I feel like Louis features so strongly in No Control because he was the only member of the band that had a hand in writing it. Other than that I can't imagine why they gave him such a huge part.

I just noticed how a catchy melody can actually make you ignore the repetitive lyrics. Girl Almighty has the biggest flaw - it has 2 exactly same verses before the chorus kicks in, its funny that it actually took 3 songwriters to come up with that. Fireproof and Clouds also have a similar problem - only a few new verses after the first chorus and then the chorus drags on until the end.

They probably had to throw him some sort of bone otherwise he's singing maximum two lines on every song on the album (and a lot of those are loudly backed up by Liam or Niall), which he would probably get salty about. I'm one of the ones that thinks his voice works for No Control but that they should've given the second chorus to someone else because it does get a bit much to hear Louis being so prominent. I wonder how they'll play it live especially that one chorus after the bridge which is just .... a loud clatter.

That's the 1D format, along with Zayn doing ad libs and riffs over the last chorus (although there is less of that this album). You either like it or you don't. The lyrics to Girl Almighty are nonsense, and purposely so. It starts with:

"Her light is as loud as as many ambulances as it takes to save a saviour.
Oh. Oh-oh-oh.
She floats through the room on a big balloon..."

Nonsense, I love it! Take a look at this video someone has put together, it shows what a fun song it is when you embrace the silliness.

http://nightchangesofficial.tumblr.c...ain-yourselves

Kargo - I agree with a lot of your points, apart from on Clouds. You will come to love Clouds I am sure of it , even with the clatter at the end. As with Mina I like No Control and Louis's voice on it (which is a surprise) but could have done with someone else taking over halfway through. When it's live the others will probably drown him out. You are right that it is Harry and Zayn on the choruses of Stockholm - Harry louder on the first one and Zayn on the second one. I love their harmonies.

Night Changes is winning me over somewhat but I wish Harry had more energy in his parts. Really I wish Zayn had the choruses - his voice is what's missing on this track. It's too soon after SOML and Midnight Memories to have another Harry song on the radio. Hopefully at Children In Need he will give it some oomph and his voice will be as good as it was on Sunday's XF.

Girl Almighty I adore rather than admire. Love Zayn's solo and also Niall's "Let's raise a toast to the Girl Almighty" because he clearly had a ball recording it. Zayn is the best part of Fireproof, 18, Night Changes, No Control and Steal My Girl. Harry really shines on Fool's Gold, I don't usually like him on ballads.

They all sound fantastic on Where Do Broken Hearts Go. I would be very happy if this was released as the third single. Other great options are Stockholm Syndrome or No Control (Clouds is too noisy). Girl Almighty should be the summer single even if it's a bit of a younger sound for them, it's just such a catchy bop. They'll probably go with a ballad though

I've literally just half listened to it as I was going about my day so I can't actually comment on Louis' vocals as I can't really remember the song at all. To be honest I don't mind his voice but I can imagine a whole song would be a bit grating.

But I can remember being disappointed with the album as a whole. I'm sure when I listen to it properly I'll enjoy it as I was severely underwhelmed by Midnight Memories on first listen but now there isn't a track I dislike and think it is their best album (even though I have a huge soft spot for Take Me Home.)

Girl Almighty is simply irresistible. It's just such a foot-stomper of a song.

I agree with pretty much everything Dumdedumdum. I think Harry will bring more dynamism to the chorus. I, too, felt the lack of Zayn in the album version and in general structurally, the song never goes anywhere - so hopefully live versions will give the middle 8 and everything after some kind of climactic energy. And maybe let the whole group sing the second chorus because otherwise, it's all a bit blah. It's pleasant enough to listen to though.

I agree, its nice but thats it really. If they truly wanted a ballad, Fool's Gold would have been a much better choice. Who knows if they themselves wanted this to be the single, Syco is famous for bad single choices, and especially forcing the artist to release the song they don't want to. Simon looks the singers in the eye and then watches to see their reaction and then gives them a little wink, he is perfect at getting what he wants.

It is truly hilarious and sad at the same time how he actually tricked Westlife to release What About Now, I only found out about that recently from Shane's book.

So who knows what 1D truly want for singles, maybe it will be known 1 day once they disband.

Deluxe version has leaked!

Finally properly listened to it and it is really great. As others have said Girl Almighty is a standout, also Clouds is a perfect closer that ends the album on a high. There isn't a single song I don't like at the moment but the deluxe songs may change that.

I didn't like the deluxe songs I may warm up to them but I dislike the 1975 so the opening to Change Your Ticket isn't for me. I'm not at all sure what I think of the Irish pirate jig that is Act My Age. It would certainly be interesting to watch them perform it live.

