One Direction? Think, Right Direction

Amongst a plethora of musicians, too many talented artists get hidden beneath the cover of the mass media.  Luckily, shows such as The Voice, America’s Got Talent, X Factor, etc. all provide the masses with some fresh, raw talent.  An even luckier occurrence, a wonderful group has come out of the process.  Straight from Great Britain (and Ireland), ladies and gentleman, Harry, Zayn, Niall, Liam and Louis — the men of One Direction.

You’re probably wondering, “Lucas, how can you like One Direction?  You’re a boy.”  Well, let me enlighten you.  No matter your gender, anyone can like whatever kind of music they please.  Girls can rock out to some hardcore metal, and guys can love simple acoustic love songs.  There should be no gender barrier preventing people from listening to music.

People don’t criticize girls for listening to female artists such as Taylor Swift or Nicki Minaj, so why criticize guys for listening to other guys?  The point is that, with the dashingly good looks and tender voices for the ladies and the stories of heartbreak and love that any guy could identify with, One Direction appeals to both genders.

The vast majority of people today too quickly judge a group based off of one song.  When people hear One Direction’s hit single, “What Makes You Beautiful” on the radio, all too suddenly the sound of that song becomes representative of all the other songs.  It is a shame that people won’t take the time to listen to an entire album before forming an opinion.  What would have happened if people only listened to one song off of an Adele album and ruled out the entire album because that single song wasn’t amazing?  One Direction’s album, Up All Night, has 15 songs on it.  How can someone really know the sound of the group by listening to less than 7 percent of the music?

One Direction records catchy songs.  Personally, my favorites are “Everything About You,” “Tell Me A Lie” and “Taken.”  I wasn’t the biggest fan when I first heard them, but I just listened to a couple different songs that they had, and then I really settled in.

When people say “One Direction has restarted the British Invasion,” or “One Direction is the new Beatles,” they are simply being ridiculous. They are not the new Beatles; that’s nearly unattainable.  But, they certainly have acquired a large amount of commercial success.  They are really lucky that their popularity was able to cross overseas and expand around the world.  The group doesn’t take their success for granted.  They appreciate the adoration of their fans; they don’t just expect it.  Unlike the relationship that some artists hold with their fans, there is a mutual feeling of appreciation between the group and the fans.

Even though boy bands are a pop phenomenon, no one can deny when a wonderful one pops up.  Back in the ‘90s, with groups like *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys dominating the pop music scene, boy bands were on the forefront of everyone’s minds. Now that time has passed, One Direction has hit the airwaves as a nice refresher, but still maintains the popular music styles of this day and age.  One simply cannot ignore the style that One Direction has. With the heavenly hair, the captivating clothes and the sly smiles, no wonder the ladies swoon over them. The image the band maintains is one of some simple, well-dressed and talented guys just trying to sing you a song.

No matter how much resistance you put forward into trying to push One Direction out of the music scene, you’ll just end up staying Up All Night to no avail, and that would not make you very beautiful.