ALBUM REVIEW – “Four” by One Direction

The popular boy band, One Direction, has released their fourth album, simply titled “Four”. This album continues to have the similar pop sound as One Direction’s previous albums, but at the same time, a little more developed. These five boys, or young men at this point, have continuously been growing as both singers and performers. Along with stronger harmonies, each of the members’ voices have been defined, whether it be Harry Style’s raspy voice, or Zayne Malik’s smooth falsettos, allowing each member to strictly stand out in every tune.

Songs like ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ and ‘Clouds’ have stuck with their upbeat, fun, and sing along tunes, while they have also dialed some tracks down and shown a more expressive and sentimental side with songs titled ’18’ and ‘Once In a Lifetime’. As for instrumentation, ‘Ready To Run’ incorporates the banjo creating an almost Americana sound, ‘Change Your Ticket’ has a more groovy 80’s tone, and ‘Clouds’ uses a 70’s style guitar riff. All in all, the album has a good balance of sound, while keeping with their traditional style appealing to girls in their teens who enjoy singing along to well known melodies.

Nobody can deny that their lyrics have maintained the same, clichéd theme- love. But again, keep in mind that One Direction is, in fact, a boy band. You can’t expect them to branch out into depressing, heartfelt, and/or deep lyrics. It isn’t a part of the boy band definition. Even if they have taken a step into maturity and their individual talents shine, One Direction isn’t exactly ready to be taken as a revered classic band.

That being said, there is no point in trying to compare One Direction to music legends, but keeping in mind that they are a boy band, they deserve to be recognized as successful in their specific genre. By this point, most boy bands would have been long forgotten. Coming straight off of a talent show in 2010 to now, they have increasingly become more popular and it doesn’t seem like they will be leaving the charts anytime soon. This isn’t the type of album where you can expect to hear the topmost talent that will stop you in your tracks, but ‘Four’ does have the upbeat tunes and catchiness to enjoy during a nice car ride.

7/10