News: One Direction, 'Take Me Home': Track-By-Track Review

When Simon Cowell issues a challenge, the pop world tends to accept it. That's what happened with One Direction on album number two, arriving in the U.S. eight months after its predecessor. Following the massive success of  "Up All Night" and the single "What Makes You Beautiful," the "X Factor" judge and band advisor challenged pop's most dominant songwriters and producers to bring their A-game to One Direction's follow-up. A glance at the album's liner notes shows some familiar faces and some new ones, but most importantly, at least half of "Take Me Home's" songs sound like potential singles, ranging from glossy electro-pop to sentimental acoustic ballads. Even with so many producers lending a hand, there isn't a dud to be found on the record's thirteen tracks. At worst, some of the lesser cuts sound like photocopies of their stronger counterparts, which is certainly a forgivable offense for the boys of One Direction.

All five 1D members -- Zayn Malik, 19; Harry Styles, 18; Louis Tomlinson, 20; Niall Horan, 19; and Liam Payne,19 -- are still under the legal drinking age in the U.S, but lyrically, the boys have grown up a tad. The five members sound very much like a unit, with no single personality in the band dominating the others. That's just fine for now, though it should be interesting to watch this dynamic play out over the course of the band's career. Is there a Justin Timberlake in the mix? Stay tuned.

Read More: http://www.billboard.com/new-releases/one-direction-take-me-home-track-by-track-1008008522.story#/new-releases/one-direction-take-me-home-track-by-track-1008008522.story