The Wanted - Word Of Mouth (Review)

This is the 3rd studio album from the British boyband best known for the hits "All Time Low", "Gold Forever", and "Glad You Came." This serves as their first proper album in the U.S. as only an EP containing a selection of songs from their first two albums and a couple of brand new songs was released. "Chasing The Sun", "I Found You", "Walks Like Rihanna", and "We Own The Night" have all been singles from the album in the U.S. Only "Chasing The Sun" and "We Own The Night" have performed moderately well. The former did better on the heels of the smash that was "Glad You Came." "We Own The Night" has failed to gain traction despite hovering in the 40s on the Mediabase CHR/Pop chart. "Show Me Love (America)" is the next single. All the singles have gone top 10 in the UK though.

This album was in the works from 2012 up until just a few weeks ago. The release dates for the album were announced as early as last Fall and then moved to the Winter, and then delayed to the Spring, and now its finally here after additional pushbacks due to "We Own The Night" unexpectedly being slow to grow. "Show Me Love (America)" is the next single. A number of collaborations with Justin Bieber, LMFAO, Rihanna, and Rita Ora were announced as possibly happening for this album, but none of them came to fruition and the album has no collaborations.

The album is fairly cohesive given that there are nearly a dozen producers. It consists of some midtempos, traditional and electronic ballads, and adult contemporary Pop/Rock. The album goes back and forth between the styles without a clear sequence. The U.S. and UK editions share 15 of the main tracks, however, the U.S. one omits "Chasing The Sun", "Satellite", "Only You", and "Read My Mind", opting to include "Glad You Came" instead. It's odd that "Chasing The Sun" and "Satellite" were removed because both were on the U.S. exclusive EP last year, and the former was a moderately successful single. The group's vocals on all of the songs are great, showing some growth from their last album. The lyrics are reasonably good, however, those expecting something revolutionary will be disappointed.

"Could This Be Love", "Running Out Of Reasons", "Glow In The Dark", "If We're Alright", "Drunk On Love", "Only You", and "Satellite" are the highlights along with previous singles "Chasing The Sun", "I Found You", "We Own The Night", and "Show Me Love (America)." The weakest tracks are "Walks Like Rihanna" and "Summer Alive", with the former sticking out like a sore thumb with its juvenile and cheeky lyrics, the latter sounding like the generic EDM that is all over radio these last few years. Thankfully, the two weak tracks are the only ones and it can be forgiven due to so many of the others being so well done.

• Buy the U.S. Deluxe Edition here 
• Buy the UK Deluxe Edition here
  Please note that the U.S. and UK editions are slightly different 

Grade: A-