So, I finally get chance to write the album review that I have been really looking forward to writing!

JLS have released ‘JLS’ on the same week that Robbie has released ‘Reality Killed The Video Star‘, so the battle for supremacy in the charts this weekend will be one of the most interesting of the year I reckon.

We all know JLS, we all love JLS, and we all want to sleep with at least one of JLS, right?!

So, in lieu of this, rather than give you the spiel about JLS and their story, here’s my thoughts on the album 🙂

I tend to just make notes whilst I listen:

Beat Again: MOBO ‘Best Song’ of the year… what more is there to say?! Excellent debut single!

Everybody In Love: not a huge fan of this, but it’s really grown on me the more I’ve heard it. A little too soppy for me.

Keep You: Funky, great song! I was chair dancing along to the beat – I really hope this one is a single!

Crazy For You: 90s-style ballad, nice sound to it, but does sound a little dated as it harks back to the boy band of yester-year. This is to be the third single, and will (again!) go head to head with Robbie (‘You Know Me‘). Unfortunately, I think this song will lose that battle.

Heal This Heartbreak: love the style of this and the pulsating baseline – would be great in a nightclub, and I’d imagine it’d have a very cool music video to accompany it.

Close To You: A JLS style ballad instead of a dated one… much better! Really nice stripped back sound, with some gorgeous vocals.

Only Tonight: Opening bars sound a little like the start of Don Henley’s “Boys Of Summer“, but it quickly turns into a song with a great beat, chilled sound and some great harmonies.

One Shot: Excellent club track – potential single I reckon. Contemporary, upbeat and pleasant on the ear.

Private: Another funky baseline, I can imagine this one as a single too (I’d choose this over One Shot) – I was dancing around my living room, and I’ve just had a long hard day at work… so that’s something! Second favourite track on the album.

Don’t Go: Edgy sounding song, starting to sound like the last two tracks a little, but I love the little ‘woo-ohh’s’.

Only Making Love: Strange sounding track, dislike the beat, it jars with the song I feel. By the chorus, I was kinda into it and bouncing along, but I think that was just because the beat started getting repetitive.

Kickstart: I like this one – similar sounding to many of the other tracks, but there’s something that I like about it that I can’t quite put my hand on it… I think it’s the chorus! Either way, it had me dancing along.

Tightrope: A bit of sing-by-numbers ballad. Album track, but not necessarily a bad one. Clumsy transpose towards the end spoils it a little.

All in all, I think that this is a good album!

I much prefer an edgy contemporary JLS sound/performance than the 90s ballad sound that they sometimes come out with…. but in all fairness, when they do go into ballad mode, it’s nowhere near as bad as some of the absolute slush that’s gone before (911, A1 etc!).

Perhaps predictably, they have been criticised (ok, ok, slammed) quite a lot by the media for this debut album, and I can understand why, though I do think that they are getting more flack than they should – it’s certainly not hideous! They wrote nine of the thirteen songs on the album, and in my opinion, it’s their second album which is going to be the more exciting, as they’ll be able to mature into their new roles and get a feel for what they want to do, and do it in their own time.

I was a huge fan of these lads in X-Factor and recognised their potential very early on. I am very glad that they’re currently getting all the success that they have earnt, and sincerely hope that it continues for them.

I purchased the HMV edition which came with the exclusive slip case (naturally, I chose Aston) – I  like the album artwork, though I was very disappointed that they didn’t include any torso shots! Boo!

… and you wouldn’t want to see Aston topless now…. would you? 😛