Up All Night (One Direction album)
Up All Night is the debut studio album by English-Irish boy band One Direction, released by Syco Records in November 2011 in Ireland and the United Kingdom, followed by a worldwide release during 2012. Four months after finishing third in the seventh series of British reality singing contest The X Factor in December 2010, One Direction began recording the album in Sweden, the UK, and the United States, working with a variety of writers and producers. The album's lyrical content regards being young, relationships, heartbreak and empowerment.
The album received generally favourable reviews from contemporary music critics, many of whom appreciated the album's combination of melodic song craft and catchy, pop-oriented material that, while slickly produced, avoided the commercial cynicism and adult contemporary posturing of some of their '80s and '90s forebears. The album bowed at number two on the UK Albums Chart and ultimately became the UK's fastest-selling debut album of 2011. Up All Night debuted to number one on the United States Billboard 200, selling 176,000 copies in its first week. Up All Night was an international success, the album topped the charts in sixteen countries. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, Up All Night was the third global best-selling album of 2012 with sales of 4.5 million copies worldwide.
One Direction finished 2012 with two of that year's top five best-selling albums in the United States; Up All Night at number three and their second studio album, Take Me Home, at number five, making the boy band the first act to place two albums in the year-end top five in the Nielsen SoundScan era. In addition, Up All Night became the best-selling album by a group and the third best-selling debut album of 2012. Four singles were released from the album, including the UK Singles Chart top ten hits "What Makes You Beautiful", "Gotta Be You", and "One Thing". To promote the album, the band performed on many TV shows and awards ceremonies, including the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards. Furthermore, One Direction embarked on their first headlining concert tour, the Up All Night Tour. Footage from this concert was recorded and released on a live album, entitled Up All Night: The Live Tour.
Background and development
After being formed and finishing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010, One Direction were signed by Simon Cowell to a £2 million Syco Records record contract. Recording for their debut album began in January 2011, as they flew to Los Angeles to work with Moroccan-Swedish producer RedOne. In February 2011, One Direction and nine other contestants from the series participated in the X Factor Live Tour. After the tour concluded in April 2011, the group continued working on their debut album. Recording took place in Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom, as One Direction worked with producers Carl Falk, Savan Kotecha, Steve Mac, RedOne, Toby Gad and Rami Yacoub, among others. The album also features songs written by Ed Sheeran, Kelly Clarkson, and Tom Fletcher. In May 2011, Kotecha spoke to Digital Spy, and he elaborated that One Direction were "experimenting" with sounds on their debut album. Kotecha said that he was involved in the "early stages" of producing the record. "The stuff I've heard has been really catchy and everyone loves the guys, so it's just about capturing that in the music, which I think is what they're going to be doing." Sonny Takhar, the chief executive officer of Syco Records, in an August 2011 issue of Music Week, described the recording process as a "very intensive period" for the group. Takhar added the resulting album was one of the best pop records made by Syco Records in the past few years, and that he was confident it would be successful. In November 2011, they signed a record deal with Columbia Records in North America. Steve Barnett, the co-chairman of Columbia Records, said it was not a difficult decision to sign with One Direction. "Other artists in that category had gotten a little older," he said. "I just thought there was a void, and maybe they could seize and hold it."Composition
Up All Night is predominately a pop music record which orientates into elements of the dance-pop, teen pop, pop rock and power pop genres, with electropop and rock music influences. Instrumentation throughout the record is provided by guitar strings, drums and a piano. The album opens with lead single "What Makes You Beautiful", an uptempo teen pop and power pop song. The opening guitar riff has been noted as similar to that of Grease single "Summer Nights". "What Makes You Beautiful" has a guitar-based chorus; Digital Spy's Robert Copsey likened it to a cross between Pink's "Raise Your Glass" and McFly's "All About You". It also contains cowbell instrumentation, and the middle eight consists of an "oh na na na" hook. The second song on the album, as well as the second single, "Gotta Be You", is a mid-tempo ballad. Set in an orchestral arrangement, its instrumentation includes a guitar, piano lines, and abundant strings. The chorus of the song opens with falsettos that are followed by vocal harmonies.The third track and third single from the album, "One Thing", is an upbeat pop rock song. The song has a "plucky" guitar riff and a "forceful" chorus with Lewis Corner of Digital Spy dubbing it "arena-ready". The song's melody has been noted for similarities between Backstreet Boys song "I Want It That Way". The fourth song on the album and fourth single, "More than This", is a pop ballad. "More than This" contains sounds of synthesizers. "Up All Night" is an uptempo electropop and dance-pop song. Lyrically, the song is a party-anthem, with the Katy Perry name-check in the chorus being noted by various publications. The sixth cut, "I Wish", is a mid-tempo pop ballad. The song's lyrical tone has been compared to Robyn's "Dancing on My Own". The seventh song, "Tell Me a Lie", is an uptempo pop rock song which features prominent guitar instrumentation and pulsating beats. The song was originally intended for Kelly Clarkson's album Stronger. Clarkson spoke to Capital FM on how she was proud of the result. "It's a really cute song, I love it. I loved that they liked it. They sound really great on it. I already have it – I'm so VIP with my copy on my computer! It does sound really good."
