Maps of Music

This Is Us (2009)

Where the lyrics of This Is Us take you, and where it was really made.

This Is Us debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200, but sales fell 79.8 percent in its second week and it dropped to number sixty-four.

Key places

Henson Recording Studios, Hollywood (2009)

Recording site A&M Recording Studios — Henson Recording Studios is listed among the Hollywood, Los Angeles studios where this album was recorded. The map point is at building level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Conway Recording Studios, Hollywood (2009)

Recording site Conway Recording Studios — Conway Recording Studios is credited among the Hollywood, Los Angeles studios used for recording this album. The point marks the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Westlake Recording Studios, Hollywood (2009)

Recording site Westlake Recording Studios — Westlake Recording Studios is credited among the Hollywood, Los Angeles studios used for this album. The point marks the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Chalice, Hollywood (2009)

Recording site Chalice — Chalice is listed among the Hollywood, Los Angeles recording locations for this album. The coordinate may not match the studio building, so the point is approximate. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The Village Recorder, Los Angeles (2009)

Recording site Village Recorders — The Village Recorder is listed among the Los Angeles recording locations for this album. The point marks the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Pulse, Los Angeles (2009)

Recording site Pulse (Los Angeles) — Pulse is listed alongside The Village Recorder among the Los Angeles recording locations for this album. The point marks the studio address. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Maratone Studio, Stockholm (2009)

Recording site Master Plan — Maratone Studio is credited as a recording location for this album in Stockholm, Sweden. The point is at city-center level only. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Blueprint, Manchester (2009)

Recording site Blueprint — Blueprint in Manchester, England is listed as a recording location for this album. The point marks the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• This Is Us is the seventh studio album of the American pop group Backstreet Boys, and the sixth in the United States
• It follows Unbreakable (2007)
• Released on 30 September 2009 in Japan, with other territories following in the days after
• The album is credited with a total of eleven songs
• It was the group's final album on Jive Records
• It was also the last of two albums recorded as a quartet before Kevin Richardson rejoined the band in 2012

Background

• The group reunited with previous collaborator and producer Max Martin
• The stated aim was to make their best record since Millennium (1999)
• Other collaborators included Ryan Tedder, Claude Kelly, Jim Jonsin, RedOne, Brian Kennedy, and T-Pain
• The group confirmed the title in an interview with Extra TV
• The RCA/Jive press release called it a finely crafted R&B and pop album
• The release described the group as one of the most successful groups of all time

Recording

• On 1 May 2009, the management team expressed discontent that four recorded songs had leaked online
• AJ McLean said the group were upset because extra care had been taken to keep the record secret
• The group used feedback from the leaks to guide the direction of the album and song selection
• The RedOne collaboration was largely a last-minute affair
• Near the turn-in date, RedOne revealed he had worked on three songs for the group
• Five or six songs had been in the running for the lead single
• Recording credits list studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles (Henson, Conway, Westlake, Chalice), Los Angeles (The Village Recorder, Pulse), Stockholm (Maratone), and Manchester (Blueprint)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in 1993 in Orlando, Florida, as an American vocal group and pop boy band.
• Members Howie Dorough and AJ McLean met through a vocal coach; Nick Carter was found through auditions.
• Cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson, both from Lexington, Kentucky, joined; Littrell formally joined on April 20, 1993, which became the group's anniversary.
• Manager Lou Pearlman named them after Orlando's Backstreet Market flea market.

Members

• AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell (1993–present).
• Kevin Richardson (1993–2006, 2012–present); he left in 2006 and rejoined in 2012.

Career

• Debut album Backstreet Boys (1996) was a hit in Europe; the US self-titled album followed in 1997.
• Millennium (1999), led by the global hit "I Want It That Way", made them superstars; the album sold over 12 million copies in the US.
• Black & Blue (2000) and The Hits – Chapter One (2001) followed; a two-year hiatus came after.
• Comeback album Never Gone (2005) and later albums Unbreakable (2007), This Is Us (2009), In a World Like This (2013), and DNA (2019, debuting at number one).
• Sold over 150 million records worldwide, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
• Held Las Vegas residencies Larger Than Life (2017–2019) and Into the Millennium at Sphere (2025).

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics gave the album mixed reviews, praising the vocals, hooks, and modern production, while others criticized its unoriginal material
• Metacritic average score was 67, based on 5 reviews
• AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine): found the hooks more attention-grabbing than Unbreakable
• AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine): judged the production more modern than pandering compared with New Kids on the Block's The Block (2008)
• AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine): said the group sounds great for their age and at their peak
• Entertainment Weekly (Mikael Wood): praised the return of the old teen-pop sound with new producers and confident vocals
• Billboard (Jason Lipshutz): admired the foray into throbbing electronica, calling it a possible stepping stone away from pop radio
• Digital Spy (Nick Levine): said the production mostly sounds cool, current, and contemporary
• Los Angeles Times (August Brown): called it a competent but very late-adopted pop-trance slurry
• Toronto Star (John Terauds): noted an '80s influence but said nothing sounds truly original
• Slant Magazine (Jonathan Keefe): criticized retreads and embarrassing songs, saying the collaborators failed the band
• laut.de (Matthias Manthe): described the album as pale musical soullessness

Records

• US Billboard 200: debuted and peaked at number nine, with first-week sales of 42,000 copies
• First group since Sade to have their first seven charting albums reach the top ten
• Second-week sales fell 79.8 percent to 8,000 units; dropped to number sixty-four
• Stayed on the chart for five weeks in total
• US sales reached 98,000 copies by June 2011 (Nielsen SoundScan)
• Japan Oricon Albums Chart: number two
• Canada: number three
• Netherlands and Spain: number five
• Switzerland: number nine; Brazil: number nine; Germany: number ten
• UK Albums Chart: debuted at number thirty-nine, one week on chart
• UK: certified silver by the BPI on 12 January 2024

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The lead single Straight Through My Heart premiered on the official website on 17 August 2009; its video was filmed in downtown Los Angeles with the group battling vampires
• Ryan Tedder song Shadows, co-written by AJ McLean, was written for this album but did not make the cut; Simon Cowell later gave it to Leona Lewis's second album Echo, and it ended up on Westlife's 10th album Where We Are
• In 2011 it was revealed that songs recorded for this album were targeted by the German hacker Deniz A., also known as DJ Stolen
• A July 2010 criminal complaint against DJ Stolen listed a song called Masquerade, described at the time as a new Backstreet Boys recording
• The video for Bigger was directed by Frank Borin and filmed in Tokyo during the promotional tour
• The This Is Us Tour began in Europe in October 2009 and ended in South America in March 2011

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact