Five years ago, Justin Bieber and One Direction came out as the biggest teen pop sensations and stole the world’s hearts. However, as time has passed, both have matured into completely new entities, and that’s reflected in their newest music.
This past Friday the two pop culture behemoths released their newest albums on the same day. In the competition for better album, who took home best in show? Here’s my take:
Justin Bieber – Purpose:
Justin’s matured a lot since “Baby” came out in 2010. While back then people thought of him as a teen pop star, with "Purpose" he’s moved away from comparisons to “Aaron Carter” and towards something more like “Usher” or “The Weekend.”
"Purpose" is driven throughout by a lot of electronic beats and very produced synth sounds, possibly coming from the addition of Skrillex as a producer on five of the album’s 13 tracks.The EDM-pop mix coming from here shows that Bieber has focused on creating a unique and respectable sound to reinvent himself after the past year and a half of adolescent antics.
Now, instead of thinking of Bieber as that self-centered celebrity who peed into a restaurant mop bucket, I think of someone who’s worked hard to earn respect as an artist. This album is a great step in Justin’s career.
One Direction – Made in the AM:
Over the past five years, One Direction has released an album every November like clockwork. Each addition has driven their popularity higher and higher, but it seems to have taken a strain on the members of the band. Even with the loss of Zayn Malik and announcement of their hiatus, "Made in the AM" doesn’t show signs of the group’s wear and tear.
While the album’s songs don’t provide anything extremely exceptional, "Made in the AM" is interesting to listen to and continues in the direction of their previous album "Four." Each song is predictable and checks all of the boxes needed for the perfect formulaic pop song, which makes it enjoyable to listen to without standing out.
Verdict:
Even though their beginnings started similarly, these two pop sensations have moved into different directions and their newest work almost falls into different genres. The differences between these two albums really comes down to the new material presented in the package.
While "Made in the AM" is a perfectly good album on its own, it comes off as One Direction spinning their wheels. "Purpose" brings a whole new style and presents a greater blend of new ideas along with it, making it the album of choice between these two.
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