Backstreet Boys

Backstreet Boys
Compilation album by Backstreet Boys
Released	August 12, 1997 (1997-08-12) (U.S.)
Recorded	1994—April 1997
Genre	Pop
Length	52:15
Label	Jive
Producer	Denniz PoP Max Martin Kristian Lundin
Professional reviews
Allmusic [1]
Backstreet Boys chronology
Backstreet's Back (1997) Backstreet Boys (US) (1997) Millennium (1999)
Singles from Backstreet Boys
"We've Got It Goin' On" Released: September 5, 1995 "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" Released: June 10, 1997 "As Long As You Love Me" Released: October 21, 1997 "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" Released: March 31, 1998 "I'll Never Break Your Heart" Released: July 14, 1998 "All I Have to Give" Released: December 8, 1998

Backstreet Boys is the second self-titled album by the vocal-pop group Backstreet Boys. The first was their 1995 Backstreet Boys, which was not released in the United States. This second self-titled album was released in 1997 and was their debut album in the country. The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard charts and has been certified 14x Platinum (Diamond) by RIAA for sales to retailers. This was also reported as the second highest seller in the past 14 years for Music Club sales back in 2003, selling 1.72 million units.^[1] Together with the international release Backstreet's Back, this sold 32 million albums worldwide.

This album is a collection of tracks from Backstreet Boys' first and second international albums, 1995 Backstreet Boys and 1997 Backstreet's Back respectively. The album was released in 1997 to coincide with Backstreet's Back. Also both albums share basically the same cover, only with slight differences.

Album editions

There were two editions of this album available. The original release had eleven songs and was missing the song Everybody (Backstreet's Back). Presumably this may have been due to the message of the song, indicated in the title of the song, which correlates with the title of the international album (Backstreet's Back), which would not necessarily make sense in the context of an American debut. The decision to make it a single may have contributed to the second edition of the album, which contained an extended version of the song (it comes as the forth track, after "As long as you love me"^[2]). The original edition had maroon spines and border around the tracklist on the back of the album, and had a blue background on the left of the cover where the "enhanced CD" logo is. The second pressing has teal spines and tracklist border, and a straw coloured background behind the "enhanced CD" logo.

Besides the extended version of "Everybody", there were a few other differences between the US album and international albums. The second verse of Quit Playing Games, originally sung by Brian Littrell like the first verse, was rerecorded to capitalize on Nick Carter's popularity before the song was released as a single. Supposedly due to an error on the part of someone in the production chain, the wrong version of "As Long As You Love Me" was included on the American album, but not on Backstreet's Back. This supposedly annoyed writer and producer Max Martin. This version subsequently became the version released as a single to radio and video. It has noticeably different instrumentation and mixing - especially prominent in the song's intro. It also has a slightly different arrangement.

The album was an enhanced CD, containing multimedia files that can be accessed by putting the disc into a CD-ROM drive.

Track listing

1. "We've Got It Goin' On" (Denniz PoP, Max Martin, Herbert Crichlow) - 3:39 Lead Vocals by Brian Littrell and AJ McLean
2. "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" (Max Martin, Herbert Crichlow) - 3:52 Lead Vocals by Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and AJ McLean
3. "As Long As You Love Me" (Max Martin) - 3:40 Lead Vocals by Nick Carter and Brian Littrell
4. "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" [Extended Version] (Max Martin, Denniz PoP) - 4:47 Lead Vocals by AJ McLean, Nick Carter and Brian Littrell
5. "All I Have to Give" (Full Force) - 4:36 Lead Vocals by Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough and AJ McLean
6. "Anywhere for You" (Baker, Perry) - 4:40 Lead Vocals by Brian Littrell and Nick Carter
7. "Hey Mr. DJ (Keep Playin This Song)" (Allen, Campbell, Skinner) - 4:42 Lead Vocals by AJ McLean
8. "I'll Never Break Your Heart" (Manno, Wilde) - 4:48 Lead Vocals by AJ McLean and Brian Littrell, Spoken by Kevin Richardson
9. "Darlin'" (Allen, Mortonur Heart) - 5:31 Lead Vocals By Brian Littrell, Spoken by Kevin Richardson
10. "Get Down (You're the One for Me)" (Aris, Toni Cottura) - 3:50 Lead Vocals by Nick Carter, AJ Mclean, and Brian Littrell, Rap by Smooth T and AJ McLean
11. "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (Cordes, Kemp) - 3:30 Lead Vocals by Brian Littrell and AJ McLean
12. "If You Want It To Be Good Girl (Get Yourself a Bad Boy)" (R.J. Lange) - 4:49 Lead Vocals by Nick Carter, Brian Littrell and AJ McLean

Chart positions

Album

• 1997 — #4

Singles

• 1997 — "We've Got It Goin' On"
• 1997 — "Get Down (You're the One for Me)"
• 1997 — "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" #2 (Billboard Hot 100)
• 1997 — "As Long As You Love Me" #4 (Billboard Hot 100 Airplay)
• 1998 — "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" #4 (Billboard Hot 100)
• 1998 — "I'll Never Break Your Heart" #4 (Billboard Hot 100 Airplay)
• 1999 — "All I Have to Give" #5 (Billboard Hot 100)

Certification

• Backstreet Boys has received the Diamond Award from the RIAA and has sold over 14 million copies to date in the United States.^[3]

See also

• List of best-selling albums worldwide
• List of best-selling albums in the United States

References

1. ^ Music Club Sales up to 2003
2. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Backstreet-Boys-ENHANCED-CD/dp/B00000053X/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1256398503&sr=1-7
3. ^ http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=tblDiamond