I'll give a proper review later. Midnight Memories (song) is brilliant though. Anthemic.

Listen here http://www.dizsoundz.com/one-direction-mid...-memories-album

It's a really weird CD... it's not very One Direction. I don't see many single worthy tracks, which probably isn't an issue as they'll release one more before working on album four.

Firstly I will say this is a fairly solid album. The first 10 tracks are really strong, but the album sort of loses itself. Towards the end a lot of the tracks just blend in to one really. Very sort of folky Lumineers/Mumford & Sons.

 

10 Best Song Ever

 

Excellent opener. 1D in the tin. Most like their past album sounds. A good fun, catchy pop track.

 

09 Story of My Life

 

Probably played it a bit too much. Bit of a more mature sound, but there are better mid-tempos on the album.

 

09 Diana

 

Another big catchy pop track. Like this a lot.. the chorus is fine. Dare I say the production is a bit retro. Could see this being a single somewhere along the line.

 

10 Midnight Memories

 

Very immature and another big pop number. Big sing-a-long chorus. Got an amazing guitar riff. Can definitely tell their time in America has influenced the album. Big pop song with rock influences.

 

08 You and I

 

A nice mid-tempo track. Could see this being a single. I love the build up to the final third of the track with the guitar solo.

 

09 Don't Forget Where You Belong

 

Apparently written by McFly. Again a really strong mid-tempo track that 1D have obviously had an input in to the track. A nice sing-a-long chorus, definitely showing their softer side.

 

10 Strong

 

The guitar riff reminds me of a Kelly Clarkson song (I think). Excellent production, and an emotional chorus. Probably my favourite on the album so far,

 

09 Happily

 

Harry Styles co-wrote this. Could see this being a potential single too. A big rowdy chorus. A folk-inspired One Direction song.

 

08 Right Now

 

This sounds very similar to Don't Forget Where You Belong, but without the rousing chorus. Apparently they all co-wrote the song, which you can see as it is inevitably about them all.

 

10 Little Black Dress

 

Probably the 'rockiest' thing on the album. The guitar riff is infectious, I've had it in my head for the past day or so. Guess they're trying to show their more mature sound here, and you can really tell. Far cry from their first album, especially when the guitar gets loose towards the end.

 

05 Through the Dark

 

Very country/folk style. Not a fan of this to be honest. Can definitely tell the Mumford & Sons influence on this album, shame it's a bit sub-par.

 

07 Something Great

 

Co-written by Harry Styles again apparently. I can't work out whether I like it or not. It's very mid-tempo but the identity of the track gets lost.

 

08 Little White Lies

 

More like the 1D of old. Big pop number, but with an electro-pop guitar. Very Kelly Clarkson.

 

08 Better Than Words

 

They show their naughtier side on this track, with some great inferences about stuff they shouldn't be signing about. Guess it's up to us to fill in the blanks, which are easy if you're older then 10.

 

08 Why We Don't Go There

 

Very 1D of old with funky guitars. The guitar riffs take centre stage again, but a good album pop track.

 

07 Does He Know?

 

Quite similar to the above track. You can tell why these are the extra tracks. The quality is starting to fade.

 

08 Alive

 

This is my favourite of the extra tracks. A big rousing chorus, led by the guitar. Sounds like something straight out of Tennessee.

 

06 Half a Heart

 

Nice. That's it. Not a huge fan to be honest.

I listened to it to see if they truly progressed like they said.

 

This album is a progression for 1D. The songs have a more rocky sound with guitars and drums, they definitely changed their style and like always is with them because Simon always gives them the best of everything - the production of the album is great. But overall, it is pretty decent album.

 

Having said that, I feel that the album is very jumbled, it is like they don't know what they want. A few tracks have a very glam rock vibe, then there are Mumford and Suns influenced songs , and then there are old 1D vibe songs. It is so obvious that Right Now was written by Ryan Tedder, it completely sounds like One Rupblic song, same as Something Great which sounds like a Snow Patrol song as Gary wrote it.

