Album- JLS
Artist- JLS
JLS (a.k.a. Jack the Lad Swing) were the runners up of the 2008 series
of the UK Factor. Signed to Epic Records after the show, the group quickly
became the most successful boy band to emerge from the talent show, and to date
have had five number on singles, a further top ten singles, and four top 3
albums in the UK music charts. However, this year the band have announced a
split after the release of a greatest hits record and a farewell tour. But why
did the UK love them so much to begin with? And is this really the time for
them to be splitting up? I take a look at their self-titled debut album to try
and answer those questions.
Track 1- Beat Again
Reportedly written especially for the group by
Wayne Hector and Steve Mac, Beat Again was the lead single and debut song for
the group. An RnB and dance pop track, the song lyrically focuses on the
metaphorical idea of being heartbroken in love to the point where the doctor is
telling you you will die, with the guys asking this girl to give the
relationship another chance so that their hearts will beat again. The lyrics
are catchy in the chorus but come across for the most part as clichéd stuff
designed for a romantic comedy. However the song is saved by the smoothness of
the quartet’s vocal harmonies and charismatic tones, although the bridge is a
little bit annoyingly Auto Tuned. The production has strong electro beats with
a snappy quality that is appealing, although the final chorus needs more of
kick to it to make this song really have a lasting impression on you.
3.5/5
Track 2- Everybody In Love
Initially intended to be the lead single at
one point, Everybody In Love is the albums second single and a feel good pop
and RnB tune. Opening with a rave horn, the song finds the guys singing about
how they are in love with their respective girls despite the hard things that
happen in the relationships, whilst the hook of the song asks anyone in love to
just put their hands up. The song is once again lyrically quite cheesy and
clichéd, but the boys have a charismatic smoothness about their vocals that
lessens the songs cheesiness a bit and makes this more of a light and universal
pop song. The production keeps in line with the previous song in terms of the
snappy electro beats, but through the use of synths the track has a lighter
feel that makes it a nice if simple summer tune.
3.5/5
Track 3- Keep You
Co-written by British singer songwriter and
worldwide star at the time Taio Cruz, Keep You is another track where we find
the guys in a loved up state where they are lyrically telling this girl that
they are better than this guy she is worth, and promise to keep this girl and
be there for her forever. The lyrics have a catchy simplicity that makes the
chorus feel nice and particularly sincere, whilst the electro and synth pop
quality of the production is cool, giving us a light sound that simply elevates
the lyrical content, although a powerful bridge section would have made the
last minute of the song impactful. However whilst the production and lyrics are
better than the previous offerings, this time things suffer a bit vocally, as
the group has nice harmonies as usual, but the voices are a bit too Auto Tuned,
and so the track loses some sense of personality and charisma that makes us
really believe the guys.
3.5/.5
Track 4- Crazy for You
There is slightly more of an emotional
intensity to this track and things aren’t as stereotypical lyrically, which is
a nice change. The song finds the group singing of a bad night that was had
with this girl where they were both angry with each other, but the chorus
focuses upon how this intense emotional connection is simply because that is
how much this girl is loved. The song has a nice honesty to it and features a
cool use of a higher range in the chorus which makes things more powerful. The
bridge here is also stronger through the powerful vocals of member Aston
Merrygold, although sometimes the vocals are marred by the unnecessary use of
Auto Tune. The track features a more organic sound which is a nice change, with
a potent utilizing of strings and a piano melody. However whilst this track
does feel like it offers diversity to the record, things could be a bit more
impactful, and something about this song to me feels like a typical boy band
track that could have been sung a few years ago.
3/5
Track 5- Heal This Heartbreak
Things are kept on a more emotional level with
this track that has an even greater sense of intensity than the previous track.
What is cool about this song is that initially you are lulled into thinking
this is a simple down tempo song that is a heartbreak track, but whilst the
lyrics definitely have that sense of pain from love, the track dips between a
more acoustic based sound before going into more of dance pop territory in the
chorus. The track simply finds the boys singing about this girl who has broken
things off, and they can’t understand why things had to end and don’t know how
to get over the relationship. The lyrics are a bit bland in the chorus but
otherwise are good, and the vocals are a little too Auto Tuned in places but on
the whole good, with each member really bringing something to the song. In
particular Merrygold produces a strong vocal in the last sections of the track,
as his ad libs give the song this true level of emotional vulnerability. This
song is also strong in the way that it deeps between styles of sound, and so
whilst it still doesn’t feel original, it has more of an interesting quality
than the previous song.
3.5/5
Track 6- Close to You
By this point in the record things are to
loved up and down tempo for you to believe that this record is not simply
catered for the groups primary fan base of teenage girls. The song is another
loved based song, but the heartbreak of the last track has gone as they are
basically so in love this girl that nothing that they see or do compares to
her, and they just want to be with her. The lyrics feel entirely like they were
catered for teenage girls to believe the song is about them, whilst the group
brings us a vocal performance that is smooth and well harmonized but lacks true
heart. The production also simply blends a guitar melody with some electronic
based sounds to give us a stereotypical boy band slow jam, and so with this
song comes the question of why were they so loved on the X Factor?
