One Direction - is this a legit new threat wrt to a new boy band invasion? y/n

powerless to be born at the hands of British guys who look like foals.

the hair is nowhere near as atrocious as the tats

i want zayn to hurry up w/ his rumored solo release

Zayn's the cutest but it's like these dudes are at a Danny Wood level of C- cuteness.

i disagree although i think three of them have similar raw look materials

so like if you're not into that look you're probably not going to be into them

i think all of them are properly attractive except niall who is kind of a goober

liam looks the best right now tho

isn't that what "niall" means in Gaelic

i want zayn to hurry up w/ his rumored solo release

― dyl, Monday, November 24, 2014 3:00 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark

i still can't figure out the musical talent hierarchy w/ this group ... it doesn't seem like they've reached the nsync phase where it was like justin -> jc -> who cares

zayn is technically the best singer i think

he is also perfectly carved

anyway my favorite is louis inexplicably

by songwriting credit on this album we get

louis 8
liam 7
harry 4
niall 2
zayn 2

but no one's really itching to hear a louis tomlinson album i assume (ok except brad)? is zayn just getting a solo record cuz he's the prettiest face?

harry is a predestined solo artist but i feel like it's a toss up b/w the other 4 as to who might emerge with a viable career

well, not who "might" because niall won't. but who has the talent musically to be a decent solo artist.

zayn's adlibs are my fav thing in the world. there's too few of them on four.

If it weren't for his atrocious hair, Niall would be the cutest

Anyway, this piece seems relevant to the "who will go solo?" discussion: http://penguinrandomhouse.ca/hazlitt/blog/changing-minds-nick-jonas-one-direction-and-rare-act-pop-transference

zayn co-wrote a few tracks for the album but they were all shelved. probably because the music direction he wants to go in is counter to the stadium rock ting they're doing now (which has been largely shaped by louis & liam).

but no one's really itching to hear a louis tomlinson album i assume (ok except brad)

his songs are great!

his voice is kinda thin, though, not sure i could take a whole record

Which songs are Louis'?

Yeah there's a reason he gets the least solos by some margin

a lot of his credits are cowrites with liam + producers, but on the new record: "steal my girl," "ready to run," "no control," "fireproof," "clouds," "spaces"

"no control" would be one of their best songs ever if louis wasn't leading the chorus; as important as it is for the larrybait.

harry is self-evidently the solo star.

Haha that list makes perfect sense.

nah i love the way louis sings the chorus

is Louis the other brunette with fucked-up hair and the stupid tattoo? IIRC he's the one who super-embarrassed himself on SNL

with fucked-up hair and the stupid tattoo

i honestly don't know

"no control" is dope, in an alternate reality they go off in that direction and make the good third strokes album that never existed

I think so but dan that arguably describes three of them.

louis is the one that looks like someone who gets stopped on the street and told he looks like harry styles

I looked him up and yes, he's the one I'm thinking of

His part of the SNL performance of "Story of My Life" is hilariously bad

J0rdan u mad.

Not as mad as Alfred saying that "no control" is like anco but pretty mad.

"no control" is dope, in an alternate reality they go off in that direction and make the good third strokes album that never existed

would love this if they also kept their fake queen jams and whatever "fireproof" is (amazing)

Hah, the verses on "No Control" do kind of sound like the Strokes. I don't know if they'd write a chorus like that, though.

Actually I feel like One Direction at their most rock are approaching Fall Out Boy at their most pop - the distance between "No Control" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "Miss Missing You" or "Where Did The Party Go?" seems pretty small to me.

who sang the anthemic sounds like "Diana" -- is that Zayn?

*songs

i'm very impressed at how they've managed to avoid most of the pitfalls of boyband maturation - no attempts to go solo, no attempts to go macho, etc (and whatever your personal taste in dreaminess nobody's gone chris kirkpatrick on us). but while it's interesting they're moving towards folk balladeering rather than r&b balladeering (maybe there's more precedent for this in uk boybands), these guys just have too many ballads for my tastes.

Actually I feel like One Direction at their most rock are approaching Fall Out Boy at their most pop - the distance between "No Control" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "Miss Missing You" or "Where Did The Party Go?" seems pretty small to me.

― Tim F, Monday, November 24, 2014 5:34 PM (39 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah "young volcanoes" could totally be on this album

i'm very impressed at how they've managed to avoid most of the pitfalls of boyband maturation - no attempts to go solo, no attempts to go macho, etc (and whatever your personal taste in dreaminess nobody's gone chris kirkpatrick on us). but while it's interesting they're moving towards folk balladeering rather than r&b balladeering (maybe there's more precedent for this in uk boybands), these guys just have too many ballads for my tastes.

― da croupier, Monday, November 24, 2014 5:40 PM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

there's definitely something that's too mumford about them -- even down to, like, harry's hat obsession -- but there's still a certain... essential boy band-y lightness to their ballads that i really like. in that certain sense they sort of feel like an updated version of the backstreet boys to me.

i mean compared to bsb by album four it's just refreshing that they aren't aggressively trying to let us know what horny players they are while one jumps forward spewing melismas at the end of every song

their peak backstreet boys moment will always be "they don't know about us"

THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE UP ALL NIGHTS
THEY DON'T KNOW I'VE WAITED ALL MY LIFE
JUST TO FIND A LOVE THAT FEEL THIS RIGHT
BABY THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT US

I'm trying to think of what would've been the equivalent of a boy band's going Pyromania in 2000 -- skinny ties before the Strokes?

Hanson bringing out more Blues and Southern Rock influences on This Time Around?

Weird that we're talking about "no attempts to go solo" and that the band is in a good place when the only press I've read surrounding this album makes it sound like the band has maybe a year or two left before a split / haitus

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/nov/15/one-direction-boy-band-exclusive-interview-
http://jezebel.com/every-member-is-extremely-talented-a-somber-one-direct-1659825135

also the order is clearly zayn > harry >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> louis >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> niall >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> liam

even if it all ends tomorrow with one setting a hotel bed on fire and another recording an album of acoustic covers, making it THIS far without such antics would be impressive enough