Larger than Life (song)

Background and release

"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 It Goin' On", "Everybody"), "Larger than Life" was intended as the first single from the upcoming album. However, the decision changed upon hearing the completed version of "I Want It That Way" 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.

Composition and lyrics

"Larger than Life" was written by band member Brian Littrell, with additional lyrics by Max Martin and Kristian Lundin. Lundin also produced the song, while Martin and Rami Yacoub produced its "Video Mix" version. Lyrically, the song is a howler casting fans as the superhuman force in the exchange between listener and star. The song opens with a boisterous talkbox and A. J. McLean’s maniacal "yeah", setting an exhilarated tone. Brian Littrell starts singing, "I may run and hide/When you're screamin’ my name alright/But let me tell ya now there are prices to fame alright." In the chorus, they sing about how having legions of fans has changed their lives, "All you people can't ya see can't ya see/How your love's affecting our reality/Every time we're down/You can make it right/And that makes you larger than life."

Critical

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, during his review for Millenium, picked the song as a highlight from the album, while in its review for The Hits: Chapter One, he wrote that "it may be more tied to its era, but "Larger than Life" is infectious pop nonetheless." Jim Farber of Entertainment Weekly wrote that, "Luckily, with a group like the Backstreet Boys, the more cheese appeal, the better."

Emily Exton of VH1 listed the song at number 16 on The 20 Best Backstreet Boys Songs list, writing: "Such an introspective look at 'the prices of fame' surely deserves a second chapter dedicated to the social media era. Now that we’re older, can Nick please reveal the 'other' way he wishes he could thank us?." Danielle Sweeney of The Celebrity Cafe listed the song at number 5 on the Top 10 Backstreet Boys Songs list, writing that, "This song was BSB’s dedication to all their loyal (and admittedly crazy) fans. Also, it contained the lyric, 'Looking at the crowd and I see your body sway, c'mon / Wishin' I could thank you in a different way, c’mon' which gave fans everywhere the tiniest glimmer of hope."

Commercial

After the biggest chart success of "I Want It That Way", "Larger than Life" had a difficult mission on the charts; however, the song proved to be a success in most countries it charted. In Australia, the song was a success, debuting at number 3, becoming their highest debut on the ARIA Charts, until "Incomplete" surpassed it, debuting at number-one in 2005. In its second week, the song fell to number 7, until it reached number 3, its peak position, again, in its third week. It was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association, for selling over 70,000 copies. In Finland, "Larger than Life" was Backstreet Boys' highest-charting single, debuting and peaking at number 2, being higher than lead-single "I Want It That Way". In the United Kingdom, the song became the band's eighth consecutive top-five single, peaking at number 5, on October 30, 1999.

However, the song proved to be less successful in some countries. In New Zealand, the song missed the top-ten, peaking at number 11, while in Austria, the song peaked at number 15, becoming their first single to miss the top-ten in the country. In France, the song only managed to reach number 58, becoming their lowest-charting single there. In the United States, the song surprisingly missed the top-twenty, only peaking at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming their least successful single since "I'll Never Break Your Heart" (1995). However, the song proved to be more successful on the Top 40 Mainstream chart, peaking at number six. It was also more successful in Canada, where it reached number 5.

Music video

The music video for "Larger than Life" was a big-budget production directed by Joseph Kahn 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 similar to that of Star Wars and Blade Runner 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 A. J. 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 holds a Guinness World Record for the 14th most expensive music video with estimated production costs of over $2,100,000 USD. John Hamilton of Idolator listed the video at number 3 on their 10 Best Music Videos from the ‘TRL’ Era, writing that, "Showing that they hadn’t lost the funk after all those slow-to-mid-tempo jams, the BSBs busted out this uplifting tribute to their fans, which served as the second single of the 1999′s Millennium. Predictably, they scored another TRL chart-topper and sparked an international panty-melting situation."

MAX version

"Barairo no Hibi" (バラ色の日々) is a Japanese language cover of "Larger than Life" by Japanese girl group, MAX. The song is their 18th single and fourth from their album, Emotional History (2001). It features an additional writing credit from Yuko Ebine who wrote completely new lyrics for the song. Upon release it peaked at #11 breaking MAX's string of consecutive top 10 singles beginning with "Seventies" in 1996.

First press copies of the single came with a bonus track: "Barairo no Hibi (Bless Beat Mix)".

Personnel

Art direction and design

Other cover versions

Use in other media