01. HEY ANGEL
Clearly there's a bit of a groan as I see what the title of this track is called. One Direction has everything going for it, the boys seem to have their heads on their shoulders, their vocals keep on getting better and they seem to enjoy what they're doing. The down side is that they still make music catered to their teeny bop audience and it's evident through the lyrics. Good thing the song is actually pretty good. It starts out on an extremely positive note as drums fill your ears and their harmonies are in sync. The extremely part of the positive note is Harry starting the song off. I had no idea until I listened to Perfect, but Harry's vocals are the glue that keeps this band together. His voice is just unique enough to standout when you're listening to their solos and think they all sound alike but they're still borderlining on basic white boy voice so he can blend quite nicely with the other boys while not coming off too "Diana Ross & the Supremes" although "Harry Styles and the Directioners" has a nice ring to it. The beat was solid and it was a lively way to start the album off. 7.5/10
02. 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
03. 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
04. INFINITY
Yay, Harry starts off another song! Does he start every song off? Because I should just come up with a code phrase (because I am most definitely going to be saying "Yay, Harry starts off another song" every single time and y'all big booty bitches can stay mad about it. The groups' vocals (Styles' in particular) are given a chance to soar as the song reaches it's chorus and they belt out "Infinity" going up a note or two every time they say it again. I don't find too much substance in a whole lot of their songs (they just seem mostly cute love songs designed to have whatever girl listening to swoon believing they're the girl that Harry and co are singing about) so I'm probably going to speak more on their vocals and the production (both of which are great on this track). Okay, I lied, I have to say it. It's lacking lyrically and that brings the song down overall. It's a very basic 1D song that is saved by the production/chorus that make the song sound remotely memorable. 7/10
05. END OF THE DAY
Boom pow.* So, the song was fairly similar to Infinity. "I feel myself running out of time" is very similar to "All I know at the end of the day is I want you." The album is already repeating itself when it comes to themes but once again their vocals are allowed some room and it's an overall nice song to listen to when you're at home and your crush is with someone else and you want to picture that person over Harry's voice telling you all they want is you. 7/10
*Harry starts off another song!
06. IF I COULD FLY
Lord, this song was gorgeous.* It had every element of a One Direction song but somehow it all worked and just made my simplistic song loving heart happy. The song starts off simply, with Styles and a piano. [Liam] Payne finishes off the verse just as lovely and transitions into Styles subtly belting out the chorus, which had a very lovely instrumental attachment to it. [Louis] Tomlinson and Niall (Horan) are able to emote the feeling of the song just as gorgeously as Styles and Payne were able to. The thing about this song that I loved is that it didn't rely on Styles' vocals to carry out the tune (although, that's never something to complain about! And he does get a chance to adlib some belts at the end/climax and ends the song amazingly). One of the guys had a lovely falsetto when he sang "I'm missing half of me" and it was just a diamond. Each of the four guys got their chance to shine vocally and it only made for an even lovelier melody as the four came together. Their harmonies were so in sync together. This was a very lovely moment of the album and as they embark into their last tour (for a while, at least) I can already tell what a gorgeous moment this will be at the shows. 9.5/10
*Harry starts off another song!
07. LONG WAY DOWN
Okay, here's what I'm saying. This is absolutely no shade because any of the boys could have started the song off and I would have made the same note. Niall started the song of just fine, his vocals weren't bad at all, but as soon as Harry came in with "Point of no return" it made you forget everything that Niall had just said. Harry's voice just has this sort of intensity and grit that I can't wait to hear him do when he pursues his solo music. Lyrically, the songs a bit of a break from the albums thematic presence as a whole "Ooh, love you, you're cute. How can we show that we are into each other?" It's theme is more maturity it's more "Ooh, I loved you, you're mentally stimulating. How can we move on from each other when we had such a beautiful thing together?" It's a nice break from the extremely cookie cutter pop stuff (because, let's face it. This is a very cookie cutter album/group). Liam also does a nice job ending the song, from the enormous stamp Harry left on the chorus. 8/10
08. NEVER ENOUGH
This song had a very caveman feel to it, I don't know why I just thought of that. Never Enough is referring to how much they can have of their significant other, it's a return of form. The only part I really liked was the musical break it had. I also really loved the fun vibe the song had to it, I could imagine a really fun serenade to this song in some teen drama or teen comedy. Something on MTV is my point. 6.5/10
09. OLIVIA
There's just something about the first verse of this song that I loved to hate, I can't put my finger on it. Maybe my hate came from Harry not opening the song? Maybe my hate came from how...I don't know. I just know I loved "I love you I love you I love a love a love a love Olivia" and how low of a note he hit. The song was more of a hit or miss for me, it wasn't very memorable but it wasn't bad at all. The chorus had a very fun Beatles vibe and I enjoyed that, though. 7/10
10. WHAT A FEELING
The jazzy undertone and relaxed vibe fit the song very well. It felt more like a jam session that they were just trying to plug lyrics into. It felt like an acoustic cover to an 80's movie theme song. I think it gave me a very "Grease is the Word" vibe. I didn't feel that strong of a connection to the song, but clearly some people will and they make up for anything I don't feel with what an amazing vibe the song gives off. It was produced very nicely and Harry absolutely killed the bridge, that's probably what made me such a believer in the song. Ugh, I think I'm obsessed, guys. 7.5/10
11. LOVE YOU GOODBYE
I was very interested to hear this song because a day or two before the album came out, fans went absolutely bananas about this song on Twitter. It was basically to all of them what If I Could Fly was to me. Is it bad that when I didn't know who it was at the beginning and heard "me [m-ay]" I knew exactly who it was singing? It's a lovely song and the first half works similarly to "If I Could Fly" with the simplicity of a piano and some strings but the second half feels a little more epic for the better. It touched on a lot of the themes that the album had touched on previously and Tomlinson was able to have his shining moment as he belted out the last note of the bridge with ease, sounding amazing. It was another strong moment on the album. 8.5/10
12. I WANT TO WRITE YOU A SONG
This song felt a little filler. I wasn't sure if it was going anywhere but as soon as Payne told us "I want to build you a boat" you knew where the song was heading. It was very thematically in tune with the rest of the cookie cutter parts of the album but it had a certain intimacy to it that was nice to hear from the heavily produced album. All the boys got a chance to shine on the same level on this track as well. It's not as memorable as some of the other material but it's not as forgettable as some of the tracks either. 7/10
13. 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. This was the absolute perfect was to end the (standard edition) of their last album (for now) because it was a beautiful way to wrap the first part of their extraordinary career in a bow. 9.5/10
Much like Bieber's new album, I'll churn out a review of the bonus tracks later. I really enjoyed this album overall, their vocals came together, their production a lyrical content came together. This is the strongest body of work they've put out and it was an excellent note to end the first half of their (if not their entire) career.
GRADE: B+
No comments:
Post a Comment