The Wanted - Warzone [Music Video Premiere]

If The Wanted weren't a boyband with an army of fangirls and their music was shit, they'd be screwed by now.

The Wanted told press that their previous single Lightning was a "filler" single, and I'm sorry, but which pop act says they put out a "filler" single? Especially since Lightning wasn't released too long ago and the interest for the song would naturally diminish and the song would plummet down the chart. Not to mention they said they had plans to re-issue their upcoming album Battleground with one of the tracks as a duet with an American female recording star. Their album is out now and apparently has started falling down the iTunes chart.

LET ME MANAGE THEM.

Nevertheless, The Wanted have trotted out a new music video when Lightning was released not too long ago, and it's for the new single Warzone, set to be released.... (wait for it).... In January next year. This is a tactic most British pop artists use, except the norm is a month between video release and digital release, but The Wanted have gone for about two months. Fine. Let's hope anticipation for Warzone doesn't die by the time we reach January.

Thankfully, Warzone ticks all the right boxes, and besides being the group's best single lifted off this project, it's also the clear standout song on the album. And let's admit, The Wanted's worse song beats JLS' best song by a clear mile, so you can be reassured Warzone is typical quality The Wanted stuff.

The tune is a moody ballad about being cheated on, with Nathan sounding like sex to your ears on the first verse while Max storms the first chorus. Jay leads the second verse before it becomes a Max/Nathan fest again, which I'd be quite worried for Tom. Being one of the group's more prominent vocalist, and perhaps second vocalist behind Max during their first album era, we don't see or hear much of Tom on Warzone. Even Siva gets more screen time in the clip. And the clip is actually rather simple. From the same director that gave you Glad You Came, Warzone follows their previous two videos in having a scene where the boys are intimate with their girls, which just comes off as a bit sleazy, especially in the Glad You Came video, but in Warzone, it's a quite a good fit and you wouldn't struggle to see why. The video starts off with Nathan seeing the "girl of my dreams cheating on me" with another man and as the video progresses, it leads to the boys catching their lovers red-handed in bed with another lover, and being all dramatic.

Simple, clean, but it works. Now if only they'd let me manage them.

Big News: The Wanted premiere "Warzone"!

It's pretty full on for Britain's boybands, with JLS releasing their summer #1 She Makes Me Wanna in July and now on their Bruno Mars-aping second single Take A Chance On Me, while teen heart throbs One Direction had their first single clocking in the highest first week sales of 2011 with What Makes You Beautiful effortlessly sailing to #1 and have moved on to their second single Gotta Be You, wintery like The Saturdays' My Heart Takes Over, while The Wanted also hit the #1 spot back in July with the club banger Glad You Came, then with just performed the second album Battleground's second single Lightning on The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing, The Wanted boys have premiered their new single Warzone on radio.

I disliked Glad You Came for being everything I didn't want a Wanted track to be - clubby. Then they were back in my good books with the anthemic Lightning, with Warzone continuing this streak of good songs. Both Lightning and Warzone sound like more mature takes on the songs tackled on their #4 debut album released last year. Warzone is a moody ballad with Nathan and Max sounding incredible on it.

If you still, however, haven't tired of Lightning, check out the boys donning yellow contacts to perform a "Halloween-themed" version of the single on Strictly Come Dancing and an acoustic version below it.

The Wanted - Lightning [Music Video Premiere]

I know I'm late to the party but it's because I forgot to post it. Anyway, UK boyband The Wanted are onto their sophomore album Battleground's second single Lightning which follows the massively successful #1 lead single Glad You Came. (No I don't consider the Comic Relief Single Gold Forever a proper single off Battleground.) If you hated The Wanted's shift into the clubby Ibiza rave-vibe, have no fear as Lightning harks back to classic The Wanted territory with the song marrying electro, pop and a slice of pop/rock as well, before the anthemic chorus erupts and all is good in the world.

The video doesn't exactly do much for me, it's just the boys standing around looking pretty while Nathan blows up a car, but it sounds a lot better than the disastrous radio rip which sounded like an unfinished demo. The song's #2 on the UK Chart midweeks, overtaken by Rihanna's We Found Love (thanks to that incredible video), but it should go on to become a winner for them.

Big News: The Wanted premiere "Lightning"!

When boyband The Wanted went on their headlining theatre Behind Bars Tour earlier this year, they debuted a new song called Lightning which had an interesting sound to it - where it had a little rocky sound to it and had an amazing chorus that seemed to stop time. They continued playing the song at subsequent gigs. And above is Lightning receiving its radio debut. While I was head over heels for their live version, I'm not jumping about for this track in the studio version.

The verses seem very clogged up with haphazard production beats, and it's only when the beats and production clear up at the chorus that the song starts to shine. It might need some time to grow on me.

But to remind you this song is actually half decent, you can watch their performance of the same song on the iTunes Festival this year that sounds a billion times better than the radio rip.

