Take Me Home, by One Direction
Take Me Home
One Direction
November 9, 2012
Power Pop
9.5/10
Everyone in life has a few bands or artists whose music just doesn't fit in with their style. It's called a guilty pleasure. For some people it's a band no one has ever heard of, and they still play shows in broken-down VFW's, but for me, this boy group happens to be extremely well-known.
One Direction started out on the seventh season of the British show The X-Factor, but after a suggestion made by a judge, the five men formed the boy band known as One Direction. After finishing out the show they were signed and thrown into a recording studio; which I am currently whole-heartedly happy about. Now-a-days you can't go anywhere without seeing something 1D marketed, so it's definitely time for a review of their latest album.
It started off in the weekly US charts at number 1, and by the end of the year, it almost topped the US top 200 by coming in at number 5. Digging a little deeper, I checked the iTunes top 10 lists, and up to now it's still in the running with such countries as the UK, Belgium, Ireland, and Japan.
Take Me Home, the second studio release by this talented group of men is nothing short of a power popping powerhouse. I dare you to say that five times fast. Running in at around 42 minutes this album is the great escape every girl should take at least once a week to pump herself up, because lets face it, five beautiful guys talking about treating a girl right...what girl wouldn't want that?
The album starts off with the track "Live While We're Young," a poppy summer song that makes you melt for five English/Irish men you've never met. The vocals remind me of Big Time Rush (Another guilty pleasure boy band) while the song in its entirety makes me think of every cute romantic comedy I've ever seen. I see an awesome beach party waiting, while a few of those cute men make a bonfire for later.
That song fades into an even more upbeat pop hit, which happens to be one of their singles. "Kiss You," is a song I can easily dance along to while getting ready. No...really. The other day I listened to this as loud as my laptop would allow, and danced around my room as I got ready for the day. This song is the perfect track to make any girl both swoon and the most confident woman in the room.
If you watch the music video for the single, which I posted below, you can tell just how much humor each of these five men possess, and humor makes for an amazingly charming music video especially for a boy band.
From there, the album takes a turn for the ballad. These men go from a poppy boy band to a mature group, who reminds me of when I was really young looking up at the stars, singing Backstreet Boys ballads. This song is so heartfelt and passionate I couldn't help but smile. They attack every insecurity a woman can have and say they still love her. It's perfectly adorable and shows some amazing maturity through not only the lyrics, but it transpires even to their voices. The track, "Little Things," is the perfect lullaby for any woman, and it's possibly my favorite on the album.
After that track, the album speeds up progressively, as much as anything can before it starts to sound like the perfect summer romance in the beginning of the album turned into a break-up; taking everyone over a roller coaster of emotions. Through all of this, by the sixth track, "Heart Attack," it's sped up to being really poppy and upbeat. Never thought I'd say this, but even though the song is about literally having a heart attack over seeing an ex with someone new I smile. Weird, right? Maybe then I'd have a chance with Zayn. (Just kidding...fangirls aged 10-? don't track me down for saying that.)
Speeding up, the ninth track, "I would," makes me grin even more. It seems like the boys are over their ex, and onto another. It starts out with some amazing guitar, then gets back into it's poppy roots that it planted in the first track. The song is youthful and absolutely cute, with little whistle cues before the chorus....or maybe it's just my imagination. Anyways, it reminds me of something that Disney would produce as a modern day romantic movie. Come to think of it...I could think of a few million "Directioners" who would gladly pay to see a romantic movie from 1D. I would. 
The only track I have come across that I don't particularly care for is "Over Again." It just comes across as too sappy and re-iterates the idea everyone already knows. They just want to be back with their ex. I feel like they should have left out that track, because "They Don't Know About Us," is a track that perfectly sums that up, outshining "Over Again," over and over again. I say this because the album is an emotional roller coaster, and to be perfectly honest, that track is the only one that actually depresses me. The rest of the songs, I get. They fit together. With "Over Again," that roller coaster went off the tracks and into retirement. "They Don't Know About Us," brings that roller coaster off, dusts it off, and says get on, and listen to my story.
By that time, you've slid into the final track, "Summer Love." Before the vocals even begin, I'm smiling again. Granted, the song is really sad, but I'm back to the days where I was really young, thinking of Backstreet Boys songs, staring at the stars on a summer night. It's romantic, and a perfect ending to tuck you in, promising to come back in the morning.
All in all, this is an amazing album, and One Direction did everyone a favor by listening to that judges suggestion in The X Factor. They are supposedly coming out with a third studio release, which now, I personally cannot wait for. Amazing job on the second one, but now I'm waiting for that morning when I can wake up, stretch, and get another dose of my favorite guilty pleasure, five piece, One Direction. 
The men are on tour from June to August, but good luck getting tickets. Below are some sites to get some music, info, or just to look at them.
One Direction can be found on Facebook
And Twitter
Oh yeah, and of course at their official One Direction web site
