A Very Backstreet Christmas


A Very Backstreet Christmas is the tenth studio album and the first Christmas album by the Backstreet Boys. Initially slated for release in 2021, it was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and released on October 14, 2022. It entered the Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart at number 1, and debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 chart. A related television special, A Very Backstreet Holiday, was pulled from airing and streaming debuts after sexual assault allegations against Nick Carter, who has since filed a defamation lawsuit for $2.5 million.

Background

On April 8, 2019, the Backstreet Boys announced they would release a Christmas album. On an appearance on Watch What Happens Live! in February 2020, the Backstreet Boys reaffirmed that it was coming out, saying that they were negotiating with their record label. However, due to COVID-19, they could not begin production, and the album was delayed until 2021.
With their DNA World Tour postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Backstreet Boys started working on their first Christmas album in March 2021, and began recording on May 5, 2021. On July 12, they officially announced their return to Las Vegas for a holiday residency scheduled for November and December 2021. On August 11, Kevin Richardson announced they had finished recording vocals for a "top secret project," believed to be the Christmas album. On August 14, band member Nick Carter revealed that they had finished recording the album and had done a photo shoot for the album cover. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the album failed to meet the production deadline, forcing them to reschedule the album to release in late 2022. The band also canceled their 2021 holiday residency in Las Vegas. The Backstreet Boys took inspiration from many artists while working on the album, such as Michael Bublé and Mariah Carey, with one of the original songs, "Happy Days," being inspired by former NSYNC member Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop The Feeling."

Promotion

"Last Christmas," a cover of Wham!'s was 1984 hit, was issued on September 6, 2022, as the album lead single, followed by the release of its official music video on November 1. The Backstreet Boys' rendition peaked at number one on the US Adult Contemporary radio airplay chart, becoming the band's third topper on the chart as well as their number one hit since "I Want It That Way" reigned for 10 weeks beginning in July 1999. In October 2002, songwriter Gary Baker revealed in an interview that one of the new songs he wrote for the album, "Christmas in New York," would served as the album's second single, with a brand new music video premiere in claymation. Released on December 6, 2022, the song reached number 19 on the US Adult Contemporary chart.

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Neil Z. Yeung rated the album three and a half stars out of five. He found that "with harmonies and vocal control honed by the decades, the quintet's talents have aged like a fine mulled wine, which is apparent on A Very Backstreet Christmas A trio of originals close the album, with "Christmas in New York" bringing the nostalgic, technicolor magic of old and "Together" and "Happy Days" bridging their soul/R&B and dance-pop sides." In a negative review, Barney Harsent from The Arts Desk wrote that "the album sounds about a tenth as interesting as that scenario suggests. Where we could have joy, we get a light dusting of saccharine sweetness; where we could have fun, we get earnest emoting; where we could have a knowing wink and a rimshot, we get poor pacing and worse phrasing." He rated the album one out of five stars and concluded: "This one gives absolutely nothing in return."

Commercial performance

A Very Backstreet Christmas debuted and peaked at number 17 on the US Billboard 200, with first week sales of 20,000 equivalent albums. While it was the band's first album to miss the chart's top ten, it entered Billboards Top Holiday Albums chart at number one. Elsewhere, A Very Backstreet Christmas reached the top five in Canada and the top ten in Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and on the UK Independent Albums Chart.

Track listing

Notes
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  • signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Backstreet Boys
Musicians
  • Tommy Brown – programming, drums
  • Darius Coleman – vocal arrangements
  • Josh Conerly – drums
  • Tarron Crayton – bass
  • Taylor Hill – vocal arrangements
  • Elijah Kai – guitar
  • Jeff King – guitar
  • Mark Mill – bass
  • Greg Morrow – drums
  • Tommy Parker – programming, keyboards, vocal arrangements
  • Morgan Taylor Reid – all instruments
  • Travis Sayles – programming, keyboards, drums, bass
  • Jason Webb – piano
  • Shintaro Yasuda – programming, keyboards, and bass
Strings
  • David Campbell – arranger and conductor
  • Suzie Katayama – orchestra manager
  • Alyssa Park, Charlie Bishart, Jackie Brand, Nina Evtuhov, Gerry Hilera, Songa Lee, Sara Parkins, Kerenza Peacock, Michele Richards, Neil Samples, Ashoka Thiagarajan, Shalini Vijayin, Jenny Takamatsu – violin
  • Alma Fernandez, Luke Maurer, Rodney Wirth, Tom Lea – viola
  • Jacob Braun, Paula Hochhalter, Hilary Smith, Erika Duke – cello
  • Oscar Meza – bass
  • Jerry Williams – arranger and engineer
Technical personnel
  • Chris Bethea – engineer
  • Tommy Brown – executive producer
  • Kevin "KD" Davis – mixing
  • Jelli Dorman – engineer
  • Gene Grimaldi – mastering
  • Kuk Harrell – engineer
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Morgan Taylor Reid – mixing