate Hutchinson from The Guardian described the album as "well-manicured music that cannily plunders contemporary chart sounds and plonks a pitch-perfect harmony on them."[12]
The Young Folks critic Brian Thompson felt that DNA "can feel disjointed at times and not all of its ventures are fruitful, but the album displays Backstreet Boys stripped of all pretense and name recognition, fully leaning into their desire to explore new waters and expand their sound. What’s more, the record definitively proves that they are anything but the nostalgia act audiences expect them to be."[15] Writing for the The Independent, Holly Williams found that the production on DNA was "tight, if overdone: twinkling synths, layered echoey effects, and fussy drumpad beats and ticks reflect the fact that we're not in the Nineties anymore. As do the vocals: while there’s plenty of classic syrupy yearning, and some fun funk falsetto (as on "Passionate"), at other moments the boys are auto-tuned into bland 2019 familiarity [...] There are occasional more interesting moments [but] mostly this standard boyband fare, reheated, and topped with modern pop sprinkles. It just feels so unnecessary."[1] Louise Bruton from The Irish Times felt DNA was deliverig a polished sound but lacking the band's classic ballads and signature hits. She concluded that the album was a "mature presentation of what Backstreet Boys can do vocally but as one of the biggest boy bands in history, it's just a fraction of what they're capable of doing."[14]
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.[16] 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).[16]
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.[17]
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.[18]
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