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.
Up All Night
18 November 2011
January–October 2011
Los Angeles, London and Stockholm
45:56
- Ash Howes
- BeatGeek
- Brian Rawling
- Carl Falk
- Jimmy Joker
- Matt Squire
- Paul Meehan
- Rami Yacoub
- RedOne
- Richard "Biff" Stannard
- Savan Kotecha
- Shep Solomon
- Steve Mac
- Steve Robson
- Toby Gad
- Tom Meredith
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 (IFPI), Up All Night was the third global best-selling album of 2012 with sales of 4.5 million copies worldwide.[2]
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[edit]
After being formed and finishing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010,[3] One Direction were signed by Simon Cowell to a £2 million Syco Records record contract.[4] Recording for their debut album began in January 2011, as they flew to Los Angeles to work with Moroccan-Swedish producer RedOne.[5] 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.[6][7] 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."[8] 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.[5] In November 2011, they signed a record deal with Columbia Records in North America.[9] 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."[10]
Composition[edit]
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.[7][11][12][13] 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.[11][14] The second song on the album, as well as the second single, "Gotta Be You", is a mid-tempo pop rock ballad.[15] Set in an orchestral arrangement, its instrumentation includes a guitar, piano lines, and abundant strings.[13][16][17] The chorus of the song opens with falsettos that are followed by vocal harmonies.[13]
The third single from the album, "One Thing", is an upbeat pop rock song.[18] The song has a "plucky" guitar riff and a "forceful" chorus with Lewis Corner of Digital Spy dubbing it "arena-ready".[19] The song's melody has been noted for similarities between Backstreet Boys song "I Want It That Way".[16][20] The fourth song on the album and fourth single, "More than This", is a pop ballad.[21] "More than This" contains sounds of synthesizers.[13] "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.[13] 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".[13] The seventh song, "Tell Me a Lie", is an uptempo pop rock song which features prominent guitar instrumentation and pulsating beats.[16] The song was originally intended for Kelly Clarkson's album Stronger (2011). 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."[22]
The eighth track, "Taken", is a guitar-driven pop ballad. Lyrically, the song is about heartbreak and relationships.[13] 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.[13][16] 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.[13][16] The twelfth track, "Save You Tonight", is an uptempo synthpop song, and has a retro sound and arrangement.[13][16] 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".[16] 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.[23] Instrumentation includes a gently strummed guitar and intermediate piano lines.[24] The song's lyrics revolve around an unrequited love.[25] During the album's UK launch in late 2011, Tomlinson referred to the song as his favourite track on the album.[26]
Commercial performance[edit]
The album topped the charts in sixteen countries.[88] Up All Night became the third best selling album of 2012 globally, selling 4.5 million copies.[89][90] It entered the UK Albums Chart at number two on 27 November 2011, selling 138,631 copies, becoming the UK's fastest-selling debut album of 2011 and also the fastest selling album of 2011 to miss out on the top spot.[91][92] The album was kept off the top spot by the first week sales of Rihanna's Talk That Talk, which sold 163,819 copies.[92] The album became the sixteenth biggest-selling album in the UK of 2011, with 468,000 copies sold.[93] As of 8 December 2012, the album had sold 777,000 copies in the UK.[94] The record became the fifteenth best-selling album in the UK of 2012, with sales of 372,000 copies.[95] It was certified tripled platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2013, denoting shipments of 900,000 copies, and quadruple platinum in 2021.[96] As of November 2014, the album has sold 1,086,434 copies in the UK.[97] The record held the runner-up position for four non-consecutive weeks on the Irish Albums Chart, and was the tenth biggest selling album in 2011 in Ireland.[98][99][100][101] After six months in the Irish Albums Chart top twenty,[102] the album peaked at number one in its twenty-seventh week.[103] The album topped the Australian ARIA Chart for five consecutive weeks,[104] and was certified quintuple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting shipments of 350,000 units.[105] In New Zealand, the album topped New Zealand Albums Chart for three non-consecutive weeks,[106] and was certified triple platinum by Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ), denoting shipments of 45,000 units.[107]
The album debuted atop the Italian Albums Chart on the issue dated 16 February 2012.[108] In 2013 it was certified double platinum by Federation of the Italian Music Industry (FIMI), denoting sales of 120,000 units.[109] In Mexico, the album topped the Mexican Albums Chart for twelve non-consecutive weeks,[110] and was finally certified Diamond by the Mexican Recording Industry Association (AMPROFON) in 2019, denoting shipments of 300,000 units.[111] In Canada, the album bowed atop the Canadian Albums Chart with first-week sales of 35,000 copies, which made One Direction the first UK group in Canadian chart history to enter at number one with their debut album, and the first international act to debut at number one in the Nielsen SoundScan era (post 1991) with their debut album.[112] The album has been certified double platinum by Music Canada, denoting shipments of 160,000 units.[113] The album debuted at number one on the United States Billboard 200 chart, selling 176,000 copies in its first week, which made One Direction the first UK group in US chart history to debut at number one with their first album, as well as the first number-one album by a boy band in eleven years, since 'N Sync's Celebrity.[114] They were inducted into the Guinness World Records as a result.[115] The album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on 26 July 2020, denoting shipments of 3,000,000 copies.[116] Up All Night also became the first album by a boy band to sell 500,000 digital copies in the US by October 2012.[117] The album has sold over 2.05 million copies in the United States as of August 2015.[118]