Today marks the 15th anniversary of the release of the Backstreet Boys’ “Never Gone” album. To some, this is one of the best albums they ever released. To others, not so much. But it marked a huge change for the boys. They tried to go to a more “organic” sound (thanks for repeatedly saying that Kevin).
While the album didn’t debut at number one like their previous albums, it did debut at No. 3, making it their fifth consecutive top ten album debut on the Billboard charts. A month later, the album was certified platinum in the United States for sales over one million copies. Remember, this is when album sales were going down thanks to digitalized music.
The singles released in Never Gone included ” Incomplete “, ” Just Want You to Know “, ” 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.
To the majority of us at BSB Fangirls, this is one of our favorite albums for various reasons.
Andie
Favorite songs: I Still and Climbing the Walls. Also, it’s my second favorite era for Kevin’s hair. God bless that buzz cut.
Brittany
Safest Place to Hide and Poster Girl are the two gems from this album.
My sister (who is 3.5 years younger than me) has ALWAYS been my BSB partner in crime and one of my best friends. She says SPTH is “our song” (minus that whole first verse about wedding things). ?
And, if we are counting unreleased tracks, nothin’ beats kisses in a bean bag chair. ??
Lisa
The never gone era was when it all started for me. Been a fan since 1995, but this was the first tour that I went to, the first time I met them, and when I made the friends I still have today.
The tour was (for me) amazing! I remember when they played Wembley it was actually in a huge tent due to the arena being rebuilt, and the stadium was also being built. We stayed in the hotel by the arena and you could hear them sound checking in our room.
This was the tour I also made a whole fan-documentary for…. that, will never see the light of day ?
As for the album, well I am a total music slut for poster girl, weird world, and climbing the walls… but my two faves are deffo I still and just want you to know.
In fact to this day this album still get played from start to end (although I can’t listen to never gone. As this was played at my mums funeral)
I will always love the never gone era.
Kim
I love this album so much to this day. It’s really hard to choose a favorite song so I’m just going to list all of them. “Siberia” gives me chills when I listen to it, and I really love “I Still, “Safest Place to Hide”, “Climbing the Walls”, “Crawling Back to You”, “Just Want You to Know”, & “Incomplete”. Ya know, basically the entire album.
Kerry
I absolutely love this album! My favorite song on the album is “Siberia.” The harmonies are absolutely beautiful. I also really love “Safest Place to Hide,” “I Still,” and “Incomplete.” Also, “Just Want You To Know” is an absolute jam and it’s one where you have to turn it all the way up when you’re driving.
Stephanie
I honestly never gave Never Gone a chance. The 1st single was “Incomplete” and I didn’t like the song or the video. I purchased the CD but didn’t really listen to it enough to know any of the other songs. One of life’s biggest regrets.
Now years later I found myself loving the majority of the album. “Safest Place to Hide” has special meaning as I know it’s the 1st song that captured Chloe’s attention. This may have been the moment that brought me back to the fandom.
Karah
“Never Gone” will always hold a special place for me for two reasons. One is that I saw their first full concert since their two-year break where they performed a lot of the songs from “Never Gone” which wasn’t released until 6+ months later. Cameras weren’t allowed, but I snuck a disposable camera in.
Secondly, this album is the home of my all-time favorite Backstreet Boys song – “Just Want You To Know.” Why is it my favorite? The lyrics. The melody. Everything. The music video solidified it as my favorite song.
Also unreleased track “Last Night You Saved My Life” is in my top 15 favorite songs. IT’S AMAZING!
Cindy
Never Gone is one of my favorite albums. I love it’s rock vibe. My favorites are Incomplete, Climbing The Walls and (I know it’s technically unreleased) Song For The Unloved. I remember joining Weird World around this time and started talking to other fans online before the tour. Even though I had seen them on the Up Close & Personal tour prior, this was the first true tour I went to. I brought a red boa along to the show, and because I had gotten in trouble for trying to film the show with a camcorder (lol), security let me stay there for the rest of the show to the side – and I was able to throw it up onstage and AJ wore it during Just Want You To Know!
And here are some of our favorite “Never Gone” era photos. 🙂
And here are a few of our favorite “Never Gone” appearances.
