Music Review Monday #11: Midnight Memories (1D)

This is weird, doing this again, especially after a two week break from music reviews. But here I am, once again, taking on One Direction.

Being put together by Simon Cowell himself, this British boy band is the biggest boy band. Their third album in two years is taking a different direction, a different style direction. Instead of fully pop, this album is a little more rock.

In these songs, they are messages about commitment, love, and comforting messages about never forgetting where you truly belong. That's a good thing.

But unfortunately, this album is a little more on the sexual side. That's a bad thing.

In this review, I'll refer to the singers in mostly plural form, but the voice of the song is only one guy, if you know what I mean.

Wholesome Content

The only love song that doesn't really talk about a girl is 'Don't Forget Where You Belong.' The song is a comfort to the people who are struggling with their life, by reminding that they aren't alone and that home is a place where they will always belong. "Don't forget where you belong, home/If you ever feel alone, don't... made a lot of changes... but I know/The moon will be rising back home." 'Story of My Life' resents living in the past and nearly moves on from something that is hopeless, even though it hurts.

They promises a girl that they'll love her forever in 'Diana.' They sing how much she really means to them in a sweet hope. "I don't think you even realize/You'll be saving mine." Even though other love fails, they assure the girl that they'll be together forever. "We don't wanna be like them/We'll make it to the end." (You and I) Now matter what comes their way, a couple will always find each other in 'Through the Dark', even though their relationship might be a mess. "When the night is coming down on you/We'll find a way through the dark."

'Best Song Ever' is a decently clean song about a best night and song, just because the singer got to spend it with a very special girl. Though some songs by other music artists talk about being independent, 'Strong' tells us it's okay not to be that way. "I'm sorry if I say, 'I need you.'/But it's okay/I'm not scared of love.... Is it so wrong/To say you make me strong?"  In 'Half A Heart', the singer, again, resents the past, and decides to start again with a girl that he confesses, 'is the other half of him.'

A sweet love song defines 'Better Than Words.'  Though everything might be perfect, the guys wish for that final piece to their life. (Right Now)

Unacceptable Content

'You and I' goes a little too far with the promise. "Nothing can come between you and I/Even the gods above can't separate the two of us."

 'Midnight Memories' is more than just suggestive to the idea of sex. It begins: "Straight off the plane to a new hotel... maybe I'm wrong/But I do what I please." Even though they knows nothing is permanent it feels good, so they presses on.  "I know nothing makes sense/For tonight, let's just pretend/I don't wanna stop so give me more." Another song speaks of sex directly. "You say we're better off together in our bed." (Something Great)

Even though the girl wants to take it slow, they beg her into running away with they in 'Why Don't We Go There?' Though they don't want the girl to be 'the one that got away', they wants to get addicted to her. "I wanna get addicted to you, girl." Looking like a good song,  it is clear in 'Happily'  that this girl is with another guy. "It's 4am and I know you're with him/I wonder if he knows I touched your skin."

Stealing another guy's girl  is the subject in 'Does He Know?' "Does he know you're out and I want you so bad/Does he know you're mine tonight?" They think the girl lies about her virginity in 'Little White Lies." On top of that, they won't follow her rules when it comes to sexual content. You wanna make some rules/Cool, then we'll watch them break."

Why all this sexual stuff, you ask? The answer is in one of the last tracks, 'Alive.' It's a story about a guy who struggles with commitment issues. "I don't know why I want to be with every girl I meet." He goes to the doctor, but later that night, does it again. Then comes the untruth that it doesn't matter if what's right or wrong or how long it lasts. "Don't look back/Live your life/Even if it's just for tonight/I said, 'Hey it's alright/If it makes you feel alive."

As far as profanity goes, 'Midnight Memories' hints at the s word twice by saying 'sh.'

Conclusion

This album is full of the 'two is better than one' theory. That's a good thing. Many of these songs have more than decent messages about love and needing someone else to go on. Unlike other artists, they sing about the good part of love and what happens when you play it right.

But, furthermore, some of these songs are inexcusable. 'Happily' would've been a great song if it didn't involved another guy. That's what it's becoming, songs about jealousy and cheating. The most twist song of all, though, is 'Alive.'

Think about this. Getting drunk might make a person feel 'alive', but is that right? Having sex outside of marriage might make somebody feel alive too, but is it right? Compared to our definition of 'alive, there's is disappointing.

When I wrote down the good and bad songs in two different categories, it evened out, but unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good. I will mention that these guys did write a lot of these songs. It might be rock in some ways, but it still has the pop roots over the previous albums. Through the good in this album, is, in my opinion, better than previous albums, it's not worth it. These songs are just suggestive towards the idea. It's more than that. If they think that way or not, they're still influencing tons of teen girls. They're encouraging them to lose their purity by singing these songs, no matter what the case.

"It doesn't make sense," Harry sings in the title track.

You're right, Harry. It doesn't. It might make you feel alive, but it's not right at the least. It will never satisy you either.