Review - One Direction - Four

I’ve never been the biggest fan of One Direction, much as I can usually get behind the whole boy band/girl group thing. I certainly haven’t disliked them anywhere near as much as many of my fellow music journalists do, but I also can’t get on board with the crazy fandom that seems to have gripped the teens and tweens of the world.

The group’s latest album, the obviously-titled Four is the first one that I’m really interested in, and I personally feel it is both their best, while at the same time the furthest thing from what a One Direction album is...or has been.

One listen to lead single “Steal Your Girl” and you can see that things have changed for the group. No longer are they playing the same tune that brought them this far, instead opting for a much more mature sound--one that is actually rather respectable.

The album borrows heavily from the 80’s, whether it comes to the vocal effects on pop or even Bruce Springsteen-leaning rockish tracks. The boys sound very, very good on this one in almost every way. This reinvention was a bit of a risk, as some of these songs will either be huge hit singles or radio flops, but either way, I applaud it.

Don’t get me wrong, “What Makes You Beautiful” was fun enough, but after three albums of that type of song, it was time for a change, and the five British boys read that play brilliantly. We may not know how long they intend to be together, but this shift in focus will probably give them a reason to keep going.

Listen to: “Steal My Girl”, “Stockholm Syndrome”, “Ready To Run”