With its opening riff that pays homage to (or rips off, depending on whom you ’re asking) The Who’s “ Baba O ’Reilly,” lead single “ Best Song Ever” showed out the gate that Midnight Memories marked a new, Rolling Stone–reading chapter of the band “Does He Know” backed up the claim with its uncanny resemblance to Rick Springfield ’s “ Jessie ’s Girl.” From there, they were ready to go hard on the ’70s and ’80s rock influences, leaning heavily on anthemic sounds to suit the worldwide stadium tours ahead. The pop record’s best moments were its songs rooted in ’70s and ’80s rock and folk, though others would give that title to the sexual innuendo that kept both smirking teens (and growns hi!) and their parental chaperones interested during 1D’s subsequent world tour. Songs on their 2011 debut, Up All Night, veered wildly from the pop perfection of “One Thing” to an unsettling banger in the form of “Stole My Heart.” As Harry, Louis, Liam, Niall and Zayn (miss you) evolved out of their bow ties and braces around the time of 2012 ’s Take Me Home, their sound grew up with them, via Ed Sheeran’s sensitive ballads (“Little Things,” “Over Again”) and the slightly edgy “Rock Me.” But like the visual signs of maturity we would watch the group go through, 1D’s sound experienced an awkward, pimply stage before suddenly sprouting chest hair on 2013’s Midnight Memories. They were a pop act, of course, but since forming at the hands of Simon Cowell on The X Factor in 2010, they spent a few years adhering to Top 40’s “ genre spaghetti” approach: throwing everything at the wall and seeing what would stick. Before the release of their third album, 2013 ’s Midnight Memories, One Direction ’s sound was difficult to define. Over the past two years, 1D has slowly established a pattern of picking up inspiration from rock history, and positioning a modern hit-making filter atop these influences before packing them up and releasing them each November like clockwork. This evolution hasn ’t happened overnight. is also significant because it boasts the greatest percentage of self-penned songs of any of 1D ’s albums yet Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson have writing credits on a combined 14 of the 17 tracks, proving their potential staying power as not just crooner heartthrobs, but pop songwriters as well. Today marks the release of Made in the A.M., One Direction ’s fifth studio album in as many years, and their first since the departure of founding member and certified honey Zayn Malik in March. Photo-Illustration: Maya Robinson and Photos by Getty Images
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