One Direction – Gotta Be You

One Direction are the latest in a line of hate-to-love and love-to-hate boy bands of the modern pop music scene, along with the likes of JLS and The Wanted. Their debut release ‘What Makes You Beautiful‘ was the fastest-selling single of the year in the UK, but had people cringing far and wide at the sounds of five schoolboys trying to chat up girls through song.

‘Gotta Be You’ is not exactly the best song to follow with to try and win back the British audience. The polar opposite from the upbeat and cheeky ‘WMYB’, ‘Gotta Be You’ is a slow string-driven love song featuring the most boring chorus in the world (in pop music, chorus is king). The music is uninspired, the lyrics are predictable (save for the only use of the word ‘anointed’ in a popular song ever), and the video is equally as sickening as their first, but ‘Gotta Be You’ somehow isn’t the worst song in the world. I find myself singing along to the song at the most random of times, and I don’t feel as guilty as I did for mouthing “That’s what makes you beautiful”.

One Direction are definitely one of those groups for the screaming masses of young girls, but I don’t feel all that guilty for enjoying their music myself. I’m not exactly going to remember them when they inevitably drift off into the murky depths of performing at Butlin’s, but for now I’ll just enjoy the pop.

Rating: 5/10

NB: I would also have given ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ way more than 2/10!