Grade: B-
I’ll admit it.
I love One Direction.
I haven’t extensively combed their discography, but they’re a boy band in the year 2014, which is awesome, and they’re all gorgeous heartthrobs, which is even more awesome.
Swooning aside, the five boys from across the pond are making a huge splash here in the United States.
According to Billboard, with the album “Four,” the band is “on course for its fourth No. 1 album in less than three years” and expected to cross the 400,000 album sales mark this week.
The band’s got a great formula going — their songs are fun, incredibly catchy and radio-friendly, and the band gives off a persona that’s likable.
“Four” is no different from all those qualities I just listed.
Starting with the lead single, “Steal My Girl,” the album kicks right into its huge, stadium-pop rock, anthemic chants.
The song is absolutely outstanding.
Well, for a radio single.
Therein lies the conundrum of the whole album.
There really isn’t a whole lot of creativity to be had in “Four.” It’s all very similar, it’s all very poppy, and there are little-to-no risks taken throughout the whole album.
That’s OK, though. We don’t expect the moon and stars out of every album released ever, especially if it would potentially compromise a formula that’s very clearly working.
The next track, “Ready to Run,” introduces us into the other category of songs on “Four,” and that’s the stadium-pop rock ballad. Not too far off from the first category.
The lyrics are exactly what you’d expect — songs about or to a girl. The poetry never runs crazy deep, but it’s passable.
Another big single off the album, “Night Changes,” is another pretty great number, placed toward the middle of the track list to keep momentum moving forward.
The album does break just above the average mold of songs these days. It’s far more enjoyable and easy to get into than most pop albums, which usually include a couple of OK songs and then a laundry list of filler nonsense.
“No Control” is another song that’s just an energetic burst of fun arena pop/rock.
“Four” is definitely a fun ride but not something to elevate One Direction into that next level of musicality I’d love to see these five guys enter.
