Celebrity (album)

At the 2000 Billboard Music Awards on December 5, NSYNC announced that they would begin "experimenting with new music" for their third studio album in January–February 2001 at a recording studio in Florida. Justin Timberlake revealed that they planned to spend two months there to come up with ideas, while Joey Fatone stated that the group may leave the state as the album progresses. The band revealed that they wanted to work with Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs and Richard Marx, who they had collaborated with on their second studio album, No Strings Attached.[5]

JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake co-wrote ten of thirteen songs on the album and produced the majority of the tracklist in an effort to experiment with different sounds and genres.[6]

Although No Strings Attached sold 14 million copies worldwide, including 2.4 million in the US during its opening week, the group were constantly ridiculed by critics, as they did not fit their preconceptions as a "credible group" and weren't considered "artistic".[7][8] In response, they decided to be more involved in production, co-writing ten of the album's thirteen tracks. JC Chasez discussed the album's recording process in an interview with Billboard:[7]

Our objective was not to be self-conscious and try to make another hit record. Instead, we set out to make a record that was more reflective of what turns us on musically. We also wanted to prove that pop music comes in a lot of different flavors. It's not all bubble-gum.

The band decided to assign roles for each member, in order to combat media perception of "leadership roles within the group". Timberlake and Chasez concentrated on the album's production and music, Lance Bass was assigned to handle business and management, while Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick decided to implement their ideas into the album's supporting tour.[8]

NSYNC sought out several collaborators in order to add new styles to their sound, such as BT and The Neptunes.[6] BT was initially hesitant to work with the group when Timberlake approached him in the fall of 2000, as their styles were opposite from each other. He finally agreed when Timberlake was willing to work with the sound used in "The Hip Hop Phenomenon", taken from the UK version of his 1999 album Movement in Still Life, stating "If you wanna do something that punk-rock, I'll do it".[6][9] During production, BT used special equipment usually used in movie sound effects, and constantly yelled out Michael Jackson's name towards Timberlake to inspire him. He wanted to ensure that the song transitioned from "new-school R&B, Timbaland-style beats, to progressive house".[9]

The album's second single "Gone" was initially written as a duet between Timberlake and Michael Jackson, but was declined by the latter.[10] Timberlake brought the song up to the band's A&R team, where it was eventually recorded by the group. Jackson changed his mind after the song's release and wanted it to only be performed as a duet with Timberlake. However, they could not find a way to revamp the song.[11] Timberlake was also determined to get Stevie Wonder to play the harmonica for "Something Like You" after he came up with the composition alongside co-writer Robin Wiley. Wonder recorded the part when Jive Records contacted him, which Timberlake described as a "surreal moment".[6]

The album's first track "Pop" refers to the band's longevity during a period of celebrity culture.[12] Larry Flick of Billboard described the song as "a crafty, anthemic blend of Cameo-style electro-funk beats, Euro-pop synths, heavy-metal guitars, and Timberlake's now-signature human beat-box riffs", while John Hugar of Uproxx described the song as "a sort of proto-salvo against in the rockist vs. poptimists argument", and stated that it was a preview to "Rock Your Body".[13] The next track "Celebrity" is lyrically themed around the band's struggle of being accepted in celebrity culture without being manipulated.[12] The song was produced by Rodney Jerkins.[14] "The Game is Over", a track utilizing "arcade noises and video game beeps", was described by Flick as a "safe-single bet".[15] The fourth track "Girlfriend" is an R&B song produced by The Neptunes.[14] The remix, which featured rapper Nelly, gave the song "a distinct hip hop feel".[12] "The Two of Us" contains a "British dancefloor beat",[16] while the sixth track "Gone" was described by Billboard staff as being "harrowing, relentless and unmistakably final".[17] The ballad was also noted by Hugar as the precursor to “Cry Me a River".[13]

The seventh track "Tell Me, Tell Me... Baby" was written by Max Martin, and contains elements of Europop.[18] "Up Against the Wall" is an R&B song with genres of new jack swing and two-step.[16] "See Right Through You" is the ninth track in the album, and also contains an R&B sound.[14] The song describes a "tale of betrayal by scheming girls."[2] The Brian McKnight produced "Selfish" combined the vocals of Chasez and Timberlake with an adult contemporary track.[2] "Just Don't Tell Me That" is a teen pop track similarly compared to songs by Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys.[19] The twelfth track "Something Like You" is a ballad likened to the discography of 98 Degrees, with Stevie Wonder playing the harmonica.[2] The thirteenth and final track in the US album "Do Your Thing" is described by David Browne as "mild electronica",[2] and was included since Jive Records wanted a song that showcased the group's vocal talents and harmony.[6]

The band appeared on an episode of TRL on the album's release date.

