On 23 November 2013, in support of Midnight Memories, the band participated in "1D Day",[95][96] a day dedicated to One Direction fans. The day constituted of a landmark 7.5 hour socially interactive YouTube live-stream featuring live band performances, celebrity guests including, Simon Cowell, Cindy Crawford, Piers Morgan, Jerry Springer and many more. The event was unique not only because of its long runtime but the unprecedented use of social media whereby fans got to participate in the show interact directly with the band via Google+ Hangout.
Midnight Memories was released globally on 25 November 2013. It debuted at number one in the UK and in the US, making them the first group to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 with its first three albums, and the second to reach the top after The Monkees in 1967.[97] The album was described by the band as edgier and as having a "slightly rockier tone" than their previous efforts.[98] "Story of My Life" was revealed as the second single of the album with each member posting a photo from their childhood.[99][100] To promote the album, the band performed on both the American and British versions of The X Factor.[101]
In December 2013, One Direction broke yet another UK sales record with the DVD and Blu-ray release of their 3-D concert film This is Us. Nearly 270,000 copies of the film were sold in the UK within three days of its release, beating the record previously set by Michael Jackson's This Is It in 2010 by 10,000 copies.[102] The group was named Top Global artists of 2013 by the IFPI because of strong digital downloads, physical albums, on-demand streams, and music videos.[103]
2014-present: Four and Malik's departure
On 21 July, One Direction announced One Direction: Where We Are - The Concert Film, a film which documents the 28 and 29 June 2014 concerts that took place in San Siro Stadium during their Where We Are Tour. After the announcement, the band announced the film will also have a limited 10-11 October 2014 international cinema release before its home media release in November 2014[104][105] The group also released an autobiography book titled Who We Are on 25 September 2014.[106]
On 8 September, One Direction announced their fourth studio album to be titled Four, set to be released on 17 November 2014.[107][108][109] As part of the announcement, one of the songs from the album, "Fireproof" was released for free download for 24 hours on their official website.[107][108][109] "Steal My Girl", the album's lead single, was released on 29 September,[110] and the music video was released on 24 October. The second single from the album, "Night Changes", was released on 14 November, three days before the album's release.[111] Four was released on 17 November, topping the Billboard 200 and the UK Album Chart.[112][113]
On 22 November, Paul Higgins, the group's tour manager who has been with them since its formation, parted ways with the band.[114] The band confirmed at the BBC Music Awards that following the success of Four, they had hopes to continue to go "somewhere else" on their fifth album.[115]
On 25 March 2015, the band released a statement announcing Malik's departure.[116][117][118] On 4 April, Payne announced that the writing for the fifth album has begun.[119]
Musical style
"What Makes You Beautiful"
One Direction's debut single, "What Makes You Beautiful", features a prominent guitar-based chorus and riff.[120] It also contains cowbell instrumentation,[121] and the middle eight consists of an "oh na na na" hook.[122] It is among the best-selling singles of all time, selling over 5 million copies.[123]
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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.[124][125][126][127] Digital Spy's Robert Copsey described the album as a "collection of PG pop rock with killer choruses",[128] while The New York Times considered it "full of easy rock-inflected pop, blithe and sometimes clever."[129] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard acknowledged that the album demonstrates an originality in sound that was "necessary for the revitalization of the boy band movement".[127] 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.[120][121][124][130]
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Random Acts of Randomness
RandomExpect anything. Like a friendly cute little quote to a hardcore bloody mortal combat fatality... JUST SAYIN' Some parts in here are NOT from me, but don't worry, I'll mention whoever wrote/made that. I made this JUST FOR FUN, and because I don't k...