The Wanted - Glad You Came live at T4 on the Beach

It's single release week for British boyband The Wanted as they gear up for second album era promotions, performing lead single Glad You Came, released this week, live at T4 on the Beach. It might start off a little ballady like Gold Forever, but once Max does his solo, the tempo kicks into overdrive and the crowd starts jumping. Almost perfect for summer, methinks. Sure they were average to ugh live but we already know they can sing, just watch their cover of Neon Trees' Animal at BBC's Radio 1 Live Lounge, or their take on Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls.

The Wanted - Glad You Came [Music Video Premiere]

While The Saturdays have moved on to a much wiser promotional strategy of releasing a single around the same time as the music video premiere to capitalise on the hype, it seems many other British bands are still stuck with the same old formula of releasing the video almost a month ahead of the single release. And so comes The Wanted's music video for their lead single from upcoming second album Glad You Came.

The dance/house track follows a similar structure as their UK Top 3 hit Gold Forever and breakout debut #1 smash All Time Low, starting out with a piano-based verse before the track explodes into a dance number. Glad You Came is markedly better than the rather old-fashioned Gold Forever. All the better for it then.

The video, however, is something I can't quite figure out. Yes, the boys are having fun on the beach, hooking up with random hot girls throughout the video, but at the end of the video, it's all a big "WTF?". Granted, most pop videos have the stars dancing around in a club but for some reason, I just don't get this one. But I still like the track. I'm just waiting for them to ditch this way overdone promotional strategy alongside pretty much all the other UK acts.

Big News: Listen to The Wanted's new single "Glad You Came"!

UK pop acts are known to take really short breaks in between albums and The Wanted are no exception. The five lads premiered their new single Glad You Came which made it to the Trending Topics on Twitter worldwide yesterday ahead of its radio premiere.
The track's music video, will be "harder" and more "club-influenced" than the band's previous videos and it was shot in Ibiza. A remix by Italian house DJ Alex Gaudino will also be released alongside the single while the single itself will be released on July 10.

Hmmmm. I'm not too feeling this one. Nothing, after all, can touch the pop classic that is All Time Low and Glad You Came sounds like a bit of a disappointment. But it's a tad better than Gold Forever which sounded like a B side rather than a Top 3 single. Even the new song they premiered at their debut UK headlining Behind Bars Tour was a little motonous. But it has plenty of time to grow on me. I'm just not entirely sure if their new album will be as great as their first.

Check it out for yourself below.

Big News: The Wanted premiere new song "Lightning"!

Taking a leaf out of The Saturdays' book, The Wanted have premiered a new song Lightning, co-written by Ed Drewett, on their debut headlining UK tour - the Behind Bars Tour. Lightning is an anthemic pop/rock number and to be honest, I think it's pretty good and I'd love to hear some new music.

The Wanted - Animal (Neon Trees cover) live @ Radio 1

The Wanted slayed Neon Trees' Animal. They slayed their solos in a way I'd never seen before. Holy mother of balls. That was pretty much amazing.

The Wanted - Gold Forever [Music Video Premiere] + Comic Relief

A couple days ago, the boys of The Wanted premiered the video for their Comic Relief single Gold Forever, a slice of electronica-infused pop that starts out slow as a nice ballad before bursting into a ginormous, infectious electronica tune. But my first impression of this song wasn't great. Meh, I thought. Sounded old/tacky (especially the electronica-infused part), but nevertheless, it has somewhat grown on me. The music video unfortunately, isn't great. What was supposed to be a rather belated Christmas house party looked like a cheap studio built up to look like a house. Hmmmm. Guess Alexandra Burke did better with that one for her All Night Long video.

Nevertheless, while the video has completely no link to the actual song, the boys brought their energy to the Let's Dance for Comic Relief show and debuted Gold Forever on TV. Their vocals didn't sound half bad too. Definitely infectious.

The Wanted - All Time Low live on Graham Norton

The Wanted were on the Graham Norton Show to perform their BRIT-nominated single All Time Low, followed by a short interview afterwards. Of course, the fivesome did okay and it was just the usual The Wanted performance. Yes, the music industry is painfully slow these days.

Big News: Cheryl Cole nabs two nominations at this year's BRIT Awards!

The BRIT Awards have finally released their nominations and the multi-platinum selling X Factor judge Cheryl Cole has managed to nab two nominations for British Single for her swell pop tune future classic Parachute and British Female Solo Artist. Jessie J has also won BRIT's Critic's Choice, while Alexandra Burke, The Wanted and Matt Cardle have all managed to get a nod for All Night Long, All Time Low and When We Collide respectively in the British Single Category.

Check out the entire list of nominations: HERE

The Wanted - Lose My Mind live @ The Sun

After a debut #1 single and a #2 follow up, a #29 peak position for their latest single is not what The Wanted are gunning for. So of course, more live performances are in order to get this pop tune with a chorus that's chunkier than a bloody chunky box, much higher than a.. Measly #29. Where their vocals faltered on The X Factor, the boys have made up for a certain sweetness the original tune could never muster. The boys did it acoustic for The Sun and I have to say, that was quite impressive pretty much close to amazing.

