Big Time Rush's 24/SEVEN

24/SEVEN is the third studio album from pop vocal group Big Time Rush, and even as a huge fan of the group, I have to admit that, after spending around two weeks listening to the album, I still have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, there are many songs on the album that I thoroughly enjoy, but at the same time, I feel like, musically, Big Time Rush is drifting away from the sound that made them stand apart from other similar boy bands such as One Direction and The Wanted.

24/SEVEN consists of a total of ten tracks, with five additional tracks included on the deluxe version of the album. Because my advanced copy doesn’t include the songs on the deluxe version, this review only focuses on the ten songs featured on both albums.

Tracks such as the album’s first single, “Like Nobody’s Around,” stay true to the carefree and upbeat pop tunes that have been consistent throughout the band’s musical career and serve as tie-ins to the group’s television show. 24/SEVEN also includes a few songs that deviate from the group’s normal style, such as the youthful, inspiring anthems “We Are” and “Run Wild.”

While on one hand, it’s annoying to me that the majority of the album consists of stereotypical love songs, these are also the tracks that I found to be my favorite on the album. “Crazy for U” is 24/SEVEN’s version of the fan-favorite track “Cover Girl” off of their second album, Elevate. The song centers around being able to love someone for their inner beauty and being “crazy for them” even when they’re at their worst.

“Song for You” is a fast-paced, girl-crazy track that is reminiscent of similar summer hits like B.o.B.’s “Nothin’ on You” and Iyaz’s “Pretty Girls.” I felt like this song was particularly noteworthy because Karmin’s verse stood out to me as being one of the best guest appearances on a Big Time Rush song that I’d ever heard. Instead of similar guest spots like Mann’s verse in “Music Sounds Better with U” and Iyaz’s appearance in “If I Ruled the World,” in which these hip-hop artists had to water down their material in order to appeal to a younger audience, Karmin’s verse is much more authentic to her usual offbeat style.

In comparison to the group’s previous two albums, 24/SEVEN is more similar to B.T.R., and because of this, I felt like the group sort of took a step backwards musically. The things that I enjoyed most about Elevate, namely the infusion of a hip-hop and R&B sound and songs that included a subtle sexuality to appeal to a more mature audience, were completely absent from 24/SEVEN. Another aspect of this album that stood out to me was that all of the guys play an equal part in the vocals of all of the songs, as opposed to in the previous two albums where each member got a chance to sing the lead in their own song. I found that I really missed that personal touch, and I’m hoping that the tracks on the deluxe version allow each member to showcase their own individual talents. Another more individual aspect that I felt was missing from this album was the guys’ personalities. In Elevate, because each of the four members wrote their own song for the album, I felt like I was able to get a glimpse of each individual member’s personality through their song. While Elevate still featured songs obviously written with the show in mind, the songs written by the individual members were a pleasant change and gave the album more dimension. 24/SEVEN lacks that dimension because just about every song on the album feels like a direct tie-in to the show, and in fact, half of the tracks from the album have already been featured in episodes of Big Time Rush, even though the album doesn't drop until June 11th.

Overall, as a stand-alone, 24/SEVEN serves as the perfect, carefree soundtrack of this summer, but as a fan of the group, although I still enjoyed the album, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed by the lack of variety of songs featured on this album. Compared to Elevate, this album simply just falls short.

Suggested listening: “Amazing,” “Crazy for You,” and “Confetti Falling.”