Larger than Life (Backstreet Boys song)
Encyclopedia
"Larger than Life" is a song by the Backstreet Boys
, released as the second single from their 1999 album, Millennium
. It was written by Max Martin
, Kristian Lundin
and Brian Littrell
and is mainly a tribute to the group's fans. The song broke the record for longest running #1 on MTV
's Total Request Live
. The song reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100
and #5 on the UK Singles Chart
. Blender
has it at #292 on its list for the 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born. It is one of the most popular songs performed by the group.
" in a meeting with Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson in February 1999. Thus, plans were canceled and Larger Than Life was later released as the second single.
from August 12–14, 1999 in Orlando, FL, who also directed the band's "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
" video in June 1997, which bears a number of similarities to this video. It takes place in a futuristic space setting, and includes elaborate special effects and animation, as well as a break-down with a dance number. The video opens with a long pass of a spaceship over the top of the camera as a number of the band's past singles cycle through as if on a radio dial. A robot, whose face is portrayed by Antonio Fargas
, who played the driver in the "Everybody" video, awakens the band members from their sleep in pods on the ship. Each of the band members is subsequently featured in their own separate vignettes (Nick with robots, Kevin as a space fighter, Howie is dancing with dancers, Brian fighting with a virus, and AJ retrieving boxes of information), while being featured together on a large stage doing a dance routine with backup dancers. A breakdown
was added to the remix version of the song before the final choruses for the extended dance sequence which continues to the end of the song. The vignettes are intercut with the dance sequence following the breakdown. The video reportedly went over budget, which was the reason that Howie Dorough
's vignette was not particularly elaborate. The video holds a Guinness World Record for the 8th most expensive music video with estimated production costs of over $2,100,000 USD. The single version differs from the album version with a more upbeat percussion track. and two versions: original and remix (with no guitar solo).
CD1
CD2 (Digipak Sleeve With Poster)
Double 12" Vinyl
band Jaded Heart covered "Larger than Life" for their 2002 album The Journey Will Never End. German speed metal
band Paragon
covered "Larger than Life" for their 2008 album Screenslaves. Egyptian rock
band Karma
covered "Larger than Life" for their 2009 album Actions In Previous Existence. DJ team CJ Crew
recorded an uptempo eurodance
remix of the song for the 2001 compilation Dancemania Speed 6.
Backstreet Boys
The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...
, released as the second single from their 1999 album, Millennium
Millennium (Backstreet Boys album)
Millennium is the third album by American boyband Backstreet Boys. It was a highly anticipated follow-up to both their United States debut album, and their second internationally released album. It was their first album to be released in both the U.S...
. It was written by Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
, Kristian Lundin
Kristian Lundin
Kristian Carl Marcus Lundin is a Swedish composer, music producer and songwriter.-Biography:Beginning his career as a member of the Swedish duo Amadin , Kristian's writing and production talents were quickly recognized by music industry icon Denniz PoP, who invited him to join the Cheiron Studios...
and Brian Littrell
Brian Littrell
Brian Thomas Littrell is an American singer-songwriter, best known as a member of the Backstreet Boys. He is also a contemporary Christian recording artist and released a solo album, Welcome Home, in 2006...
and is mainly a tribute to the group's fans. The song broke the record for longest running #1 on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
. The song reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and #5 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
has it at #292 on its list for the 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born. It is one of the most popular songs performed by the group.
Production
Larger Than Life was originally written and composed sometime in 1998 by group member, Brian Littrell. When the group traveled to Sweden in early November 1998 to record at Cheiron Studios, alterations and additions were later made to the lyrics by the producers Max Martin and Kristian Lundin. Larger Than Life was initially registered and copyrighted in December 1998 as an unfinished demo, not being released on Millennium preview snippets. Prior to February 1999, in order to traditionally follow up the template of releasing upbeat numbers as lead singles(i.e. We've Got Goin' On, Everybody), Larger Than Life was intended as the first single off the upcoming album. This was due to the group originally wanting to title the forthcoming album "Larger Than Life". This changed upon hearing the completed version of "I Want It That WayI Want It That Way
"I Want It That Way" is a song by the Backstreet Boys, and their first single from their 1999 album Millennium. It was written by Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson along with other producers. The song was highly played on the radio and the video, directed by Wayne Isham, was well played on television...
" in a meeting with Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson in February 1999. Thus, plans were canceled and Larger Than Life was later released as the second single.
Music video
The music video for "Larger than Life" was a big-budget production directed by Joseph KahnJoseph Kahn
Joseph Kahn is an American music video, advertising, and feature film director.-Early life:Kahn was born in Jersey Village, Texas, a suburb of Houston. He is of Korean ancestry. He spent part of his childhood growing up in Livorno, Italy until his family moved to Texas...
from August 12–14, 1999 in Orlando, FL, who also directed the band's "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
"Everybody " is the first single from the Backstreet Boys' second international album Backstreet's Back in 1997, and the third single and fourth track from their debut US album in 1997. It is one of their signature songs. The US debut was originally released without the song, which references the...
