As someone who has watched them on the X factor and watched you tubes of their recent gigs in the States, I would say they can now sing and harmonise. There is an amazing difference from those early x Factor shows.

Most bands are pretty dodgy at the start of their journeys and I am old enough and fortunate enough to have seen some of them live and I could spot who would make it and who wouldn't. And I was right

I do agree though that with a young pop band it isn't only about the vocals but the whole package. IMO their personalities and chemistry is what has given them an army of dedicated and loyal fans.

If you can't understand this then maybe you have forgotten your youth and who you were obsessed with back in the day.

Wonder if there is any former members of the tartan army in this thread.....NOT ME HA !

I understood the age thing to an extent, but R&B standards are a completely different thing to Pop standards. If an R&B group couldn't sing, be it well or at all, they would not be tolerated in the genre. Pop is a whole other kettle of fish. It's the simple fact of the matter. Also, they came from the X Factor, not a The Voice type show, and the X Factor doesn't focus on vocals. I'm a firm believer that vocals are only a partial requirement in the pop world. They need a spark, energy, and catchy songs with some nice lyrics in there. 1D have those elements. I don't have their album, I wouldn't classify myself as a fan, per se, but I understand why they have such a massive fan base and such success.

of course not all kids are going to like them and it wasn't meant as an insult to kids. however, that is clearly the market they are aiming for. lots of pop bands had questionable vocals historically and got away with it. especially with boy bands, who usually have one or perhaps two passable vocalists and the rest are window dressing.

that's not an excuse, its just a fair comparison between them and other boy bands past and present.

I saw them live on the Saturday of the X Factor final and I honestly couldn't hear ANY of their vocals in the studio they were swamped by backing vocals....whereas you could hear Cher, Matt and Rebecca perfectly fine, 1D had so many backing vocals.

They just aren't talented. They sell records and people like them, but I guarantee that most people like them for mainly other things than their voices....Liam is the only passable singer....the others just can't really sing at all...

Plus the music they make requires no specific vocal talent to pull off.....any mediocre singer could sing their songs and that's just it. There isn't even one stand out singer in the band. At least GA had Nadine, Boyzone sort of had Ronan, JLS sort of has Aston and Ortisé etc....there is no amazing singer in 1D. It's all based on marketing and image, and that is what people are trying to say. When it comes down to the live performing/singing there really is nothing there....they can't even dance.

Do we all have to sound like Adele now to be good singers? Sure they don't have the best voices in the world, but they can sing damn well better than most people.

I'm not a 'Directioner' or whatever they're called, but the songs are catchy and I enjoy listening to them. If you don't like them, you don't have to listen to them. They're a bunch of teenage boys, chill the hate people!

Yes they're so good they got through the solo rounds of The X Factor. Nobody's saying they have to be like Adele, silly comparison. Being teenagers shouldn't negate them from criticism or excuse a lack of talent. Plenty of the greatest musicians started as teenagers.

Mark my words, Liam will be the first to leave...egos will start emerging after the second album.

The Wanted are the worst ever!!!

They can sing in tune to an extent imo (Harry probably being one of the weakest at that though) but Louis is surely the worst singer of the five of them? Most of the time when I hear 1D sing, they all seem competent at vibrato and singing more than note on a syllable apart from Louis, who never seems to do that, which you can hear on One Thing. He actually has quite a nice tone, so it's a shame he's so vocally handicapped.

Don't really have anything against 1D though, their music is decent boy-band pop (albeit a bit formulaic) and they definitely don't make me want to hit myself 'round the head whenever their songs come on. That job is reserved for Inna and Alexandra Stan, among others.

Yes I agree that Louis is the weakest, I'm sure most fans would also agree he doesn't have that much range.

I think Harry has one if the most interesting voices I've heard from a pop act in a while. It might not be the strongest but the tone of his voice is sublime.

The problem with 1D is that they haven't been given the time to learn their craft or develop. They have quite literally been thrown in at the deep end. Bands Like Take That, Nsync Backstreet Boys had years of hoofing it before they made it big. that was years of practice and trial and error which is very important for developing your skills.
Nsync for example could dance flat out and sing live at the same time. Why? Because they worked their asses off learning how too and had the space and time to do so.
One Direction haven't had that and yes they would have benefited from it. But that is the nature of the music industry as it stands today. It's sad because 1D have the potential to be very good, but they just haven't been given the time to grow. Everything happened in an instant for them and it's just been picking up pace not slowing down.

[quote=LittleNothing;56901684]I think Harry has one if the most interesting voices I've heard from a pop act in a while. It might not be the strongest but the tone of his voice is sublime.

The problem with 1D is that they haven't been given the time to learn their craft or develop. They have quite literally been thrown in at the deep end. Bands Like Take That, Nsync Backstreet Boys had years of hoofing it before they made it big. that was years of practice and trial and error which is very important for developing your skills.
Nsync for example could dance flat out and sing live at the same time. Why? Because they worked their asses off learning how too and had the space and time to do so.
One Direction haven't had that and yes they would have benefited from it. But that is the nature of the music industry as it stands today. It's sad because 1D have the potential to be very good, but they just haven't been given the time to grow. Everything happened in an instant for them and it's just been picking up pace not slowing down.[/QUOTE


I totally agree with your post. I saw plenty of bands in their early days honing their skills.

Lucky for them all singing all dancing boy bands are no longer de rigour. The Wanted and 1D are both going down a storm in USA and no one seems to mind the lack of choreography.

I don't see any of them leaving until they've made a lot of money. They know that they need to make the most of it because they probably aren't delusional enough to think they'll still be relevant in 10 years time.

But when they do start to leave I always imagine Zayn to be the first one to leave. To me he always looks like he isn't comfortable. I think he actually wants to be a cooler artist who does R&B rather than a pop artist.

atm they are! it's very early days to be getting too excited. This initial burst of hysteria will be short lived. It will take talent, hard work and good songs to turn it into something sustainable.

and the lack of dancing may well come to be viewed as lazyness by some. In time the substance or lack off to what they do will become more and more important.

They aren't my cup of tea but seeing them do so well in the US makes me feel proud, better role models than that bieber thingy.

[quote=Littlegreen42;56904648]They aren't my cup of tea but seeing them do so well in the US makes me feel proud, better role models than that bieber thingy.[/QUOTE]

Thats very true!

This is a live accoustic performance done yesterday in Boston USA (Zayn is missing due to a family bereavement)

Sound pretty good to me

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/20858276

Doesn't blow me away, sorry. I thought they could play instruments? If they can, surely one of them could have played the acoustic to this.

I didn't post it to blow you all away but to prove the OP point that they are not bad singers! They are a pop band after all not Pavarotti

The blonde one played guitar on accoustic sets on their radio tour in the UK but maybe being a man down that wasn't possible . I don't know