FOUR

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.

If 1D wanted to escape boy-band gravity and stay relevant, they’d need a damn good plan. Listening to Four, it appears that the group does indeed have one: They’re hiding in the 1980s.

Certainly by now the members of One Direction are aware that they can’t risk alienating this dedicated fan base; in fact, Four is preaching to the converted rather than attempting to win over new followers.

Four is solid enough to make you interested in the men they’ll become.

One Direction extend their winning streak, with echoes of the 1970s and 1980s.

It’s hardly groundbreaking pop, but Four is capably sung and beautifully produced.

With Four, they've all but gone the full New Joisey route, with several songs making brazen grabs for that rock heartland territory.

Four ups the chords a smidgen further.

The craftsmanship is first-rate, with canny hooks and harmony, although the confidence of the vocal performance can be overwhelming.

Unfortunately, the quest for maturity leads to a serious lull in the middle as the ballads pile up, but the chest-beating anthems ... are a blast.

The 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.

Welcome to 1D’s awkward phase.

Four is a positive step in that (one) direction, but for the sake of their longevity, they better figure it out before the charms of feigning bashfulness and biting their lower lip wear out.

Everything here is a guaranteed, focus-grouped, nailed-on hit – nothing has been left to chance, instinct or gut feeling. And that's pretty much what it's lacking – instinct, guts and feeling. That's a shame. And also not very pop.