" video in June 1997, which bears a number of similarities to this video. It takes place in a futuristic space setting, and includes elaborate special effects and animation, as well as a break-down with a dance number. The video opens with a long pass of a spaceship over the top of the camera as a number of the band's past singles cycle through as if on a radio dial. A robot, whose face is portrayed by Antonio Fargas
Antonio Fargas
Antonio Juan Fargas is an American actor famous for his roles in 1970s blaxploitation movies, as well as his portrayal of Huggy Bear in the 1970s TV series Starsky and Hutch.-Biography:...
, who played the driver in the "Everybody" video, awakens the band members from their sleep in pods on the ship. Each of the band members is subsequently featured in their own separate vignettes (Nick with robots, Kevin as a space fighter, Howie is dancing with dancers, Brian fighting with a virus, and AJ retrieving boxes of information), while being featured together on a large stage doing a dance routine with backup dancers. A breakdown
Break (music)
In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section or interlude during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece....
was added to the remix version of the song before the final choruses for the extended dance sequence which continues to the end of the song. The vignettes are intercut with the dance sequence following the breakdown. The video reportedly went over budget, which was the reason that Howie Dorough
Howie Dorough
Howard Dwaine "Howie D." Dorough is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, musician, entertainer, actor and member of American music group Backstreet Boys-Biography:...
's vignette was not particularly elaborate. The video holds a Guinness World Record for the 8th most expensive music video with estimated production costs of over $2,100,000 USD. The single version differs from the album version with a more upbeat percussion track. and two versions: original and remix (with no guitar solo).
Track listing
- UK
CD1
- "Larger Than Life" (The Video Mix) - 3:56
- "Larger Than Life" (Eclipse New Life Mix) - 8:42
- "If You Knew What I Knew" - 4:13
CD2 (Digipak Sleeve With Poster)
- "Larger Than Life" (The Video Mix) - 3:56
- "Larger Than Life" (The Video Mix - Instrumental) - 3:56
- "If You Knew What I Knew" (Extended Version) - 5:03
- America
Double 12" Vinyl
- "Larger Than Life" (Keith Litman Club Mix) - 6:03
- "Larger Than Life" (Jazzy Jim Bonus Beats) - 3:44
- "Larger Than Life" (Extended Video Mix) - 4:14
- "Larger Than Life" (Keith Litman Dub) - 9:16
- "Larger Than Life" (Jazzy Jim Streetshow Mix) - 4:05
- "Larger Than Life" (Jack D. Elliot Club Mix) - 5:48
- "Larger Than Life" (Album Version) - 5:52
- "Larger Than Life" (Eclipse's New Life Mix) - 8:47
- "Larger Than Life" (Madgroove Progressive Mix) - 9:16
Charts
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... Singles Chart |
3 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 15 |
| Begium (Flanders) Singles Chart | 12 |
| Belgium (Walonia) Singles Chart | 12 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 5 |
| Canadian RPM Singles Chart | 4 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 6 |
| Finnish Singles Chart | 2 |
| French Singles Chart | 58 |
| German Singles Chart | 5 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 9 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 6 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 11 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 5 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 4 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 10 |
| UK Singles Chart | 5 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 25 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 5 |
Cover versions
German hard rockHard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band Jaded Heart covered "Larger than Life" for their 2002 album The Journey Will Never End. German speed metal
Speed metal
Speed metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from NWOBHM and hardcore punk roots. It is described by Allmusic as "extremely fast, abrasive, and technically demanding" music....
band Paragon
Paragon (band)
Paragon is a speed metal/power metal band from Hamburg, Germany.-Biography:Paragon was founded by guitarist Martin Christian . After releasing some demo tapes and a mini-CD, they were able to release an album in 1994, the debut World of Sin...
covered "Larger than Life" for their 2008 album Screenslaves. Egyptian rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Karma
Karma (band)
Karma was a soul/funk band which recorded two albums for the A&M Records imprint Horizon Records in the 1970s. Its members included Ernie Watts, trombonist George Bohanon, trumpeter Oscar Brashear, keyboardist Reggie Andrews, bassist Curtis Robertson Jr and drummer Joe Blocker, drummer Leon...
covered "Larger than Life" for their 2009 album Actions In Previous Existence. DJ team CJ Crew
CJ Crew
CJ Crew are a dance music DJ duo, consisting of Chris Bucknall and John Briely. Other aliases include Big Vin & Hugh Jardon, Chi K Monkey, Chi K Munki, Connie and the Plainsman, Demanche Noir, Muff and the Munchers, Nancy and the Boys, The Orff Ki Ensemble, Pyan Issim, Pynck Hobo, Terry and the...
recorded an uptempo eurodance
Eurodance
Eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s or early 1990s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from House, Techno, Hi-NRG and especially Italo-Disco...
remix of the song for the 2001 compilation Dancemania Speed 6.