On May 11, 2001, MTV played a recording of "Pop" via satellite during NSYNC's tour rehearsal for PopOdyssey, which led the song to be released to radio three days later.[7] Initially, Celebrity was supposed to be released in May, coinciding with the start of the tour. However, the album was pushed back to June 26, as the band were still in the process of recording.[20] As the tour needed to conclude prior to the start of the 2001 NFL season, the album was again pushed back to July 24, 2001.[21][22] Consequently, the band decided to perform the album's new songs on tour before release.[22] The tour was sponsored by Verizon, who launched several television and radio advertising campaigns promoting its release date.[23] In an interview with Billboard, Chasez stated that the concept of playing new songs in a concert was "unusual", but felt that it was a "good sign" that the crowd were actively participating.[7] Jive Records president Barry Weiss was also taken aback by the band's touring approach, acknowledging that the audience response would indicate "an album of immeasurable creative and commercial depth".[7]

A television special titled The Road to Celebrity was broadcast on MTV from July 21–22, 2001.[7] The album premiere was held at West Hollywood on July 23, 2001, which included celebrities such as Hugh Hefner and the Olsen Twins.[24] The band also played several songs at a tailgate party in the parking lot and appeared on TRL on July 24, 2001, which coincided with the album's release.[7]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	65/100[30]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[18]
Blender	[31]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[32]
Entertainment Weekly	B[2]
NME	8/10[33]
Q	[34]
Rolling Stone	[19]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[35]
Slant Magazine	[3]

Celebrity received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 65 based on 11 reviews.[30]

Upon the album's release, AllMusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that Celebrity is NSYNC's "most varied album yet, but the emergence of Timberlake and Chasez as credible soulful singers and, yes, songwriters makes it their best album yet, and one of the best of the teen pop boom of 1999–2001".[18] J.D. Considine of Blender felt that the album "shines brightest when the group matures enough to forget about its image and focus on the tunes", stating that songs such as "Up Against the Wall" and "Celebrity" aren't as satisfying as the gently melodic "Something Like You."[31] In Christgau's Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the album a one-star honorable mention, writing that "they survive writing their own songs", giving examples of "Selfish" and "Do Your Thing".[32] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly stated that the album was "the consummate teen-pop experience", praising their diversification of genres ranging from R&B, ballads, self-expression and Europop.[2]

Alex Needham of NME gave the album an 8/10 score, writing that although NSYNC shows discontent in the album, they "have the tunes to make up for it".[33] In a review from Rolling Stone, Barry Walters highlighted how the anxiety in their vocals have allowed them to "pave a new high road for teen pop’s future".[19] Writing for Slant, Sal Cinquemani criticized the album's experimental approach, writing that it was "unfortunate that the group couldn’t completely discard the classic hit-making formula in favor of the more experimental pop that seems so inherent in this and their last album, No Strings Attached." However, he was optimistic that the band could become "The Beatles of their generation" if they survive the growing pains and their aging demographic.[3]

In the United States, Celebrity debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Although it did not sell as much as its predecessor, No Strings Attached, Celebrity still managed to gain the second-best debut week sales at the time since SoundScan began monitoring record retailers in 1991, selling 1,879,955 copies.[23] It was suggested by Billboard that the album's failure to match the first week sales of their previous album was due to the US economy's weaker state in comparison to the previous year, as well as the music industry's first decline in album sales in more than a decade.[23] The album debuted at number one in Canada by selling 71,254 copies, which was the biggest first week album to date that year.[23] Celebrity sold 20,000 units in Japan's first week sales, alongside the 13,000 units sold in the UK's first week.[23] Several European companies reported that album sales were slow, including Fnac in France and Spain, WOM in Germany, and Ricordi in Italy.[23]

On August 22, 2001, the album was certified five-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting five million shipments.[36] It ended up becoming the third best-selling album in 2001, selling 4.42 million copies.[37] Sales of the album were marginally lower than Shaggy's Hot Shot by 86,000 copies, which only beat their album in the cassette format; Hot Shot sold 304,000 tapes, while Celebrity only sold 92,000 tapes in comparison.[37] Celebrity was ranked at number nine on the Billboard 200 year-end chart in 2001.[38]

As of March 2015, the album sold 5,002,000 copies in the US according to Nielsen Music.[39] It sold an additional 826,000 units at the BMG Music Club as of February 2003.[40]

In a 2016 retrospective article, John Hugar of Uproxx described Celebrity as "a logical swan song" since it came after the record-breaking commercial success of their previous album No Strings Attached. He wrote that the album's memorable singles would allow the band to remain in the spotlight before Justin Timberlake would begin his solo career. Hugar compared the situation to Zayn Malik and Harry Styles' aspirations to pursue solo stardom after One Direction's announced hiatus, concluding that it is "a reminder that boy bands are rarely built to last".[13]

Writing about the album's 15th anniversary in 2016, Bianca Gracie of Fuse acknowledged that NSYNC would go on hiatus following the release of Celebrity as Timberlake would co-write and co-produce more tracks than member JC Chasez, using "Gone" as an example.[14] Similarly, NPR's Maria Sherman stated that it "leaned even harder into R&B" and "firmly established Timberlake as the bandleader".[41]

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[42] All lead vocals provided by Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez.

All credits taken from AllMusic.[1]

• List of fastest-selling albums worldwide

• Celebrity at Metacritic