Something About One Direction
Awards and nominations
One Direction have been recipients of two BRIT Awards—winning their first with "What Makes You Beautiful" for Best British Single at the 2012 BRIT Awards,[140] three NME awards,[141] two Kids' Choice Awards,[142] and four MTV Video Music Awards,[61] among other awards. One Direction won all nine awards they were nominated for at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards.[143] One Direction also won two American Music Awards out of their two nominations for Favorite Pop/Rock Album and Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group, respectively.
Discography
- Up All Night (2011)
- Take Me Home (2012)
- Midnight Memories (2013)
Philanthropy
One Direction have supported many charities and foundations, including Alzheimer's Association, Comic Relief, Greenpeace. Mines Advisory Group, Sport Relief and Trekstock.[120]
In 2010, when One Direction were contestants on The X Factor, they and the series seven finalists released a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes”. The song, was released as a charity single in aid of Help for Heroes, a charity which supports injured servicemen and women. The single entered both the Irish Singles Chart and the UK Singles Chart at number one.
In 2011, the band performed on the Children in Need 2011 broadcast, helping raise over 26 million pounds.[121] The band, alongside the finalists of the eighth series of The X Factor and JLS covered "Wishing on a Star" by Rose Royce. Their version was released as a charity single with all proceeds going to the children's charity organization "Together For Short Lives". The song debuted at number on the UK Singles Chart and on the Irish Charts.
In 2012, One Direction contributed to the fundraiser cookbook Dish for a Wish. The proceeds from sales of the book went to The Rays of Sunshine Children’s Charity, an organization that grants the wishes of sick children in the UK. On 9 May 2012, One Direction visited the ill children of the charity. In April 2012, One Direction teamed up with Charitybuzz to help raise money in aid for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity. Additionally, they also aided the California Earthquake Authority through bidding auctions to meet the band. In July 2012, One Direction teamed up with British Airways in a 'text-to-win' competition, which was launched on social networking websites, giving eight fans the chance to fly with the band on a one hour flight organised by the flight company. Money raised from the competition went to Flying Start, British Airways’ global charity partnership with Comic Relief, to help children in the UK and some of the world’s most poverty-stricken countries. They also extended their involvement with Children in Need as they opened the telecast with a performance of their single Live While We're Young. The group said it was "incredible" to be involved in the charity event as it was something that they had "always watched as children".[122]
In February 2013, One Direction released a medley of "One Way or Another" and "Teenage Kicks", "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)", as the 2013 Comic Relief single.[80] The single debuted at number one on the UK Singles Charts, shifting 113,000 copies in its first week. Moreover, the band traveled to Ghana for Comic Relief where they volunteered at a children's hospital and visited a school. All the band members also made personal donations, with Zayn Malik donating over 500,000 pounds. After announcing their third headlining world tour in May, it was revealed that the band pledged to donate £200,000 from the stadium tour ticket sales to the Stand Up To Cancer charity.
Subsequently, the group teamed up with Office Depot to start a campaign against bullying. The campaign raised over one million dollars. In November 2013, they performed once again on Children in Need and auctioned their own "Pudsey Bear", a faux fur bear dressed in blue shorts, a varsity style 1D cardigan, Converse trainers and a floral bandana designed and signed by the band. As a result, the winning bid was £2,550.00.[123] For ITV’s Christmas campaign, they will be filming a set of pleas to their fans and the general public, asking them to donate £2.[124] The band members are also individually involved in philanthropic activities. To begin with, Louis Tomlinson is a patron of the Bluebell Wood children's hospice.".[125] He hosted a charity football game on 22 October 2012 and signed a deal with the professional football club Doncaster Rovers to join the club on non-contract terms in order to raise funds for the hospice. Thereupon, the children of Doncaster voted him their ultimate childhood hero.
Comparatively, Zayn Malik designed and auctioned his own Gromit sculpture, raising £26,000 for Bristol Children’s Hospital’s expansion in 2013. In August 2013, he and his fellow band member Liam Payne sold personalised pajama suits for £7,000 at a charity auction. He also frequently makes donations, notably to Comic Relief.
