I have chosen some examples of album reviews as I am possibly doing an album review for my double page spread.
Digital Spy: Union J - Union J
Being a boyband on The X Factor comes with considerably higher expectations than it used to. Ever since One Direction became a phenomenon across the globe, the bar has been set impossibly high. Union J will find it tough to escape their predecessors' shadow, but their first self-titled album is a carefully considered collection of pop songs that does its best to differentiate them from their fellow talent show acts.
Of course, Union J contains the proven formula of puppy-eyed balladry and uptempo love songs primed to make teenage girls scream their tonsils into oblivion. Lead single 'Carry You' flits between a soaring chorus and reassuring lyrics that will have mobile phones glowing in arena crowds across the country, while follow-up 'Beautiful Life' is a rousing guitar-led ode to that insecure girl who doesn't feel special, but ultimately is the one they'll notice. Sure they're merely calculated declarations of flattery over a 4x4 beat, but since when was pop adverse to a bit of that?
The pace is ramped up on thumping anthem 'Beethoven', which sounds like a future chart-botherer even if it does contain the lyrics, "I'll play you like an instrument/ Let me be your Beethoven." Unfortunately, it is followed by bog-standard plod-alongs 'Head In The Clouds' and 'Last Goodbye' that do little to surpass their status of album filler, while Demi Lovato cover 'Skyscraper' is a nice piece of heart-tuggery, but fails to dent the delicate emotion of the original.
That said, we thought we were through with the current craze of boyband-tinged EDM, until we heard 'Save The Last Dance'. "I know you catch a lot of hearts, baby/ Got them lining up tonight," they note, before the chorus bursts into a pulsing mix of club synths and funk-driven guitar. It's by no means a revolutionary slice of pop, but it's enough to momentarily steal the spotlight and shine it on Union J's commendable debut set.
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