Review: DNA (Deluxe Edition)

Do you remember Little Mix? If not, you should brush up on my thoughts on them on their original post. (But in case you don't wanna do that, just know that the most important take away was that I was excited to hear their album and see if they would unlock the potential that I saw in them.)

NOW

I know, I know. The album doesn't actually drop until November 19... in the UK. Not the US. The UK. I actually don't think they have a US release date? Anyway, so... take that as you will. I'm not gonna say I did illegal things to get this album buuuuut, if I did, it was for the greater good, so I could bring you lot a review on whether you should spend the money on said album. (Or chance heavy fines or incarceration for it. You know, whatever strikes your fancy.)

Anyway, all that aside, Little Mix blew this album out of the water. Completely, and totally achieved the greatness that their "Cannonball" performance hinted at. Is it a perfect album?

No.

Is it a perfect first album?

Hell. Yes.

Every single song showcases every girl and proves that they aren't just four pretty faces with fabulous clothes, but four completely stunning voices. Not only that, but the album just breathes girl power. Tracks like "Change Your Life" and "We Are Who We Are" just make me feel good about myself, and I'm not even the self-conscious type. But dear lord, yes. I'm gonna shine like a star, Little Mix told me so. (Though, girls, you all do look like beauty queens already, so that line about not looking like one is a bit moot, yeah?)

Arguably, the best track on the album is the ballad "Turn Your Face." When I listened to the album for the first time last night, I actually had to stop everything I was doing and just listen to it because I found it so heart wrenching and beautiful. There is so much power in their voices and so much pain that the song just leaves you slightly breathless from it all. In fact, I'd say that if there was one track you invested in on this album, it be this one. It validates their win on The X Factor, it truly does. They're such young artists that their voices shouldn't be able to sound like they do on this track. Can you just imagine what they're going to sound like by their second one? (Fun fact: As I listen to the album again, this song is giving me goosebumps. Again.)

Now, there are some songs that should have been cut, or made into bonus tracks. "How Ya Doin'" comes off a little TOO Spice Girls, and to be honest, these girls have voices that are far superior to that of the Spice Girls and they could do so much better than sounding like one of their cover bands. And the following track, "Red Planet" just doesn't sit right with me. It is neither bad, nor is it good. But they make up for it with the following six tracks. (Well, six if you invest in the deluxe edition, which you should. Technically only two tracks if you have the normal edition.)

Lastly, one of the best aspects of this album is that so many of the songs were made to be played live. The song "Madhouse" practically oozes with performance possibilities. I can practically hear the crowd cheering in the arena as they sing this song, running around fighting off the villain much like N'Sync did in their Popodyssey tour. (You know, when they're fighting the video game bad guy? No? Am I really that old?) It's going to be brilliant live, and I would do a lot of things to witness it, to be honest, ESPECIALLY if they run with this film noir theme that runs throughout the album. ("DNA," "Madhouse," and bonus track "Case Closed" all are begging to have a dark, detective themed tour.)

All in all, an album well worth the wait from this female group. Maybe I didn't understand the hype while they were on TXF, but I fully understand now. Keep up the good work, girls. I want you stateside so I can actually invest in this spectacular release.

4/5

Standout tracks: "Turn Your Face," "Case Closed" and "We Are Who We Are."

'DNA' drops in the UK November 19 via SyCo. (And hopefully eventually in the US.)

Review: Take Me Home

By this point we all know One Direction. Whether you like it or not, you’ve heard at least one of their songs and you’ve found yourself with it stuck in your head. Now, hear me out when I say that that isn’t a bad thing. The 1D boys may produce candy coated pop tracks on a (double) platinum platter, but they do it with a lot of talent. Don’t write them off just because they’re perfectly coiffed, don’t pen their own stuff and spend their time on the Top 40s charts. 

While ‘Up All Night’ was a piece of solid pop dynamite, it left fans wondering about this band’s shelf life. (After all, the boy band life expectancy isn’t exactly the longest in the music industry.) Could they create another album with the right amount of head bobbing pop beats that didn’t sound like UAN 2.0? Or would they find themselves the victims of the sophomore slump?

Well, 1D fans, it is safe to say that the boys managed to pull off a piece of perfectly polished pop perfection. (I do so love alliteration, don’t you?) Boasting the likes of tracks like “I Would,” “Heart Attack,” and “Kiss You,” the boys show just how much they’ve learned from their boy band contemporaries. (Is it just me, or does it feel a helluva lot like the ’90s again?) ‘Take Me Home’ does what any good pop album sets out to do, and that’s make listeners want to dance. But it’s more than that.

With two songs from Ed Sheeran, the album manages to also create downtime for fans to catch a breather from the faster, punchy songs that surround them. They will also end up as fan favorites given it seems the popular consensus that Sheeran is a lyrical genius. 

It’s every bit of catchy as one would expect from 1D, and shows just how much the band has grown. Pulling from the likes of Queen for songs like “Rock Me” and Michael Jackson for “Heart Attack,” they manage to show, for lack of a better word, haters that they are more than just kids who listened to heavily synthesized pop music of the early ’00s. (A common misconception given the artists the boys actually listen to.) 

It does need to be said, however, that the ending track— at least the normal, not deluxe or yearbook edition ending track— isn’t one of the best album closers out there, leaving listeners, at least this listener, like they’re missing something. It’s a nice track, sure, but definitely one that could have been left on the cutting room floor, or at least made into a bonus track.

Maybe it isn’t mature in the fact that they didn’t decide to suddenly change genres, but the album does show that they’ve grown up quite a bit from the doe eyed, long haired teens of “The X Factor.” Fans of the band are undoubtedly going to love it, especially since they could probably release covers of The Wiggles and some listeners would still eat it up. (Okay, maybe not that far.) But what’s best is TMH will— or at least should— gain them respect from those who signed them off as a band with their fame handed to by Simon Cowell. 

‘Take Me Home?’ It’s an accurate title given that’s exactly what you’re going to want to do with this album.

4/5

Standout Tracks: “I Would,” “Kiss You,” “Heart Attack,” and “Over Again.”

‘Take Me Home’ drops November 13 via Syco and Columbia. 

Stitched Up Heart

http://www.facebook.com/#!/StitchedUpHeartRock

If we’re being completely honest, I don’t like female voices. There are very few female singers that I can handle listening to because there is just something that I can’t stand. Maybe they’re just too whiny, I don’t know. It’s a pretty exclusive list of female singers that I can actually listen to, which includes Gaga, Pink and now Mixi, lead singer for Stitched Up Heart. Hailing from Los Angeles, CA, Stiched Up Heart has only been around since 2010, but already has an impressive resume ranging from gigs at SXSW to Warped Tour. She has a certain edge to her voice that lends itself perfectly to their genre, hard rock if you couldn’t figure out on your own. Of course, a singer, while the most recognized part of the band is not the whole band. Everyone should take note of the rest of the members of Stitched Up Heart as they are equally as talented as Mixi. Mikey and Nikki Misery lend roaring guitars to mix, which make you want to get up and rock out; Charlee Conley holds it down on the bass and Andrew is a driving force on the drums. This culmination, when put on stage, results in an explosive force of red, black and thrashing which any proclaimed rocker would love to be intoduced to. At the rate this band is going, there seems to be no stopping them, so if I were you, I would catch them ASAP.

Go Download: “Is This The Way You Get To Hell” off their EP on iTunes. (Also, check them out rocking it acoustic on 6th Street in Austin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKnISrgYfQo&feature=channel_video_title)