On November 13th, One Direction dropped their fifth album in as many years to the listening pleasure of teen hearts everywhere, including yours truly. Teen hearts, and one 51-year-old high school band director from Michigan.
Keith Walker is but a simple man. Father of two twenty/nearly twenty-somethings, husband, music educator, and, coincidentally, Directioner. Despite Harry Styles’s affinity for dads, mine may not necessarily be in the target demographic here.
When Made in the A.M. dropped on Friday the 13th, I knew that my dad had to hear it. Musically, it’s objectively One Direction’s best, and has the potential to garner a fresher, more mature fanbase than their previous albums (more mature is most likely aiming for twenty-somethings, not fifty-somethings, but I digress).
First, a pre-interview, so we all know what page my dad was on with 1D before he listened:
HC: Who’s your favorite member of One Direction?
Dad: I don’t know. I only know their names. I’m going to say Harry Styles because that’s the coolest name and the only guy I know the first and last name of.
HC: What’s your favorite 1D album?
Dad: What’s the one I was listening to all summer? Something about midnight? Midnight Memories. That’s the only album I know. (A/n: I may or may not have left a copy of Midnight Memories in my dad’s car all summer. He may or may not have listened to the whole thing multiple times.)
HC: What’s your favorite song?
Dad: “What Makes You Beautiful”, because that’s the first one I heard and I like the sentiment. (A/n: It’s worth noting that the Zeeland High School marching band, directed by Keith Walker, performed a medley of “What Makes You Beautiful” and “One Thing” in a parade two years ago).
So far, so good. Below are my dad’s first reactions to Made in the A.M., track by track:
“Hey Angel”
This is not a great song… Too much synth background. I do like the way these guys sing, though. This one sounds too mechanical to me most of the time. In the last minute when they drop out the backing track it sounds pretty cool.
“Drag Me Down”
I’ve heard this one on the radio! Love it. Sweet bass line. I like the build into the chorus. Reminds me a little of Imagine Dragons, only not as “big.” (That may not be a great comparison, but it reminds me at least a little of “Radioactive” in parts.)
“Perfect”
Classic “I wrote this song for a girl” song. Sweet and simple. The way a pop tune should be.
“Infinity”
I started this one a few times. It takes too long to get going, and then the impact is missing. It’s a good song, but not their best. I like it, but it’s no “What Makes You Beautiful.” I like the vocals on the chorus, though. This would be a good one for an a capella group – there is a lot more potential for harmony than they actually do. Instrumental break at 3:05? Why? Went about 10 seconds. They could have at least modulated (A/n: Keith Walker has his Masters in Music Education – can you tell?) at the end for a bigger finish.
“End of the Day”
The opening got my head bobbing as I sit in my favorite chair, then the chorus did some weird time/style shift for no apparent reason. I had to stop bobbing and change directions (see what I did there?)… Good tune. Not sure why they did that treatment on the chorus, but it’s a good tune. Whoa, why did we wait so long for the sweet guitar solo??
“If I Could Fly”
Nice. Cello on the new verse. Again I want more 3- and 4-part harmonies. These guys could do it. Hearkens back to “Faithfully” by Journey – “life’s tough when you marry a music man…” Good background fills all the way through. Cool strings.
“Home Depot Commercial” – This needs some rhyming lyrics and a better melody… (A/n: Keith Walker has never been known to resist the opportunity for a Dad Joke.)
“Long Way Down”
I think even if you hadn’t tweeted about this I would have known it was about the band breaking up/Zayn leaving… (A/n: Follow @e_walk9 on Twitter for your daily dose of never shutting up about One Direction) Good tune.
“Never Enough”
Could do without the grunting sounds in the backing vocals at the beginning. Yeah, there’s too much and not enough going on all at the same time here. And a sort of lame horn/synth track after the chorus leaves me flat… Moving on. (A/n: Her Campus UIC does not endorse Keith Walker’s WRONG opinion about jam of the century “Never Enough”).
“Olivia”
Has to be the first love song to someone with that name. Second verse has maybe a live flugelhorn/trumpet? (A/n: hilariously, it does not, despite how much Harry Styles wanted there to be.) Reminds me of the Monkees or other British invasion/teen idol bands back in the day. Even the Beatles a little. Good stuff here. So far only one track that I wouldn’t listen to if it came on the radio (Never Enough). This one is definitely a keeper.
“What a Feeling”
Reminds me of one of their other tunes, which, now that I think of it, is the first time I’ve had that impression today. Wow. That never happens – Megan Trainor being the most obvious, but lots of pop stars throughout history have done it. These guys have a style, but their songs don’t all sound like cookie-cutter versions of each other.
“Love You Goodbye”
Not sure if it’s just Spotify, but this title needs a comma… Anyway…wait! No, it doesn’t! Nice. Let me love you goodbye. Like “let me kiss you goodbye.” Only with more feeling. Why are they so afraid to use guitar stuff?? There’s some tasty (A/n: tasty?) stuff on several tracks; let the instruments have a turn! A longer guitar solo would have been great.
“I Want to Write You a Song”
I like this one. Could be a lullaby.
“History”
Oooh, claps…Then a little blues feel to open. Oh, this could be a good one. Second voice, layering in the bass and some drums. Time to stop the clapping, though… I’d add a Hammond B3, slow it down a little, and make it a sweet gospel-blues style, but that’s just who I am and I can’t resist that stuff; I’d add a bunch of horns, too… And the build on the bridge goes to…. the chorus. Sigh… B3 solo!! Guitar solo!! Come on, guys, use the band. Yeah, I like this one a lot. (A/n: We’d like to remind our readers that Keith Walker is, in fact, a band director with a Master’s in music ed. Shocking revelation, we know.)
“Temporary Fix”
Oh, the boys have grown up, haven’t they? “Let me touch you where your heart is,” indeed… (A/n: Yikes.) Good tune, though. Nothing amazing, but a good tune.
“Walking in the Wind”
Wait, is this the one that you said was about Zayn? (A/n: Yes. This and about four others.) And this totally reminds me of another song – not sure if it’s 1D or not; I can’t think of what it is, but the verse here definitely reminds me of something else. I like this one, too. So far this album is kicking “Midnight Memories'” ass…
“Wolves”
Another bluesy treatment… And a fun, triple-meter pop tune. Not great, but listenable…
“A.M.”
On first look this could be another typical “let’s do it all night” kind of lyric, but I like the “let’s talk all night” vibe.
So these guys ALL sing, too, don’t they? It’s not like one star and a back-up group. And they’re good. Overall that was a happy experience. I like this album!
We do too, Pop.