DNA (Backstreet Boys album)

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). It was preceded by the singles "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,^[5] before visiting North America in July 2019.^[6] The album is their first 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.

DNA
Studio album by Backstreet Boys
Released	January 23, 2019 (2019-01-23)
Recorded	2017–2018
Genre	Pop^[1]^[2]
Length	39:18
Label	K-BAHN RCA
Producer	Stuart Crichton Kuk Harrell Jamie Hartman Ryan OG Lauv Andy Grammer Steve James Ben Bram Elof Loelv Jake Troth The Stereotypes The Wild Mitch Allan Ian Kirkpatrick Ryan Tedder Zach Skelton Steven Solomon Ross Copperman Josh Kear
Backstreet Boys chronology
In a World Like This (2013) DNA (2019) A Very Backstreet Christmas (2022)
Singles from DNA
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" Released: May 17, 2018 "Chances" Released: November 9, 2018 "No Place" Released: January 4, 2019

Background and promotion

A press release stated that the group "analyzed their individual 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 not a single song on the album was written by any members of the group.^[5] DNA is also short for "Digital and Analog" which is how the boys started recording in the 1990s.

The group announced the name of the album and its release date on 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]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	67/100^[9]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[10]
Flood Magazine	6/10^[11]
The Guardian	^[12]
God Is in the TV	2/10^[13]
The Independent	^[1]
Rolling Stone	^[2]

DNA received mostly 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 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[9]

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.^[14] 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).^[14]

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.^[15]

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.^[16]

Track listing

Credits adapted from Apple Music.

Standard edition^[17]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"	Stephen Wrabel	Stuart Crichton Jamie Hartman	3:36
2.	"Nobody Else"	Nicholas Bailey Emily Warren Gamal "LunchMoney" Lewis	Ryan OG Steve James Ari Leff^[a]	3:38
3.	"Breathe"	Ogren Bailey Burnette	Ben Bram	3:06
4.	"New Love"	Erik Hassle	Elof Loelv Jake Troth^[a] Kuk Harrell^[b]	3:00
5.	"Passionate"	Andy Grammer Lindy Robbins Louis Schoorl	The Stereotypes The Wiild Mitch Allan^[b]	3:43
6.	"Is It Just Me"	Robbin Alexander "Xplicit" Izquierdo	Ian Kirkpatrick Crichton^[b]	3:37
7.	"Chances"	Edei Casey Smith Fiona Bevan	Ryan Tedder Zach Skelton Harrell^[b]	2:53
8.	"No Place"	Brett James Joshua Miller Troy Verges	Steven Solomon	2:59
9.	"Chateau"	Wrabel Michael Pollack James Newman Cole Citrenbaum	Crichton	3:08
10.	"The Way It Was"	Garrison Starr Justin Jesso	Crichton	3:26
11.	"Just Like You Like It"	Ross Copperman Josh Kear Dustin Lynch	Copperman Kear^[a]	3:42
12.	"OK"	Newman Joe Kirkland Jason Allen	Crichton	2:31
Total length:				39:19

Japanese edition bonus tracks^[18]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s	Length
13.	"Said I Love You"	Dewain Whitmore Patrick "J. Que" Smith	Mike Sabath	2:50
14.	"Do You Remember"	Alexander Isaak	Mason Levy Tom Meredith	2:54
15.	"Best Days"	Newman Jesso	Crichton	3:40
Total length:				48:43

Notes

• ^a signifies an additional producer
• ^b signifies a vocal producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from album’s liner notes.^[19]

Backstreet Boys

• Nick Carter
• Howie Dorough
• Brian Littrell
• AJ McLean
• Kevin Richardson

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 Chart (2019) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)^[20] 5 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[21] 1 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[22] 3 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[23] 13 Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[24] 1 Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)^[25] 47 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)^[26] 31 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[27] 4 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)^[28] 26 French Albums (SNEP)^[29] 124 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[30] 2 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)^[31] 8 Irish Albums (IRMA)^[32] 25 Italian Albums (FIMI)^[33] 14 Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)^[34] 1 Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[35] 2 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[36] 40 Polish Albums (ZPAV)^[37] 20 Portuguese Albums (AFP)^[38] 2 Scottish Albums (OCC)^[39] 3 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[40] 4 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[41] 28 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[42] 1 UK Albums (OCC)^[43] 7 UK Album Downloads (OCC)^[44] 4 US Billboard 200^[14] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2019) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[45] 132 Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[46] 43 Japanese Albums (Oricon) 88 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[47] 89 US Billboard 200^[48] 164

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)^[49]	Platinum	80,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country	Date	Format(s)	Label	Ref.
Japan	January 23, 2019	CD	Sony	^[50]
United States	January 25, 2019		RCA	^[51]
United States	February 1, 2019	LP		^[52]

References

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