The Wanted - 'Heart Vacancy'
I like the Wanted. I like that they're a boyband at a time when boybands are supposed to be dead in the water. I like that the boyband they are most closely modelled on is the Take That of nowadays, which means they're also modelled on recent Boyzone, but have skipped past the dinner jackets and mountain-standing of Westlife, AND the rippling torsos and pneumatics of JLS.
Most of all, I like that they've been working with songwriters who aren't afraid to throw a few clever ideas into the mix, like that amazing "pieces/peace is" pun in All Time Low. What I'm not so sold on is this, their second single.
For starters, it suffers from being over-familiar before it's even finished playing, because it's yet another pop song which takes a fragment of melody and repeats it over a turnaround of doomy chords. For all that people like to claim that music is astonishing because there's an infinite variety of musical ideas, this one trick does seem to keep coming back with depressing regularity.
(. It takes place in a time before popcorn.)
AND there's that really strange bit where Jay has to sing "when I-I-EE-I-YIY talk to YOU-OU-EE-OO-OO on the PHOW-WOH-EE-OWN" in a rubbery voice. It sounds stretched and snoozy...and weird
In fact, the whole song sits in a strange tempo hinterland. Too slow for that pounding bass drum, too fast to realise the ambition someone has to make it into an epic ballad. And the vocals in the chorus seem to have been left a bit messy and ragged in places, and empty in others, which is a surprise because 'All Time Low' proved that they've got some talent in the throatal department.
Also, I've heard the album now, and I can, as they say in the papers, EXCLUSIVELY REVEAL that there are better songs on it. There's one, right, which samples the theme music to the cowboy film The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, which you will probably know even if you do not know that you know it.
A challenging choice, I grant you, and not one which will meet with universal approval, but it's STILL a better idea than releasing this strange song as a second single.
Download: Out now
91Èȱ¬ Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
"It is assumed that the chorus is an emotional one of course, but each singer appears to tackle it in a different way. Max, for example, looks as if each word he sings brings back memories of a lost love, while Nathan is seen leaning back and grinning throughout."
"A dose of sickly sweet pop which seems to last longer on the tongue that it does in the mind. "
Comment number 1.
At 18th Oct 2010, OddOne wrote:I don't mind it; it's not as good as 'All Time low' but it's going to get recognition and dare I say it, #1 this weekend because of it's huge appeal, and the fact that it's biggest competition probably comes from Jay Sean and Nicki Minaj with the awfully generic '2012 (It Ain't TYhe End)'.
Oh, and the rest of their album is very good.
Oh and have you heard!? 'Firework' has jumped 101 places on iTunes so far. It's at #6 now, so I could pose competition (defintely not for #1, but it looks a dead cert to have Top 10 placing by Sunday at the rate it's been climbing today) Rush release on the cards maybe? Or suffer the fate the last two Ke$ha singles have, and miss the Top 10 because of album cherry-pickers?
And yes, I did think she was great at first when on X Factor last night, but I felt the performance by the end was brilliant. Oddly, she seemed to do better in the huge, powerhouse chorus than the softer verses.
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Comment number 2.
At 19th Oct 2010, spirit wrote:A very strong second single by The Wanted .
This will do extremely well commercially.
An extremely good single choice .
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Comment number 3.
At 29th Oct 2010, hollyellenpage wrote:I met the wanted today in HMV in Brighton, they were so nice and it was worth queuing up since 6.30am, i finally met them at 10.30. MAX GEORGE HUGGED ME AND KISSED ME, im in lovee.....
we also wear matching stripey tops.
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Comment number 4.
At 29th Oct 2010, spirit wrote:Glad The Wanted made you feel wanted . The joys of meeting pop stars and feeling inspired .
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Comment number 5.
At 29th Oct 2010, OddOne wrote:I just reviewed The Wanted's album over at Unreality Shout:
It's actually a very solid, very versatile effort.
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Comment number 6.
At 29th Oct 2010, kutox wrote:Did you forget to finish off your review Oddie? It finishes with "they're here for a" :P
I like your Pitchfork-style ratings as well ;)
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Comment number 7.
At 29th Oct 2010, OddOne wrote:What?
[Checks]
OH! How odd... Thanks for pointing that out, kutox!
[Corrects]
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Comment number 8.
At 29th Oct 2010, kutox wrote:Heheh no worries.
I would listen to The Wanted's album but I can't find it on any of the streaming websites I'm familiar with :(
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Comment number 9.
At 29th Oct 2010, OddOne wrote:Really? Not even We7? Now that is odd. Actually, I just checked and there are album snippets of all the track at We7, but take it from me - I'd wait until you could hear the full tracks, because there are some amazing songs on this album.
'Let's Get Ugly' is the clear standout for me, as is the laid-back 'Hi And Low' and 'Say It On The Radio' could easily be a future single, with a really futuristic, space-aged video.
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Comment number 10.
At 29th Oct 2010, kutox wrote:Yeah we7 is the one I use most. It's a great site but they can sometimes be a bit inconsistent with the selection of albums they host. I doubt it's entirely up to them though. Sometimes they do eventually put the full albums up several weeks after they are released, so maybe they'll do that with The Wanted's album.
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