So it's all out now. The boys held onto the full release longer than last year, hopefully the good reviews coming in will be comforting.

Yeah, not a fan of the deluxe songs but they are growing on me on each listen, even though they seem a bit unfinished. But I feel confident in saying that Zayn's bridge on Change your Ticket is in the top three best vocals I've heard from anyone in One Direction. I like the verse beat of Illusion, it feels very 'young' in comparison to the rest of the album.

Act my Age is just baffling. I was just sat going the whole time it was on.

What a good pop album this is, very pleasantly surprised, this style works so well for them, stand outs for me are "Stockholm Syndrome" and "Clouds".

I think Act My Age is one of the worst songs they've ever done.

Actually it has gron on me and reminds me of the beatles during their experimental phase. It's like they have stuck it in just to see what the reaction is

don't say that! fans of "real music" will lynch you! hopefully it grows on me, but at the moment it annoys me.

Agree! one of the girls in the office is a huge 1D fan and brought it in this morning to play. I'm quite surprised how good some of it is.

I echo what others have said about Stockholm Syndrome - probably my favourite chorus of any One Direction song so far. I really hope they release it as a single.

Girl Almighty has really grown on me as well. It has so many individual sections in it that piece together really well. For example, I really like the "Woah woah woah" part in the verses and then the "Am I the only, only believer.." bridge. Then comes the chorus itself.

Act my Age made me properly laugh when it started cause it was so unexpected, but then I smiled all the way through, bobbing my head along... I'm affraid it was love at 1st listen in a way

I'm happy with the album. The up-tempo & mid-tempo songs are particulary to my taste (Maybe Stockholm Syndrome & No Control as my favourite, but I really like them all). There are only really 3 forgettable songs to me (only Spaces from the regular album, the other 2 are from the deluxe version) -which is a very good result overall.

I struggling to cope with how much of a bop Girl Almighty is. I need them to release this as a single so the general public can be exposed it's brilliance.

God this is such a good album. I could have done without Spaces and Clouds but besides them two tracks I am loving this.

It looks like Girl Almighty was the only new song apart from SMG and Night Changes they did at the concert last night that's going to be used in the TV special in December so I'm thinking there's a great chance it will be the third single Ben also said it was his favourite and he'll likely direct the 3rd single video.

It's just such a jam, all the boys have fun parts and it's much more interesting structurally than other 1D songs. I think it will do well on the radio during the miserable months of January and February.

I love this album.

I thought their first album was a great pop album, the last two albums haven't really done it for me but FOUR is a winner. Girl Almighty, Night Changes, 18, No Control, Steal My Girl are all great.

The only thing I find odd is the album cover. They all look so tired, Harry looks like he's mid yawn and I have no idea what's going on with Zayn and Louis....

The album cover is awful! It's only saved for me by Zayn's arm being around Harry. I think the boys were trying to get away from the manufactured image but they aren't looking their best. The photos from the rest of the shoot that day are much nicer. Although they have chosen an odd one for the Night Changes single, they all look so bored. The You & I artwork was terrible as well, they have a poor record in this area.

The video for the 2nd single is out. I don't know what to think really, its goofy for a song that actually has some depth in it.

Its like they did the opposite of Story or My Life - that video had a more serious message which was completely different from the meaning of the typical love song.

HOWEVER, I guess it is a very clever move since Twitter is full of "OMG I was on a date with 1D" Yep, the fandom will eat this up.

They have uploaded the entire album on VEVO (for anyone lurking curious about the album)

Steal My Girl audio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sahs...ko_mOGm5er8Yzg
Ready to Run https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKLB...ko_mOGm5er8Yzg
Where do Broken Hearts go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Nec...ko_mOGm5er8Yzg
18 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRpz...ko_mOGm5er8Yzg
Girl Almighty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPJU...ko_mOGm5er8Yzg
Fool's gold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gK3...r8Yzg&index=18
Night Changes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syFZ...er8Yzg&index=2
No control https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW7W...r8Yzg&index=13
Fireproof https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bXT...r8Yzg&index=30
Spaces https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4e_...ko_mOGm5er8Yzg
Stockholm Sydrome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGYy...ko_mOGm5er8Yzg
Clouds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyot...er8Yzg&index=5

Change your ticket https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5rn...ko_mOGm5er8Yzg
Illusion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbNq...er8Yzg&index=6
Once in a Lifetime https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPda...er8Yzg&index=7
Act my Age https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wI4...r8Yzg&index=10