Review Summary: One-dimensional music for one-dimensional fans.
Another One Direction album? Why would they release another album when their first one came out just months ago? We already have one sh*tty album destroying the airwaves, and we don't need another.
It's because, like their predecessors Backstreet Boys and NSYNC in the boy band world, teen idols have an expiration date. Hear any Jonas Brothers or Jesse McCartney on the radio lately? Hell, even Miley Cyrus, one of the more recent teenage superstars, doesn't get the airplay she used to. One Direction are slowly realizing that they will be a forgotten name within the next five years, so a second album in one year proves that they're trying to get the most money they can before they become irrelevant.
However, just because they found a way to capitalize on their success doesn't mean that their music is any better. As with their debut, this album is filled with cheesy love songs directed towards teenage girls. "Kiss You" and "Rock Me" are both completely vapid and lack substance, doing nothing but recycling banal cliches. These songs are the reason why One Direction have become a joke in the music industry. Second single "Little Things" opens with a promising acoustic guitar intro, but turns to sh*t as soon as the lyrics pour in. "I know you've never loved the crinkles by your eyes when you smile / You've never loved your stomach or your thighs / The dimples in your back at the bottom of your spine" are just some of the overly saccharine and stupid lines that ruin what could have been a decent song.
One Direction are also trying to "mature" on this album, but all that means is that their lyrics are becoming more sexual. Five twenty year-olds yelling "Let's get some!" isn't edgy, it's just pathetic. Also, warning your girlfriend to not let her pictures leave her phone isn't sexy, it's a confession to being in possession of child porn. There's a difference between being sexy, and just flat-out yelling "sex, sex, sex!" Also, the lack of variation really brings this album down, as every single track is about love. One Direction plays it really safe, as other than "Little Things", there's really nothing different here to distinguish it from their debut.
One Direction's second album is really nothing but a rehashed version of their debut. The lyrics are still overly saccharine, and the vocals sound uninspired and lack personality. You can't really blame them for marketing to a specific target audience, but you can blame the target audience they're marketing to. One Direction only have one direction to head toward -- irrelevance.
