N Sync Celebrity CD

Additional personnel includes: J Moss (rap vocals); Rodney Jenkins, Wade J. Robson (various instruments); Michael Thompson (acoustic guitar); Michael Landau (electric guitar); Stevie Wonder (harmonica); Michael A. Lang (piano); Brian McKnight (keyboards); Randy Jackson (bass); Anthony Nance (programming); Pharrell Williams, Carlos Vasquez, The Hampton String Quartet.

CELEBRITY was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. "Gone" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.

"Girlfriend" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.

N Sync's fourth album further mines the territory first explored on the band's previous NO STRINGS ATTACHED--namely, fame, its price and consequences. This continues a boy band tradition of questioning, if not actually biting, the hand that feeds, stretching from the Beatles through the Monkees, David Cassidy, the Bay City Rollers, and more recent contenders such as New Kids On The Block. This type of manuever usually precedes a catastrophic drop in sales and /or acrimonious split.

Regardless of whether CELEBRITY is a portent of disaster, it's an effective amalgamation of thoughtful, sometimes acerbic pop in the band's bubbly, R&B lite tradition ("Celebrity," "The Game Is Over"--the latter using arcade game noises to good percussive effect) interspersed with the ageless boy-girl dramas, such as "Girlfriend" and "Just Don't Tell Me That," that N Sync does so well. The low-key, string-colored ballad "Gone" is particularly effective, using a similar treated guitar effect to Madonna's "Don't Tell Me," while the down and dirty, self-descriptive "Up Against the Wall" is the band's insurance against any accusations of hyper-cuteness.

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N Sync: Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Lance Bass.

Producers include: The Neptunes, Brian McKnight, Rodney Jerkins, Riprock 'N' Alex G, BT.

Engineers include: Kevin Guarnieri, Joel Kazmi, Stuart Brawley.

Personnel: J. Moss (rap vocals); WaWa (chant); Esbjörn Öhrwall, Kenny Blank (guitar); Michael Hart Thompson (acoustic guitar); Michael Landau, Richard Fortus (electric guitar); Hampton String Quartet (strings); Stevie Wonder (harmonica); Michael Lang (piano); Brian McKnight (keyboards); BT, Charles Pollard (programming); Anthony Nance (drum programming).

Audio Mixers: John O'Mahoney; Michael Tucker; Chris Carroll ; Bradley Daymond; Alexander Greggs; J. Moss; Scott Kieklak; Jean-Marie Horvat; Kristian Lundin; Peter Mokran; Stuart Brawley; BT; Tony Flores; Rich Tapper; Rami; Jacob Schulze.

Recording information: Backroom Studios, Glendale, CA; Battery Studios, New York, NY; Carpal Tunnel, Los Angeles, CA; Clinton Recording Studios, New York, NY; Larrabee North, Universal City, CA; Location Studios, Stockholm, Sweden; Metalworks Recording Studio, Toronto, Canada; Parc Studios, Orlando, FL; Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA; Right Track Studio, New York, NY; Sound Chamber Recorders, North Hollywood, CA; Westlake Audio, Los Angeles, CA; WIRE Studios, Orlando, FL.

Photographer: Mark Seliger.

Arrangers: Wade Robson; Justin Timberlake; BT.

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and mulitmedia computer files.

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.Rolling Stone (8/2/01, p.62) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...The smooth-and-schizo two-step dance beats...are a perfect fit for 'NSync's fearful joy....[They] are paving a new high road for teen pop's future..."
Entertainment Weekly (7/27/01, pp.68-9) - "...The consumate teen-pop experience: It has the R&B swipes, the ballads, the grasps at artistic self-expression, and the requisite Europop. On it, 'N Sync are both puppets and puppet masters..." - Rating: B
Q (9/01, p.114) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...This is quality froth..."
NME (Magazine) (8/18/01, p.46) - 7 out of 10 - "...Daring and exotic....recovering an effervescent, boldly coloured pop tableau..."