In September 2012, Niall Horan organised an event to raise money for Irish Autism Action and another charity called and Temporary Emergency Accommodation Mullingar based in his hometown. Due to overwhelming demand to participate in the fundraising, the ticket website for the event broke down. Horan's brother Greg commented on the website crash, saying that "there were 500 tickets and they were all snapped up pretty quick".[126] Horan later reflected on the fundraisings saying that he was "honoured to be able to give back to his community".
In 2013, band members Liam Payne and Harry Styles partnered with Trekstock, a leading cancer charity in order to help raise money for cancer research.[127] As ambassadors of the charity, the duo collaborated to offer the chance for one fan and a friend to win an evening out with them in return for a donation to the charity as part of an exclusive "#HangwithLiam&Harry" global campaign. They had originally set a goal of raising $500,000 and ended up raising $784,984. Trekstock later added that this amount would allow them to "complete funding of their Hodgkin's lymphoma trial, in the hope of offering a much brighter future to thousands of children and young people affected by this form of disease.
Musical style
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 One Direction's debut single, "What Makes You Beautiful", features a prominent guitar-based chorus and riff.[98] It also contains cowbell instrumentation,[99] and the middle eight consists of an "oh na na na" hook.[100] It is among the best-selling singles of all time, selling over 5 million copies.[101]
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One Direction's debut studio album, Up All Night (2011), is predominantly a pop music record, containing elements of teen pop, dance-pop, pop rock, with electropop and rock influences.[102][103][104][105] Digital Spy's Robert Copsey described the album as a "collection of PG pop rock with killer choruses",[106] while The New York Times considered it "full of easy rock-inflected pop, blithe and sometimes clever."[107] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard acknowledged that the album demonstrates an originality in sound that was "necessary for the revitalization of the boy band movement".[105] The songs "One Thing" and "What Makes You Beautiful" were particularly noted for the genres of power pop and pop rock, for their "powerhouse" guitar riffs and "forceful" choruses.[98][99][102][108]
Their second studio album, Take Me Home (2012), is characterised by rock-inherited pop, prominent electric guitar riffs, bright synthesisers, a homogeneous sound and message, and the pitch-correcting software Auto-Tune.[70][71][72][109][110] Alexis Petridis for The Guardian interpreted its signature sound as a "peppy, synth-bolstered take on early-80s new-wave pop, heavy on clipped rhythms and chugging guitars," which, he said, is at least an improvement on the substitute contemporary R&B "that was once the grim lot of the boyband."[71] Jon Caramanica, writing in The New York Times, considered the album "far more mechanical" than their debut album, although noted that it is sonically and lyrically similar.[70] The album's lyricism speaks of falling in love, unrequited love, the insistence that flaws are what make a person unique, commitment, jealousy and longing for past significant others.[70][71][72][111]
Erica Futterman for Rolling Stone favoured their live acoustic performances as both showing, "Horan's ability to play guitar, as well as One Direction's admirable live vocals. There was no need to worry about a backing track or a bum note, a pleasant realization at a pop show."[112] Herald Sun's Cameron Adams opined that One Direction have "strong pop voices".[113] Melody Lau of the National Post wrote, "It's easy to get lost in inherent appeal of their perfectly coiffed dos and almost-too-put-together preppy style but somewhere in the midst of all the love-struck squeals of teenage girls are guys who can actually sing and, to a certain extent, entertain."[114] Jane Stevenson of the portal site Canoe concurred: "What I didn't really prepare myself for was that they all can actually sing in concert."[115] Chris Richards, writing in The Washington Post, dissented from the approval: "As the five traded couplets, it was tough to imagine a future Justin Timberlake, Ricky Martin or Bobby Brown emerging from the pack. No one voice stood out."[116] Mike Wass of Idolator felt One Direction's "surprisingly accomplished effort" of Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody" proved that One Direction are "more than capable" of evolving their sound.[117]
Their third album Midnight Memories is a pop rock record, a slight departure from the band's original teen pop sound. Liam Payne called Midnight Memories a "slightly rockier and edgier" album than their previous material. The album is heavily influenced by 80s rock[118] and folk music and briefly integrates elements of dubstep, notably in "Little White Lies". The album's lyrical themes primarily revolve around love, heartbreak and sexual intercourse. Many critics praised its lyrical depth and musical composition[119] however others felt that the album was not as "catchy" and "memorable" as Up All Night and Take Me Home.
