One Direction's second album 'Take Me Home' is disappointingly good pop. It's the kind of music you want to hate and know you shouldn't enjoy as someone who isn't a 'teeny-bopper', but it still puts a smile on your face.
The boyband sensation's second album opens with the party track 'Live While We're Young'. It's already had the biggest opening-week sales figures for any non-US act in history in America. And it's almost as catchy as their debut single 'What Makes You Beautiful' from their 2011 album 'Up All Night'.
I particularly like the line "just pretending that we're cool", which sums up Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson quite well.
Then it's on to the up-tempo 'Kiss You', where the boys repeat lots of words like "baby say yeah, yeah yeah" and make sounds like "na na na na naaa".
The album gets its cheeky title from this song's chorus, where the teen heartthrobs sing: "If you don't wanna take it slow/You just wanna take me home."
My favourite track on the album is 'Little Things'. Probably because its beautifully written by Ed Sheeran and even shows off the vocal range of the guys in the band. It's all about the imperfections that the female subject hates about herself but they all love. Irresistible.
"You can't go to bed without a cup of tea, maybe that's the reason you talk in your sleep," Louis coos. While the raspier Harry sings: "You still have to squeeze into your jeans. But you're perfect to me." If that doesn't melt teenage hearts I don't know what will.
It's a simple song to put your lighter in the air and sway along to. And maybe even have a little sob over.
The fourth track 'C’mon C’mon' is lacking any substance and sounds a bit too much like bad nineties pop to enjoy. Similarly 'Last First Kiss' could be a B-side on a Backstreet Boys tape, but it does have a sweet sentiment behind it. They sing: "Baby, let me be your last first kiss/ I want to be the first to take it all the way like this."
'Rock Me' uses a gentle version of Queen's 'We Will Rock You's' riff accompanied with the chorus "I want you to rock me, rock me, rock me". Written by songwriting heavyweights Lukasz Gottwald and Henry Walter, it is a likely candidate for the boy band’s next single, its simple-yet-genius catchiness.
Halfway through the album, I'm ready to put some hard rock on, but in the interest of fairness I'll continue...
The stripped back 'Change My Mind' and 'I Would', written by McFly's Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones and Dougie Poynter, are bound to be hits with the band's target audience.
'Over Again' is the second song on the album that's written by Ed Sheeran and sees all five members of One Direction sing about a former love. I've got to admit it is kind of breakup ballad perfection.
And the final three tracks 'Back For You', about being on the road, 'They Don't Know About Us' - a future anthem - and 'Summer Love' seal the band's second album's success with the young ears it was intended for.
One Direction's global music domination won't be ending anytime soon. And this album has made me think it's probably just easier to give in and enjoy it.
Take Me Home is released on Monday, 12th November.
