Harmon1 Dancilia Kaye-Cee Harmon Cindy Alkire English Composition 1 October 8, 2012 Up, is The Only Direction One

Direction is Going! In 2010, Simon Cowell, English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality, judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol, probably made one of his most successful decisions when his label signed a contract to British/Irish boy band, One Direction. One Direction is a five part boy band consisting of the heartthrob members: Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. They made third place on the X factor as a newly made group, but yet Cowell still snagged them into his company, even though they lost. He saw something in them that would one day be significant, and he was right. One Directions first album, Up All Night, is taking the world by storm and stealing the hearts of most every teenage girl in the world. Its musical compilation of teen pop, upbeat rock, dynamo choruses, and distinct vocals about teen romance and having fun will have anyone singing along to the clever harmonies at the top of their lungs and dancing all night long to the buoyant beats. Along with the great music, I especially like them for the funny bromance and cheeky personalities. Up All Night has reached number one in many countries, such as Australia, the UK, and America, something an English/Irish boy band has never done before. Its number one single, What Makes You Beautiful (WMYB), has been featured on radios all over the world and has won One Direction many awards for its charming and romantic lyrics, as well as its music video. The music video itself has beaten the likes of Justin Bieber and Beyonc over number one video at the VMAs and Adele at the British Awards. Lyrics like, baby, you light up my world like nobody else, had many girls swooning and wishing they were who the boys were talking about.

Harmon2 This album is not just for girls though. Ive known many males respecting, listening, and jamming out to One Directions songs from this incredible album. Ive seen many YouTube videos of respected male artists doing covers on favorites like WMYB and One Thing. Even non-fans of boy bands cant help but to tap their feet along to their music. The whole album still is front-loaded with catchy songs. When I bought the album, I didnt skip ahead to any one song that I liked the most. I got excited about all of them and even replayed most of them. One of my favorite songs nonetheless, has to be either Save You Tonight or One Thing. My least favorite has to be Everything About You, simply because of the repetitiveness of it and the typical boy band feel it has. One Direction, themselves, can be compared to the likes of other successful boy bands who sung pop such as, the Backstreet Boys, NSync, The Wanted, and Big Time Rush, whom they went on tour with. WMYB, like NSyncs Bye, Bye, Bye, will always be remembered and sung in the heads and hearts of many for years to come. Also, unlike typical boy bands, the band itself isnt just seen as one body and one mind with matching outfits and on-point choreography. Each of the band members are known for something unique. They all come from different backgrounds, all have very different personalities, and they all have very distinct voices from one another. Payne has a very mature voice. He usually starts off the songs with his neutral tone and large range of vocals. Malik has definitely got his inspiration from R&B and artists like Bruno Mars and Michael Jackson. He usually takes on the role of adding ad-lib to the songs to give it more soul like in Up All Night (the song). Tomlinson has a distinctly high voice. It is perfect for the many harmonies that boy bands must have. Horan also has a neutral voice and has a wide range of vocals that round off the harmonies very well like in Save You Tonight. Styles certainly has a distinctive voice. It is easily recognized among the voices with his rocky, hoarse tone that anyone would think belonged in a rock song, but fits perfectly with the four other voices.

Harmon3 Harry Styles stands out the most to me. When I think of One Direction, his face immediately comes to mind. He is the most well-known member, along with Zayn Malik, because he is considered charming, cheeky, funny, and the cutest amongst many. He was voted most favorite band member on websites like Facebook. Many girls have declared they want to be Mrs. Styles. Theyve recently released their first single on their second album and namesake, Live While Were Young (LWWY) that hasnt been released yet, but has reached over 20 million views on the first day it came out. Judging by the many YouTube and Vevo views and hitting number one on iTunes for weeks, before it ever came out, it is also considered as great as WMYB, which reached a little under 20 million views on YouTube the first day it came out. I cant really judge how this second album is going to go, as it hasnt come out yet, but I have high hopes for the much anticipated track. One thing though (pun not intended), is the fact that many young children listen to these songs. The lyrics arent absolutely innocent and cant really be considered PG; maybe PG-13. The guys themselves are 18-20 years old and although thats considered young for music artist, they are uncensored and already have rumors and controversies hanging over their heads. Its not something I would particularly let a five year old be influenced by. Also, their management seems to favor three out of five boys, and it always seems as though those three, Malik, Payne, and Styles are the ones with the most solos and the ones heard the loudest. Other than that, Cowell has definitely hit the jackpot for this multi-million dollar group. I commend the young adults especially for following the likes of Justin Bieber and getting successful so young, so quick. The album is a perfect gift for your teenage daughter or playlist for hot dance clubs. One direction has torpedoed its way into the world, captured many hearts and theyre leaving no survivors. Im happy with the fact that they have stolen my heart. They look forward instead of back, Jason Lipshutz of Billboard says. It seems like the only direction One Direction is going is up.

Harmon4 Works Cited Lipshutz, Jason. One Direction, Up All Night: Track-By-Track Review. Billboard.com. 7 Mar. 2012. Web. October 1, 2012.