*NSYNC – No Strings Attached / Jive Audio CD 2000

UPC 724384922023

No Strings Attached is the third studio album by American boy band NSYNC, released on March 21, 2000, by Jive Records. Looking to distinguish their music from that of their labelmates, the band chose to incorporate pop and R&B styles. Prior to the release of the album, NSYNC separated from their management Trans Continental and their label RCA Records; its title is a play on the idea of independence from corporate control. Contributions to the album's production came from a wide range of producers, including group members Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez and collaborators Kristian Lundin, Jake Schulze, Rami, Teddy Riley, Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, Richard Marx, Veit Renn, Babyface, and Guy Roche.

After several delays due to legal battles, No Strings Attached was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. The album debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 2.4 million copies, setting the record for one-week sales in the country; a record that lasted 15 years, until Adele surpassed the first-week sales record in 2015 with her third studio album 25. Four singles were released from the album. Its lead single "Bye Bye Bye" is credited with creating the hype for the album's eventual landmark success. It was the best selling album of 2000. The band promoted the album by the No Strings Attached Tour, being one of the highest-grossing tours of the year.

The album was considered to be the peak of the teen pop genre, as CDs were beginning to be phased out in favor of peer-to-peer file sharing sites such as Napster and LimeWire, as well as trends shifting away from the genre, beginning with the Backstreet Boys' Black & Blue (2000). NSYNC were considered to be influential in crossing over music genres, which helped distinguish themselves from the Backstreet Boys, and inspire other boy bands such as BTS experiment with different genres of music while expressing their originality.