mxbenjaminrose

Quintessential 2010s pop rock. I really love the tone of lead singer John O'Callaghan's voice and there's some really fun guitar work in there as well. I actually find the back half of the album a lot more dynamic than the first half, which mostly follows the formula of the album's singles (Miles Away, English Girls). There is a cheeky humor and carefree vibe that works really well for The Maine when they lean in to it.

Favorites: Am I Pretty?, Another Night on Mars

For their third effort in as many years, One Direction seems to have finally emerged from the post-X Factor, overnight teen idol haze that characterized their first two albums. On Midnight Memories, 1D pulls inspiration from further corners of the pop rock world, making their past work seem one-note in comparison. It's not a very consistent record, at different times echoing The Strokes, Coldplay, or Mumford & Sons, but overall feels like a much more mature take on singingable radio ... read more

Released barely a year after their debut album, Take Me Home is still thematically and lyrically juvenile, lowest-common-denominator stuff, but vocally and musically there's a lot of improvement here. The production feels dated, but it's not a uniquely 1D problem; top 40 pop music in 2012 just had a very distinct sound that hasn't aged particularly well. We have to remember that what was being sold with vocal groups at the time was not the music itself, per se, but the celebrity ... read more

Chappell Roan and The Last Dinner Party had a baby and their name is Madonna