Incomplete (Backstreet Boys song)

"Incomplete"
Song

"Incomplete" is the first single from the Backstreet Boys album Never Gone, released in June 2005. The power ballad is the group's first single since they decided to reunite after a three year hiatus, became one of their most successful singles, peaking at #13 in the Billboard Hot 100 and debuting at #1 on the Australian ARIA charts, selling 250,000 units worldwide, which earned it gold status. "Incomplete" is the first Backstreet Boys single to ever reach #1 on the Australian charts. It has also reached #8 on the UK Singles Chart, #1 in Italy, #3 in Switzerland, and #4 in The Netherlands. For United States of America, it was also their last successful single of the 2000s, as the song still receives airplay on fewer adult contemporary radio stations in the United States and Canada.

Track listings

UK CD1

1. "Incomplete" (Album Version) - 3:59
2. "Incomplete" (Instrumental) - 3:59

UK CD2

1. "Incomplete" (Album Version) - 3:59
2. "My Beautiful Woman" - 3:36
3. "Movin' On" - 3:30
4. "Incomplete" (Video) - 3:59

Japan

1. "Incomplete" (Album Version) - 3:59
2. "Incomplete" (Instrumental) - 3:59
3. "My Beautiful Woman" - 3:36
4. "My Beautiful Woman" (Instrumental) - 3:36

Music video

Directed by Joseph Kahn, the music video for "Incomplete" sets the band in an arid desert environment, and features each of the band members in a different element of nature. Joseph Kahn used each element to represent the different personality of the singers. He decided that A.J. McLean embodies the band's rock and roll sensibilities, with his "fiery light and Hollywood cool", so he framed McLean by the sun as he drives a classic car down the highway. "The elements are sort of embracing their performance, so it feels like emotions." Nick Carter is "very volatile at times, beautiful to look at, but dangerous if you get too close", so he is represented by fire. In the video, Carter torches McLean's '68 GTO. Howie Dorough, the "slick guy in the group," according to Kahn, became rain. He sits under an old Joshua tree as a gust of wind picks up and the downpour starts. Kevin Richardson, "the most mature and reserved" Backstreet Boy, is "colder," so he became snow. He plays a white piano in the midst of a smoldering forest as a flurry starts and smoke rises from the ground. Brian Littrell, who Kahn describes as "this big ball of energy, you can't stop him," became the crashing waves of the ocean. He stands with his feet in the water as thunderclouds assemble above him.

The video makes use of varied levels of daylight, and times of day. The group shot the video in Lancaster and Zuma Beach, California, racing from one location to another to take advantage of the fading sunlight. According to Kahn, the sunlight was not an effect, which meant the look they were going for was contingent on the sun, requiring an efficient use of time. In one sunset setup, they only had 15 minutes of light, and the crew lay on the ground so their shadows would not interfere with the shot. The approach was to simplify the video down to the bare bones so that it would be "a love letter to their fans," he said.

Charts

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Australia ARIA Singles Chart	1
Austrian Singles Chart	6
Belgium (Flanders) Singles Chart	14
Belgium (Walonia) Singles Chart	13
Canadian Singles Chart	1
Danish Singles Chart	3
Dutch Singles Chart	4
European Hot 100 Singles	6
Finnish Singles Chart	14
French Singles Chart	19
German Singles Chart	3
Irish Singles Chart	5
Italian Singles Chart	1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	12
Norwegian Singles Chart	8
Spanish Singles Chart	2
Swedish Singles Chart	9
Swiss Singles Chart	3
UK Singles Chart	8
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	13
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	4
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks	21
U.S. Top 40 Mainstream	8