 

I completely agree that Better Than Words is very obvious in what they are singing about, but I think White Lies is even more upfront - I mean, they say - you are a good girl, but I now that you would (or something like that) - maybe they should skip refrences like this. And before someone starts "oh but they are growing up" - sure, but that doesn't mean you have to sing about sex, you can sound mature without it.

 

This is a decent effort from them, but it wil be interesting to see how the fans will take it - I have seen a few comments where some are not as excited when they read reviews from critics saying similar things. And boy do they hate Louis :D They haven't even heard it, yet they moan that he has more vocals on songs.

 

However, I do agree the boy just CAN'T sing, it is like he is talking, not singng. I don't know why they keep giving him solo parts.

 

 

They will have a huge promo with 1D day thing, some acts would kill for this - Simon is truly giving them everything, but I think appearing on Doctor Who is really pushing it :rolleyes:

 

It will be embarrassing if they don't get high sales and chart position in UK after everything.

Edited November 20, 201311 yr by zeze88

His name appears on a lot of the albums credits...

I listened to it to see if they truly progressed like they said.

 

This album is a progression for 1D. The songs have a more rocky sound with guitars and drums, they definitely changed their style and like always is with them because Simon always gives them the best of everything - the production of the album is great. But overall, it is pretty decent album.

 

Having said that, I feel that the album is very jumbled, it is like they don't know what they want. A few tracks have a very glam rock vibe, then there are Mumford and Suns influenced songs , and then there are old 1D vibe songs. It is so obvious that Right Now was written by Ryan Tedder, it completely sounds like One Rupblic song, same as Something Great which sounds like a Snow Patrol song as Gary wrote it.

 

I completely agree that Better Than Words is very obvious in what they are singing about, but I think White Lies is even more upfront - I mean, they say - you are a good girl, but I now that you would (or something like that) - maybe they should skip refrences like this. And before someone starts "oh but they are growing up" - sure, but that doesn't mean you have to sing about sex, you can sound mature without it.

 

This is a decent effort from them, but it wil be interesting to see how the fans will take it - I have seen a few comments where some are not as excited when they read reviews from critics saying similar things. And boy do they hate Louis :D They haven't even heard it, yet they moan that he has more vocals on songs.

 

However, I do agree the boy just CAN'T sing, it is like he is talking, not singng. I don't know why they keep giving him solo parts.

 

Louis certainly has the worst voice, but the recording style is actually quite good. It really fits for some tracks, others not so much. Clear why the others get more vocals.

 

Agree that the album is fairly jumbled though. Like you say mixture of some big names writing songs for them, but there are 18 songs, and most 18 song albums are jumbled.

 

Louis certainly has the worst voice, but the recording style is actually quite good. It really fits for some tracks, others not so much. Clear why the others get more vocals.

 

Agree that the album is fairly jumbled though. Like you say mixture of some big names writing songs for them, but there are 18 songs, and most 18 song albums are jumbled.

 

That shouldn't have been an issue because many boybands work with multiple huge songwriters on 1 album, but it is a problem in their case. I think they should avoid in the future having songs sounding like the artist who wrote the song - those 2 songs that Ryan and Gary wrote could easily be on Snow Patrol and One Republic album, it almost sounds like they gave the songs to them, but since one of the boys are credited, maybe Ryan and Gary had a draft of the songs so they just finished the songs with them.

 

The same thing happened with the two songs that Ed Sheeran wrote last year - they sounded too much like Ed.

 

Having songs like that won't attract the public who are not fans, I think they would just find it weird. Listening to the album, it seems they tried too hard to show maturity which kind of looks forced in some parts because they do come back to immature songs. The album is definitely not consistent.

 

Oh and I forgot 1 little thing - "walking around with one shoe" (or something along those lines) is just one WEIRD lyric :D

Edited November 21, 201311 yr by zeze88

Addicted to both 'Diana' and 'Happily' now, TBH. Both need to be singles, although it'll probably be one or the other (accompanied by 'Midnight Memories' to drag the era down a little in terms of singles).

