[citation needed] Larry Flick from Billboard stated that "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" contained a "contagious dance/pop beat and catchy hook that perfectly showcases this talented group's voices".

[3] British magazine Music Week rated the song four out of five, adding that "the boys turn up the power on a strutting, soulful anthem, which will be one of the summer's bigger successes.

"[4] Editor Alan Jones noted that Backstreet Boys "state the obvious" in the song, "but they do it with a certain amount of style.

Initially unaware of who the Backstreet Boys were, he was shocked by the group's European sales figures after being given a cassette tape and publicity release about them.

Initially a grunge and hip-hop director, he wanted to explore the pop genre since he grew up listening to music from the 1980s.

[6] The haunted house aesthetic was based on a treatment Kahn envisioned for rapper Ice Cube a few months prior and was inspired by the music video for Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

Kahn and the group wanted Antonio Fargas to portray the bus driver, as they were fans of Starsky & Hutch.

[6] The video premiered outside the United States in July 1997, although viewers with MuchMusic USA were able to see it as, at the time, it was still mostly a simulcast of the Canadian channel.

[citation needed] In a 2017 interview with Billboard, Kahn stated that the video's impact broadened his view of pop culture while creating a new scene in the US.

The musical portion of the video then starts, playing as a dream sequence in which each band member appears as a different movie monster: Brian Littrell as a werewolf; Howie Dorough as Dracula; Nick Carter as a mummy; AJ McLean as Erik, the Phantom of the Opera; and Kevin Richardson as both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a half-transformed Two-Face-like state.