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'N Sync is *NSYNC's debut studio album that was released on May 26, 1997 by Trans Continental and RCA Records.

Tracklisting[]

  1. Tearin' Up My Heart 3:30
  2. I Just Wanna Be With You 4:03
  3. Here We Go 3:36
  4. For The Girl Who Has Everything 3:46
  5. God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You 4:43
  6. You Got It 3:34
  7. I Need Love 3:15
  8. I Want You Back 3:22
  9. Everything I Own 3:59
  10. I Drive Myself Crazy 4:00
  11. Crazy For You 3:42
  12. Sailing 4:37
  13. Giddy Up 4:08

Album Background[]

In 1995, Chris Kirkpatrick met with Lou Pearlman to talk about forming a pop group. Pearlman said that he would finance the group if Kirkpatrick would find other young male singers to be with him in the band; this prompted Kirkpatrick to call Joey Fatone, a friend he had met while working at Universal Studios. Fatone and Kirkpatrick then approached Pearlman for more suggestions.

Pearlman looked through some tapes they had, and one of Justin Timberlake from The Mickey Mouse Club caught their eye. Timberlake soon joined the group and recommended his friend Joshua "JC" Chasez, who also was a cast member on the "Mickey Mouse Club". Soon, they decided to even out their sound by finding a bass singer.

Initially, their fifth member was to be Jason Galasso. After several weeks of rehearsals, the group set up a showcase and began planning to officially sign with Pearlman's Trans Continental Label. However, at the last minute, Galasso dropped out because he was not fond of the group's musical direction, claiming that being a teen idol was never a goal of his.

In need of a bass, the group auditioned several people without success. Timberlake soon called his vocal coach, who suggested a 16-year-old boy from Mississippi named Lance Bass. Bass flew to Orlando, Florida to audition and was immediately accepted into the group.

After being signed to BMG Ariola Munich, another of Pearlman's labels, *NSYNC were sent to Sweden to begin working on their debut album with the help of producers such as Denniz Pop, Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson.

Chart Performance[]

"'N Sync" debuted at #82 on the Billboard 200 the week of April 11, 1998, with sales of approximately 14,000 units.

After six months, on October 10, 1998, the album reached and peaked at #2 on the chart and remained on it for 109 weeks. It spent a total of 30 weeks inside the top 10.

The album spent three weeks at #2 from September 1998 to January 1999. It peaked behind three different number-one blockbuster albums: Lauryn Hill's album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill", Garth Brooks' album "Double Live" and Britney Spears' album "...Baby One More Time."

According to Nielsen SoundScan, it was the fifth best selling record of 1998 in the United States with 4,400,000 copies sold.

On January 5, 2000, the album was certified ten times platinum by the RIAA, denoting shipments of ten millions.

As of March 2015, "'N Sync" has sold 9,854,000 copies in the US (according to Nielsen Music) with an additional 1.50 million units at the BMG Music Club (as of early 2003).

In the United Kingdom, "'N Sync" debuted and peaked at #30 on July 11, 1999, and remained on the chart for only three weeks. Worldwide, the album has sold 15,540,000 copies.

The album was ranked as the 137th best album of all time on the Billboard Top 200 Albums of All Time.

Critical Reception[]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote in his review of the album: "The only thing the five boys of *NSYNC have is good looks, good producers, and a couple of catchy singles like "I Want You Back." That's enough for a hit, and not quite enough for an album. Even so, the filler is well made and competently performed, which means their teen fans will enjoy the album while it's hot. Whether they return to it again -- either out of affection or kitsch -- is another matter entirely."

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