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Nov 14, 2014Four is hard to dislike: it's cheery, uplifting, high spirited and good fun.
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Nov 18, 2014They're growing up not by going wild but--get this--by relaxing. And the result is their best work yet.
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Nov 20, 2014Four [is] the most consisting-sounding Direction album yet.
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Nov 18, 2014Four does not break or even bend any rules in pop music, and it certainly doesn’t aim to be cutting edge. Its mix of driving power pop, muscular harmonies, and acoustic alchemy is as manicured as the group’s previous bestsellers.
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Nov 17, 2014Luckily on Four the scales are tipped heavily in favor of the kind of songs they do best, with the majority of them sounding like good-time hits that will go a long way toward warming up a cold November night.
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Nov 20, 2014[On album's first half] the melodies are sturdy and the lyrics catch. Later, the titles get sillier (''Stockholm Syndrome''), and the guitar-jam vibe turns as dull as every real-life guitar jam. But when Four ends, your ears are guilt-free.
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Nov 18, 2014The record is yet another perfect encapsulation of modern pop music. Yet, in the process, the band has shed the scrappiness and spunk that made its early music so endearing.
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Nov 18, 2014It's not all suddenly-grown-up rock music, of course, with tracks like “No Control” and “Fool's Gold” retaining the boys' perky teen-pop charm; and whatever style is adopted, the choruses are all reassuringly collective singalongs.
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Nov 18, 2014The band mainly shows growth through the music.
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Nov 17, 2014Four ups the chords a smidgen further.
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Nov 14, 2014Instead of using that realization to push ahead, Four represents a step back in both sound and sensibility.
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Nov 14, 2014It’s hardly groundbreaking pop, but Four is capably sung and beautifully produced.
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Nov 17, 2014One Direction’s best and most fun album since its debut, and yet still curiously distant.
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Nov 17, 2014None of these tracks can match the best cuts on the act's first two albums for sheer catchiness.
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Nov 17, 2014The album's irresistibly obvious choruses, hackneyed sentiments, and puppy-eyed earnestness can come off as endearing when the songwriting is clever enough, but every misstep is, despite the band's efforts to assert more control over their music, a painful reminder of One Direction's status as a manufactured, focus-grouped pop entity.
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Dec 1, 2014What’s unfortunate is that songs the group co-wrote are the weakest ones here. The exception is the aforementioned lead single, a Journey-inspired ballad that’s catchy regardless of how much my instincts demand instant dismissal. The other slower, anthemic numbers on the album are not nearly as inspired.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 248 out of 388
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Mixed: 26 out of 388
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Negative: 114 out of 388
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Nov 17, 2014
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Nov 17, 2014
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Nov 17, 2014