One Direction became the first group to have their first three albums reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart since 1967. Their most recent album, Midnight Memories debuted with 546,000 copies sold in the first week alone. With a successful album like that, you’d expect the band to release singles that would get some sort of airplay on the radio.
Their first single, “Best Song Ever” didn’t get much airplay, despite having a highly successful video for it. Their second single, “Story of My Life,” did hit radio and it hit it hard. It reached number 6 on the Billboard 200, giving the boys another top ten hit. Their third single was the title track of the album, which failed to reach mainstream radio stations.
This week, 1D announced their fourth single off Midnight Memories, “You and I.” Their album was actually as good as it was successful, however, the album was full of “filler songs,” two of which have already been released as singles. Though the title track of an album is usually a meaningful song, this dismal display of music does nothing for the band’s musical image. If 1D ever wants to move out of their fan-frenzied image and into a place where they will be treated as actual music artists than a “hot boy band,” they need to release songs off the albums that will actually show off their musical talents.
Though the boys will be successful with or without acknowledgment from The Grammys, they need to focus on their maturing sound and their images if they want to attract a new set of fans. This summer, One Direction is set to begin their "Where We Are" summer stadium tour, which sold out multiple shows throughout North America.
Songs like “Diana,” “Strong” and “Happily” are all amazing standout songs from Midnight Memories that would not only show how great the band actually is, but they are also potentially big radio songs. Hopefully the boy band released a new single soon after “You and I” to move past their tanking singles.
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