Prior to the release of the album, the band separated from their management Trans Continental and their label RCA Records; its title is a play on the idea of independence from corporate control.

After several delays due to legal battles, No Strings Attached was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics, many of whom praised the production.

[1] NSYNC was signed by Trans Continental Management to Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) in Germany, due to a pre-existing deal, and its distribution rights in the United States were automatically bought by RCA.

[1] Jive immediately requested that the album was to be sold to retailers in March, which caused Pearlman and BMG to file a $150 million breach-of-contract suit and an injunction to stop them.

NSYNC filed a countersuit in response, with member JC Chasez calling Pearlman "an unscrupulous, greedy and sophisticated businessman who posed as an unselfish, loving father figure and took advantage of our trust".

[4] The album's title was thought of by member Chris Kirkpatrick during a car ride in London after the settlement, where they were inspired by the song "I've Got No Strings" from the 1940 film, Pinocchio.

Despite the band switching labels, they still retained their manager and mentor from Trans Continental, Johnny Wright, and stayed at his ranch in Orlando, Florida.

[13] Max Martin, who also came from Cheiron and was known for producing songs for NSYNC's label mates, also contributed to the album by co-writing the single "It's Gonna Be Me".

[15] Despite the new direction the band had wanted to take, the early recording process found some of the producers and writers submitting tracks which were "in the vein of NSYNC's earlier, softer sound".

[1] According to Entertainment Weekly, the album's musical style is that of Top 40, with a funky beat,[19] while Billboard described it as "Millennial interpretations of New Jack Swing, and staccato rap-adjacent flows that were previously made mainstream by Destiny's Child and TLC".

[10] In his article for The New York Times, Jon Pareles wrote in 2000:[1] Flush with artistic freedom, 'N Sync heads straight for the past: specifically the 1980s rhythm-and-blues that sought to balance pretty melody atop hip-hop's street-level beat.

Like the Rolling Stones discovering 1950s Chicago blues, 'N Sync has latched onto the highly synthesized, jigsaw rhythms of 1980s phenomena from Michael Jackson to New Edition to Zapp.

In a direct tribute to the new jack swing of the 1980s, 'N Sync remakes Johnny Kemp's 1988 hit "Just Got Paid" with its original producer, Teddy Riley.

Writing about No Strings Attached, music critics noted that the song "Digital Get Down" is about video cybersex, which is a clear indicator of post-pubescent consciousness of the group.

[19] Rolling Stone described the "futuristic synth-driven" song as "an eruption of hormones and harmonies all at once, with three and a half minutes of big beats and grown-up innuendo".

[22] NSYNC was also inspired by the hip-hop genre, incorporating beat-box type vocals in "It's Gonna Be Me", semi-rapping in "Just Got Paid", and percussion in "Bringin' Da Noise".

[11] NSYNC made several media appearances prior to its release, including on MTV, Good Morning America, Saturday Night Live, and the Oscars.

[28] Former MTV chairman and CEO Tom Freston praised NSYNC's accessibility to cater towards audiences by using "heavy video rotation [and] mini-biographies" in addition to backstage studio environments including "the Super Bowl [and] Total Request Live (TRL)".

The leaks were perceived by Wright to assist NSYNC in reaching the sales record that held by the album, describing it as an opportunity for the listeners to hear more than what the radio was playing.

The store underestimated the volume of people who would appear, forcing them to close down twice in the same day; firstly to let a few hundred in at a time, then to prepare for NSYNC's meet-and-greet that evening.

Former Virgin regional manager Andy Moreno attributed the influx of people at the store to the Internet, as they heard about the event through chat rooms and websites.

[33] AllMusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated that NSYNC "might sound the same as ever" to critics, but acknowledged that No Strings Attached "blows away their previous record".

[34] Pareles compared the band's vocals to groups such as Boyz II Men, Jodeci, and Dru Hill, but praised Chasez's collaborations for showing hints of "nuttiness" and creativity.

[35] Sputnikmusic emeritus Morrissey opined that No Strings Attached contained "few outstanding pop tracks, and little to no filler" but described the overall album as "enjoyable from start to finish".

[41] Many retailers around the United States had predicted that, "with an impressive show of sales strength", No Strings Attached could "culminate into the biggest first week ever in the SoundScan era".

[15][28] Despite the mania that No Strings Attached stirred in the wake of its debut, MTV reported the "record week may not have been simply the result of a wide fan base and effective marketing".

[45] The figures surpassed the album's successor Celebrity's debut sales of over 1.88 million units, retaining the recognition as NSYNC's highest-debut in their career.

"[28] Referring to the first day sale of the album with 1.1 million units, Josh Wolk of Entertainment Weekly said that it was "perhaps the greatest mass spending of allowances in history".

[26] The teen pop trend reached a climax following the peak of No Strings Attached, where customers moved from CDs to peer-to-peer file sharing such as Napster and LimeWire.

NPR wrote that the album has stood the test of time today, stating that "a union of Swedish pop songcraft with R&B and hip-hop's flow and bounce; an eagerness to explore mature themes and styles; an understanding that dance and visual presentation can turn stars into icons".