Elevate is the second studio album by American boy band Big Time Rush. It was released on November 21, 2011, by Columbia Records in association with Nickelodeon. The band worked with accomplished songwriters and producers for the album. These include those that assisted with the material from their debut album, such as Emanuel Kiriakou, Lindy Robbins, Nicholas Furlong, Damon Sharpe, Eric Sanicola and Lucas Secon, along with other notable songwriters and producers, such as JR Rotem, Christopher Stewart, The-Dream, Jay Sean, and Ryan Tedder. The production process of the album took place between nine months to a year, most of which was during their touring process.

The album acts as the soundtrack to the Nickelodeon television series Big Time Rush, which features songs that appeared in the series' second season and the television movie, Big Time Movie. Following the success of their first release, the band was inspired to be more involved in the writing process for this album, writing together or separately a total of eight songs. Elevate is mainly a pop-inspired dance-rock album, also showcasing soul-pop and alternative rock. The first single from Elevate, "Music Sounds Better with U", was released on November 1, 2011.

TeenNick hosted a listening party in support of the band's new album, premiering every song on the album along with playing episodes that contain songs from the album and playing the music video for the first single, "Music Sounds Better with U". Nickelodeon hosted a thirty-minute special called Big Time Rush: Music Sounds Better With U in which scenes from the band's tour and studio recording sessions are compiled together for airing.^[1] The scenes feature information about the recording and production of the album.^[1]

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The album received mixed to positive reviews with music critics and fans, mostly praising the production and more mature sound. Matt Collar of AllMusic stated, "the album brings to mind a mix of Maroon 5's funky soul-pop and the yearning alt-rock of OneRepublic. This is slick, well-produced pop music that, while aimed at 'tween' fans of the band's Nickelodeon TV show, has enough smart songcraft and romantic passion to appeal to even more mature fans of radio-friendly pop music." He praised songs such as "Music Sounds Better With U", "No Idea" and "Time of Our Life" calling them, "positive-minded and joyful party tracks."^[8] Jessica Dawson of Common Sense Media said, "The songs are crisper and more contemporary, letting them show off their boy-band harmonies with beats that are catchy but perhaps a bit too synthesized."^[9]

The album debuted at number one on the iTunes album chart as well as a number 12 debut on the Billboard 200 and stayed 22 weeks on chart.^[10] In its first week, the album sold 70,000 copies.^[11] As of 2012, the album has sold 208,000 copies in the United States.^[12] The album received a Gold plaque by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for 500,000 units sales.^[13]