The British Invasion has come again, and it’s brought hot men with even hotter accents. One Direction’s third album, Midnight Memories, was released on Nov. 25, and, like wine, these guys get better with age.
Take a moment and notice the word men. The boys we once watched come together on X-Factor with goofy suspenders and brightly colored pants now have toned bodies covered in tattoos and squeezed into pairs of deliciously skinny jeans.
Midnight Memories surprised fans with one of the best songs on the album, also titled “Midnight Memories.”Along with their new style comes a whole new sound from the 1D guys. Though the album opens with the tween pop song “Best Song Ever,” the rest of the album is filled with delicate ballads that will make you swoon, and some mature, folk-rock riffs with a Mumford and Sons kind of feel.
The 80’s rock inspired “Midnight Memories” takes some Queen and mixes a little bit of Def Leppard in there and makes the perfect Throwback Thursday jam.
“Midnight Memories” sticks with the image the album is based on, and that is living the life of One Direction is an out-of-your-suitcase, get-up-and-go kind of deal that they’ve become pretty accustomed to. The song supports their attitude in its very first lyric, “straight off the plane to a new hotel, just touched down, you could never tell.”
Trust any Directioner when she says you honestly can never tell if the guys of 1D just had a long, tiresome flight because, let’s face it, they look flawless whenever we spot them.
It’s no mystery that every girl thinks about some of the meaning behind the lyrics of “Midnight Memories.” They talk about a “five-foot something with the skinny jeans,” and tell that five-foot something, “don’t look back, baby follow me,” in the first verse. The second verse escalates to “I know nothing’s making sense, for tonight let’s just pretend, I don’t wanna stop so give me more.”
Wow. These boys really are men. If you think that we are overreacting to the line, you’ll want to compare it with other songs, especially “Live While We’re Young,” you may change the way you think about future 1D songs. Most of us ladies don’t seem to mind, though.
“Midnight Memories” doesn’t immediately come off as the song to make you swoon, but you will probably find yourself flustered every time you listen to it anyway.
These guys know what girls want to hear, and they sing it so passionately. If you’re response to that was, “Their songs are written for them,” then I am happy to tell you that the guys wrote more than half of the songs on this album. Niall Horan, the cute Irish blondie of 1D, even picked up his guitar for the recording of Midnight Memories.
One Direction can hardly slip into the category of your typical “kawaii” sugar-pop boy band that we have seen come and go many times. “Midnight Memories” proves that One Direction is not just for little screaming girls anymore. They are all grown up – Thank you puberty. You’re doing it right.
So here is the verdict.
Rating: 4 out of 5
When to listen to it: Driving through town with the windows down and a pair of Ray-Bans on.
Lyric most likely to make you swoon: “Tell me that I’m wrong but I do what I please.” Ladies love the bad boys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5OrUrgys8Y