The eighth track, "Taken", is a guitar-driven pop ballad. Lyrically, the song is about heartbreak and relationships. The ninth cut, "I Want", is an uptempo pop rock song which features a prominent piano line. This song was co written by The Vaccines. The tenth song on the album, "Everything About You", is an uptempo teen pop and electro pop song. The eleventh song on the album, "Same Mistakes", is a mid-tempo pop song, which utilizes piano lines, synthesizers and percussions. The twelfth track, "Save You Tonight", is an uptempo synthpop song, and has a retro sound and arrangement. The thirteenth song, final song on the standard edition, "Stole My Heart", is an uptempo dance-pop track which has been noted for similarities between Taio Cruz's hit 2010 single "Dynamite". The first cut on the deluxe edition and overall fourteenth song on the album, "Stand Up", is an uptempo electropop and pop rock song. The second and final song on the deluxe edition, and fifteenth overall, "Moments", is a mid-tempo pop ballad. Instrumentation includes a gently strummed guitar and intermediate piano lines. The song's lyrics revolve around an unrequited love. During the album's UK launch in late 2011, Tomlinson referred to the song as his favourite track on the album.
Release and promotion
Up All Night was made available on CD and digital download in two editions: the deluxe edition, in hard form shape of a yearbook, features a book-sized collection of photos, quotes, and lyrics from the five members of One Direction, and two extra songs: "Stand Up" and "Moments". The album was released by Syco Records in Ireland and the UK on 18 November 2011 and 21 November 2011 respectively. The album was released on 25 November 2011 and 28 November 2011 in Australia and New Zealand respectively. The album was fully released in Europe in early 2012. The album was initially set for release in North America on 23 March 2012 through Columbia Records; however, it was rescheduled for a one-week earlier release on 13 March 2012 with Columbia Records releasing a statement: "due to overwhelming fan demand, their debut album will be released one week early on 13 March 2012."For the North American release on 13 March 2012, Columbia Records executives used social media to shape its marketing campaign. Columbia Records co-chairman Steve Barnett and his team decided to reverse the usual pattern of releasing a single on the radio. Instead, the label mounted a four-month marketing campaign aimed at building a fan base through social media before a single was ever released or played on the radio. The social media campaign asked fans to sign petitions and to enter video competitions to win a concert in their town. The campaign was a success as One Direction's Facebook followers in the United States rose from 40,000 to 400,000. "What Makes You Beautiful" sold more than 131,000 copies in its first week, even though it had yet to be played on the radio. Radio programmers were flooded with calls from fans. Johnny Wright, who managed New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, said: "Now they are calling the radio station, and the radio station is scratching its head, saying, 'We don't even have that record yet,’. It's almost like the return of The Beatles. I call it hype, but it's positive hype because it's all real. It's not manufactured. No one paid these kids."
Live performances
One Direction performed "What Makes You Beautiful" on Red or Black? on 10 September 2011. The performance started with hosts Ant & Dec announcing that the band was supposedly running late for their appearance, and cut to a video of One Direction boarding a London Tube carriage full of fans, as the studio version of the song began playing. Each fan on the tube was given a numbered ticket. The band and fans disembarked the tube and made their way to the television studio, where the remainder of the song was sung live. After the song, Styles caught a numbered ticket raining onstage. The number corresponded to a ticket held by a fan from the tube; the colour of the fan's shirt was the correct answer for the Red or Black? challenge. The band performed "What Makes You Beautiful" and its B-side, "Na Na Na", at the BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards on 9 October 2011. The band also performed the song to open telethon Children in Need 2011 on 19 November 2011. One Direction performed "Gotta Be You", "One Thing", and "What Makes You Beautiful" at Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball on 4 December 2011, at The O2 Arena. They performed a medley of "She Makes Me Wanna" and "What Makes You Beautiful" with JLS on The X Factor eighth series final on 10 December 2011. The group performed "One Thing" and "What Makes You Beautiful" on Dancing on Ice on 5 February 2012.In Italy, the group performed "What Makes You Beautiful" at the 2012 Sanremo Music Festival on 14 February 2012. In France, they performed "What Makes You Beautiful" and "One Thing" on Le Grand Journal on 22 February 2012. In the United States, One Direction performed "What Makes You Beautiful", "More than This" and "One Thing" on The Today Show at the Rockefeller Center on 12 March 2012. An estimated 15,000 fans descended on the plaza. They also performed "What Makes You Beautiful" at the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards on 31 March 2012. One Direction performed "What Makes You Beautiful" and "One Thing" on comedy television show Saturday Night Live and also appeared in a comedy sketch with Sofía Vergara on 7 April 2012. In Australia, they performed "One Thing" and "What Makes You Beautiful" at the 54th Logie Awards, where they also presented an award for "Most Popular New Female Talent" on 15 April 2012. On 12 August 2012, One Direction performed "What Makes You Beautiful" at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London, which represented the handover to Rio de Janeiro as the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics.File:One Direction Sydney 6.jpg|thumb|right|270px|One Direction performing in Sydney during their Up All Night Tour.