By Marta Malinowski
One Direction’s third album, Midnight Memories, was released Nov. 25 by Columbia Records. The boy band is a British/Irish group that gained its fame on the seventh season of the X Factor UK. They each auditioned as individuals, but were put together as a group and finished third, later signing with Simon Cowell. This new album features 14 songs, with singles Best Song Ever and Story of My Life. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 the first week with 546,000 copies sold. The band made history as the first group to debut at No. 1 with its first three albums: Up All Night, Take Me Home, and Midnight Memories.
Their first two albums were known for being “pop,” so on the third album they decided to take a new direction and produce “edgier” content. Starting off with the first single, Best Song Ever has the familiar dance, up-beat sound of the boys. The “oh oh oh” and “yeah yeah yeah” parts show their usual bubble gum pop. Their second single, on the other hand, is different from their usual work. This acoustic-based single has a softer tone. The lyrics were a collaboration of all the members of the band.
Other songs on the album that stood out were: Don’t Forget Where You Belong, Strong, and Happily. These tracks all have well written and thought out lyrics, which is one criticism One Direction had received on their previous albums.
With the band being constantly on the road, the track Don’t Forget Where You Belong has a deeper meaning for the members. You can clearly hear them pouring their hearts out into the song. The track Strong is also a more passionate song with lyrics like, “Pages between us, written with no end. So many words we’re not saying. Don’t wanna wait ‘til it’s gone. You make me strong.” The other song Happily has a similar vibe to music by Mumford & Sons or the Lumineers. The boys sing about wanting to win someone back with an up-beat tone.
Overall, One Directions third album, Midnight Memories, shows the growth of the band as a whole and should connect to a more mature audience. The album has many new directions, offering what should be expected and more. The band stepped out of their comfort zone of electronic dance music into a path of classic rock. Even the album cover shows how much the boys have matured and it is fitting that they chose to change the direction of their new music. It is refreshing to hear something different from the band, since many expected that their popularity would fade quickly.
A sign of good music is when you stop listening to the album, you still can not get a song out of your head. I will admit that not just one, but multiple of the tracks on Midnight Memories have stuck in my head. The album is very catchy and easy to sing along to.
I am really happy to see the success of this album and believe that One Direction deserves it for all they have incorporated to the tracks. I would give this album 4 stars out of 5 as there is still room for improvement.