Big News: 2011 in Music Part II - British Invasion

2010 has been a successful year for boybands, with JLS' continued success, McFly's bloody awesome Shine A Light of a single, Take That's coming back together and #1 album, X Factor's One Direction taking third place in the final etc. Also, there's a new British band, namely The Wanted, who aren't strangers to the #1 spot on the UK Singles Chart, or #2 for that matter, after All Time Low and Heart Vacancy peaked respectively at those positions. Their latest single Lose My Mind, though, hasn't been doing too well. After a performance on The X Factor, Lose My Mind peaked a little too early at #29 in the UK. I blame the premature performance on The X Factor. Nevertheless, Siva of The Wanted talked to Digital Spy earlier about the band's plans for next year.

First off, the boys are going to tour next year and they said that a funfair theme seen in the Lose My Mind video might be incorporated into the tour. You can "expect a lot of wacky shows", and they "want to entertain and put as much of us into the performance as we can".

Secondly, the boys ARE planning to invade America. They've apparently lined up two weeks of recording and writing with various producers and writers. That's for a second album by the way. The boys have been signed to Def Jam over in the States and "hopefully try to release All Time Low".

When questioned about a fourth single lifted from their debut album, Siva said he wasn't too sure and that most likely there wasn't going to be another single. Pity then, their debut album has so much potential - Replace Your Heart, Hi And Low, Weakness and Made could rocket The Wanted to superstar status if they all became hits. Mismanagement screws up the album. Where have we seen this before.. *coughTheSaturdayscough*

Next up is Alexandra Burke who won The X Factor in 2008 and has skyrocketed to pop superstardom in the UK - with #1 singles Hallelujah, Bad Boys feat. Flo Rida and Start Without You. Her debut album Overcome has also managed the same feat over on the albums chart and has gone double platinum. Naturally, Burke has started talking about her second album.

On Twitter, she announced she was in New York to record with producer/songwriter Autumn Rowe and Qiana Conley. Talking about the new material for her sophomore set, she's said that "it's going to be a lot sexier and a lot more fun. None of the songs I've recorded that were meant for Overcome will make it onto album two". Thank goodness for that, we don't want some random weak material on the second album..

Also, the plan's to take the sophomore album to the States. To be honest, I think she can really make it in the States because she's the most charismatic performer after Leona Lewis.

When asked about her upcoming debut headlining tour, Burke said "I cannot wait for this tour! It's going to be something very, very special. When I go out to a club, I love dancing to uptempo songs and letting my hair down, so that's what I want the audience to have when they come to the tour. I want them to get to know me a little bit better, but at the same time I want it to be a night out for them. I want it to be fun, vibrant, bubbly and exciting! I want them to feel how I feel when I go out and that's why I've called it the 'All Night Long Tour'."

2011 in Music Part III - British Invasion II will be coming up soon.

The Wanted - All Time Low + Lose My Mind live at the Jingle Bell Ball

One of the best pop boybands to emerge from the UK this year are The Wanted who have already scored UK #1 and #2 singles and the band joined a star-studded line-up at the Jingle Bell Ball, performing All Time Low which you can check out above and their latest offering Lose My Mind and their interview backstage which you can check out below.

Big News: Nicole Scherzinger for UK #1?

Boy, did The X Factor do wonders. Pussycat Dolls frontwoman Nicole Scherzinger has been desperately trying to carve out a name for herself as a solo artist for years now, and Poison could be the track to seal the deal. After the high-profile appearance, Scherzinger is battling with The X Factor contestants themselves for a #1 when the Singles Chart is released on Sunday. The X Factor's charity single, Heroes, is set to spend another week at the top spot, but you never know. Meanwhile, boyband The Wanted who also performed their latest single Lose My Mind on the results show, are set to debut at #28. Not exactly a fantastic number, but it doesn't get released as a single till later in the month.

The Wanted - Lose My Mind live on The X Factor

To plug their latest single, hit boyband The Wanted (aka the boyband Simon wants One Direction to be) took to the X Factor to perform Lose My Mind. Recreating the bumper cars of the music video, the boys did a solid job as usual. But I'm still not sure they can properly work a big stage. Still, it's another hit for sure, I don't think they're sorry.

The Wanted - Lose My Mind [Music Video Premiere]

British boyband The Wanted is no stranger to success. After the while #1 debut single All Time Low, they followed it up with #2 single Heart Vacancy. Now they've a new single in the pipeline Lose My Mind. The woah-oh-woah-oh chants at the beginning are a bit intoxicating, and it's yet another earworm/hit for the boys. It's not as good as the bloody brilliant All Time Low or as strangely good as Heart Vacancy, but fans are sure to eat this one up for sure.