Diana is one of the weakest on the album IMO, it really lacks something and I hope to god it's not a single. Happily or Midnight Memories ideally would be released next.

I just don't want Addison Lees to become a popular thing with people cuz of 1D :kink:

This review made me laugh :D

 

 

The guy does have a point in a few things - I definitely think the songs like Little White Lies, Alive, and even Does He Know do send wrong messages to their young fans.

 

And yes, I have to agree with him that Little Black Dress just sounds wrong hearing it from 1D and that the growls are very annoying - stop pretending you are this hardcore rockers, it looks ridiculous.

OK I've had enough time to familiarise myself with the album so let's go with a rating:

 

11.0 Best Song Ever

09.5 Story of My Life

07.0 Diana

09.0 Midnight Memories

09.0 You and I

10.0 Don't Forget Where You Belong

08.0 Strong

10.0 Happily

07.5 Right Now

06.5 Little Black Dress

09.0 Through The Dark

08.5 Something Great

08.0 Little White Lies

08.5 Better Than Words

 

08.5 Why We Don't Go There

08.5 Does He Know?

08.0 Alive

10.0 Half a Heart

 

Fantastic album, took a little while to warm to most of the tracks as it's a much more mature sound than what they've put out before but it's really hit me now. Not as good as Take Me Home and we'll see if it stands the test of time but I'm very much impressed. Must say though, Little Black Dress has to be their worst track. :lol: It's not BAD but it's just like, not "them".

Agree what you mean about Little Black Dress, and it's where I think the album slightly struggles. It seems like their management want them to have all these catchy well produced pop songs, but 1D want to do more mature stuff, so they've kinda come to a compromise. Saying that Little Black Dress is a great little number. I hated it when I first heard it, but it's damn catchy. Can see why it's likely to be disliked by a lot of people, cos you like you say it's not "them".

 

One other thing I've noticed about the album too, Niall has a LOT more lead vocals compared to the other two records.

I'm definitely open to Little Black Dress growing, and it's by no means BAD, it's just weak compared to everything else they've done I think. I'm glad they've come to a compromise though and I think it's evident across the whole album. They're keeping their distinct sound but progressing with it and that's what you need to do to stay successful I think.

 

Agree about Niall too, I've noticed his voice in it a lot more, which is fantastic as his vocal ability is rather underrated I think.

I understand that they want to be more mature, I just wish in the future they don't sound like someone else - they are clearly emulating One Republic, Snow Patrol and 80s rock bands, as well as Mumfurd and Sons in two songs. They still don't have a mature 1D sound, they sound like other artists - the only two songs that they sound mature and truly themselves are Strong and Don't Forget Where You Belong.

 

They should try to be more original next time, especially avoiding using famous rock songs from The Who, Def Leppard or The Clash.

Edited November 24, 201311 yr by zeze88

I understand that they want to be more mature, I just wish in the future they don't sound like someone else - they are clearly emulating One Republic, Snow Patrol and 80s rock bands, as well as Mumfurd and Sons in two songs. They still don't have a mature 1D sound, they sound like other artists - the only two songs that they sound mature and truly themselves are Strong and Don't Forget Where You Belong.

 

They should try to be more original next time, especially avoiding using famous rock songs from The Who, Def Leppard or The Clash.

 

It's exactly what they did with their last album though. They emulated Ed Sheeran's sound. This time it's more Lumineers and Mumford & Sons.

It's exactly what they did with their last album though. They emulated Ed Sheeran's sound. This time it's more Lumineers and Mumford & Sons.

 

I know, that is why I think they should stop doing that. Sure, the fans don't mind, but no wonder general public can't take them seriously and some truly hate them and find them annoying. They don't have their sound really which is weird as boybands in the past have it.

The difference is "Take Me Home" had one... maybe two songs that sounded Ed Sheeran esque, the rest was their sound. This album is kindah... all over the place sonically.