2.5/5
Track 7- Only Tonight
This song feels like one of the most
vulnerable tracks on the record and has a more of a powerful quality within the
chorus that makes the track a standout. The song finds the guys telling this
girl that they think they are making a mistake in ending the relationship, but
will really cherish them if they only have this one last night and things can’t
be changed. The simplicity and pleading quality of the track makes the lyrics
feel more potent, and the vocal performance is one of the best in that it has a
real smooth tone but also shows off a bit more power of their voices, with
Aston once again providing some great ad libs to make things more powerful in
the songs final minute. The steady pop and RnB rhythms of the production with
that heavy and steady beat is really good and makes the song that more intense,
and so whilst this track is annoying in keeping with the slowness of the record
and making the whole album feel a little lackluster, it does have a greater
sense of leaving an impression on the listener than the last few songs.
3.5/5
Track 8- One Shot
The records third single, One Shot is another
song that feels like typical boy band territory with a sound that is designed
to be commercial, but at least the song is better in upping the tempo slightly
to make things less boring. The song finds the group singing about how this
girl has come and kind of is the girl of their dreams, with the chorus focusing
on how this girl needs their feelings to be expressed, because you only get one
shot. The loved up and only getting one shot message is okay but nothing that
hasn’t been heard before from boy bands, although I do like the chorus cause if
you isolate it from the rest of the track it has more of a universal, just go
for things in life message. Things are better here vocally as the Auto Tune
button isn’t annoyingly put into use and the vocal performance feels light and
well harmonized for an appealing sentiment of love, and although unoriginal the
production is nice with the blend of synths that gives the song a nice base for
the vocal performance.
3.5/5
Track 9- Private
Now things finally get a bit more interesting
with the sound of this track having more of an RnB twist with a little bit of a
rock flavoring. The song is also less annoyingly lyrically because instead of
once again saying to a girl how much they love her, here the guys are actually
singing about how they think this girl and the relationship should just be kept
private, a message that feels more potent if you place it in their media heavy
pop star world. The stabs of electro beats and hand clapping base of the song
is cool and more of vibrant sounds the makes things interesting, and so as far
as the albums producers go, Metrophonic seem to be the best. However it seems
with any JLS track there can’t be some form of issue, and with this song the
issue is the vocals, which are just Auto Tuned and annoying.
3/5
Track 10- Don’t Go
Another track where the production has more of
a powerful sound that keeps you interested, this song is features a cool blend
of snappy snyth’s and cool tenchno rhythms with flourishes off some old school
sounding moments. However, whilst production wise the song is good, the rest of
the tracks components are very poor. The song basically finds the guys telling
this girl not to go because they don’t believe that this relationship is going.
This lyrical content is very bland, and is made even worse by the fact we have
already had this kind of emotion from the group in the previous tracks, and so
this song loses all it’s essence fo originality. And the vocal performance seems
to establish further that this song is unoriginal, as the group just comes
across as four guys singing a song rather than a band emotionally invested in
what they are singing about.
2/5
Track 11- Only Making love
Snappy production with a nice blend of electro
dance beats with a slight RnB groove is the best thing about this track, but
even at this point the more interesting production of this and the couple of
previous tracks starts to feel bland and too familiar. And once again the
lyrical content and vocals do nothing to help the songs ability to make an
impression on the listener. Lyrically the track is simply about how the guys
will be fine after things with this girl have ended and they have just found
that she was playing a game, where it seems like sex was simply the role of the
relationship. This could have been a much feister and stronger song lyrically
but instead it just feels like it slips to easily into heartbroken boy band
territory, and once again the vocals are ruined by the use of Auto Tune, with
the way the chorus rises and falls in the vocals just sounding very annoying.
1.5/5
Track 12- Kickstart
With an electronic based production that feels
slightly 80’s influenced, this song has a powerful sound in the production that
brings interest from the listener back to the record. The track is also better
lyrically in the way that for once the band actually stand firm and aren’t
soppy so in love or so much in heartbreak boys. Rather here they are sick of
the drama that this girls seems to always starts, and basically tell her to
leave things and them alone. The defiant quality of the track makes things much
more appealing, and for once the smooth vocal tones of the boys are back
without the annoying Auto Tune. The final 20 seconds of the track is also
really powerful with the infusion of an electric guitar in the production, and
so finally we get some music that feels slightly more original and exciting,
and also in a weird way uplifting.
3.5/5
Track 13- Tightrope
JLS album is a record that hasn’t been one to
shy away from the clichés, and so ending the record on simple ballad with a
more acoustic sound is just yet another pastiche of the boy band package.
Although the lyrics are more raw and interesting than some of the other songs,
it is now a case of too little too late. Furthermore, the metaphor of the guys
being unsure in love and this girl having them in state where it is like they
are walking on a tightrope feels bland and stupid. The harmonization of the
group is nice and vocally there is a chilled quality to the vocal that makes
for a nice closing song, whilst the guitar melody and snappy tone of the
production is simple, powerful and also kind of chilled. Yet at the end of the
day this is another unoriginal pop offering.
2.5/5
Final Review
Their debut album may have sold an amazing 1.4
million copies in the UK since December 2012, but to me it seems like that was
just people rushing onto the bandwagon of the latest musical craze, and most of
the people who will have bought this record will be teenage girls who simply
like guys with a bit of charisma, smooth singing voices and toned six packs.
Each of these tracks is either just run of the mill boy band territory or has
problems such as the annoying use of Auto Tune, unappealing lyrics or bland
production. JLS seem like four nice lads, but in retrospect, if this was their
debut, you can totally understand why they have now decided to split up only
five years down the line of being in the eye of the public and mass music
market.
4/10
Best Track- Only Tonight
Worst Track- Only Making Love
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