Let's be honest, three years ago One Direction was a joke and the punchline was "What Makes You Beautiful." It was a song geared towards the younger audience and it did it's job. It was a pretty catchy tune with solid vocals and what little girl doesn't want five attractive British boys telling them how beautiful they are? The song became viral and started the career of these 5 boys from London. Immediately they drew comparison to The Beatles. Their story is basically a modern day Beatles. Their song came to the United States, blew the hell up and they had a rapidly growing fan base that is still growing to this day (aka, me).
Their fifth studio album, and last before the band takes a hiatus to pursue their own careers, comes out this Friday. I'll probably end up reviewing the album over the weekend but I just thought I'd get these thoughts about their singles out onto paper. What drew me into One Direction wasn't their debut single (WMYB) it was actually their first single for their last studio album, Steal My Girl. It was very catchy. The beginning of the track that had a piano gave me a very clear reminiscence of a classic 80s/90s rock song and the chorus was solid and kept me interested in the song the whole time. It brought my attention to the group as serious musicians, as opposed to the cookie cutter stereotypical white boy (and Mexican??) boy band. I have to admit, during their time in Series 7 of X Factor, I was shocked they didn't win. Not because I thought there was anything very special about them at the time, because of the very thing that's made them a household name in the USA. The girls. The reaction for them was crazy every week and I found it interesting that the other two rounding out the Top 3 that season became the top two. Rebecca Ferguson was amazing, and I preferred her to win, but I didn't think the audience really got her or liked her as much as they apparently did.
DRAG ME DOWN
This song is what attracted me to their new album and got me intrigued in hearing their new sound for their fifth album. Immediately as the bass guitar starts playing and Harry Styles opens up the track it has an amazing hook. He has a very smoky voice and to have him open up the song is nothing short of brilliant, it's a joy hearing him do his thing at the beginning.As the track progresses and Louis kicks off the second verse the song immediately begins to feel like it's going into something bigger than it had before. As Louis begins singing, the main funky guitar of the song begins to hit a sort of reggae beat and the instrument track sounds gorgeous at this point. Liam Payne's first verse in the chorus is backed up by a strong piano and hearing him sing is lovely. His tone is lovely and the way he pronounced "me" is just so...British and I love it. And Niall rounds out the solos with a strong finish to it that leads into the main chorus. As the beat drops you just immediately want to have a party with the group. When the song goes back to the swapped verses, time it's Niall starting out. Next up is Harry. Meanwhile, this entire time Liam is harmonizing with each of the two individually gorgeously. His lovely falsetto compliments each of his band mates' voices in an amazing way. I think all together, while this was an amazing song to cater to their fan base while showing off their individual vocals gloriously. Harry Styles hit's every vocal point in the song with relative ease and as the song reaches his climax his vocals reach their climax as he sings "Nobody can drag me..." and just as he hits "down" he hits his vocal stride and has a lovely few runs with it. Ugh, it's just great. It's a really good song to listen to when you need a boost to your spirit because, girl ain't nobody gon' drag you down. 9/10
PERFECT
The song starts out with Louis accompanied by a bass guitar, it leads into a drum track that is covered by Liam. As soon as Harry jumps in, the song immediately finds it's way. Clearly, with Drag Me Down, Harry was established as the strongest singer of the group and as the song goes on it more sounds like Harry Styles & the Directioners, and I'm completely okay with that. His voice is just electrifying and it excited me to see what he'll be doing on his own when he goes off as a solo artist. The bridge and second verse compliment each other wonderfully as Liam and Niall follow each other. This once again leads into Harry and that hair (and maybe the other guys backing him up?) singing the chorus of the song. He sings the softer moments of the song with a type of intensity that gives him just enough room to take the song to an even higher level by the time the song picks up speed as it gets ready to end. Overall, I think this is a very strong single that relies a little more on the production of the song but highlights the singers', Harry most of all, vocals. I hadn't really paid much attention to it before reviewing it but I'll definitely give it a few more listens before the album comes off. 8/10
HISTORY
This isn't even an official single but I love this song so much. It's the type of song you'd want to sing around the camp fire after your high school graduation just with you and your best pals. The song incorporates a lot of bluesy elements that play to the groups' strengths. The way I interpreted the song was that it was a beautiful way to round out the first chapter in the boys' careers. Think of their career as a show on Broadway. This song would be the last song in the first act before they took their intermission, and the band is getting ready to take their "intermission" (or hiatus) and this song was a beautiful way to round up their history together as a band and as friends/brothers. The chords on the guitar at the beginning of the song gelled with Harry's voice (and the hand claps, keeping the beat) gorgeously. He sounded amazing and it reminded me of something you'd hear in a blues/folk song. Niall's tone of voice fit the song amazingly as well as he devoured into the second verse. The chorus of this song is just so beautiful. I imagine thing song being the last one the boys perform in concert. "You and me got a whole lot of history" speaks for itself. I imagine it will be emotional to perform at their last show before they take their hiatus. The boys telling each other "don't let it go, we can make some more we can live forever" are them telling each other than we may be going our separate ways now but it's for the best and as they come back together they will continue to be "the greatest team this world has ever seen." Lian and Louis' verses [well, Louis sang the bridge] are touching, as well. Liam telling them "all of the rumours and all of the fights, but we always find away to make it out alive" is a beautiful testament to how the guys have such a strong bond and silly rumors and fights won't break them apart because they are family now. I hope they release this as the final single of the album because it would be a beautiful way to wrap the first year of their extraordinary career in a bow. 9.5/10
GRADE: A-
Note: I know that History isn't a single, but it's just a good song that I had to review it.
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