Back to Blog
One direction video diary playlist5/4/2023 Memories flood with the nights when the album would leak days before its release to a frenzied fanbase attempting to hide the evidence from their Twitter timelines whenever one of the five members would come online. For fans, this time of year in particular recalls the five-year cycle of the band’s album releases. The further we move past the days of One Direction as a fully functioning unit of performers, the more it all begins to blur together like something out of a fever dream - it all went by so fast. The band began their now-indefinite hiatus after a final performance together in 2015, which means they’ve officially been broken up for longer than they were together. And even beyond that, it was the deep cuts and should-have-been singles that still spark conversation long after the prime of One Direction. It was the five albums shared in as many years - four of which topped the Billboard 200 - and the six singles that landed in the top 10 of the Hot 100. Of course, a huge part of the story of One Direction was the deafening screams of fans wherever they went and the social frenzy of having five boyband heartthrobs back in the pop culture conversation for the first time in a long time. They didn’t dance, the concept of coordinated or matching outfits didn’t last past the first tour, and they were the first to wield the passion of fandom paired with the power of social media to achieve ongoing international success. While important stepping stones and key parts of their stories, the feats pale in comparison to literally everything that came after.ĭuring their almost six official years together, 1D completely redefined the notion of a boyband. But at this point, mentioning their stint on the show feels as necessary as tracing Justin Bieber’s success back to his time on YouTube or Ariana Grande’s on Nickelodeon. Better together, at least at the time, the five-piece came in third place in the singing competition. All five members are credited with writing “Summer Love” – a surprisingly rare instance across their discography – and it feels fitting that one of their most truly collaborative efforts should turn out to be their best.Simon Cowell pulled One Direction together in 2010 after Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne had each auditioned as solo artists on The X Factor UK. The band’s most favoured themes – nostalgia, bittersweet memories, young love, friendship – are all present and correct. It doesn’t really fit at the end of the album on its own, it’s an impressive and rather moving pop ballad with some of the band’s best vocal work, including those superb harmonies on the chorus. Perhaps not the most obvious choice for number one, this enormously underrated track from Take Me Home has a title that belies its disarmingly mature approach, from the lyrics to the romantic production filled with sweeping violins and tender guitars. Meanwhile that driving, synth-pop backing track is a dead ringer for “Style” – Swift’s song widely believed to have been written about Styles himself (if the title wasn’t enough of a clue). He references knights in shining armour and a person “looking for someone to write your breakup songs about”. Harry Styles gets top marks for sheer audacity with this blatant riff on a classic song by his ex-girlfriend, Taylor Swift. Malik’s vocal performance here is particularly impressive, but each member gives the track their all. Yet after five virtually non-stop years, it was clear that even these energetic young lads were beginning to run out of steam.Ī defiant song that has 1D paying proper tribute to all the great boybands who came before them. They won more than 200 awards, including seven Brits, four MTV Music Awards, seven AMAs and six Billboard Music Awards. They have sold 200 million records worldwide, and as recently as 2019, achieved 3.6 billion streams across Spotify, YouTube and other platforms. Over the course of five studio albums, “the boys” made music history on multiple occasions, smashing industry records previously set by The Beatles and achieving that rarest of feats: breaking America. While their potential for success was noted by many at the time, no one could have predicted the phenomenon they would become. After initially auditioning as solo artists, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne became One Direction. Ten years ago, five aspiring singers were grouped together by Simon Cowell to compete as a boyband on the then-popular reality show, The X-Factor.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |