One Direction's third album "Midnight Memories" is either the greatest album in the history of boy bands or the most pointless.

The multiple reviews on the band's 14-track album seem to be a representation of the lack of coherence or theme on "Midnight Memories" as the boys tried to shed off their cute pop persona as their tweener girl fans are already growing up.

Independent.co.uk called the album as a "clumsy attempt at rock." However, the online newspaper did acknowledge how difficult it is for artists to climb over the third album hump. This phenomenon is particularly cruel on boy bands.

Billboard.com recognized the musical growth of the band, citing that "there is more Jonas Brothers than *NSYNC or Backstreet Boys in their boy band DNA."

The NYTimes, meanwhile, said that "unlike New Kids on the Block, or 'NSync or Take That, One Direction makes music that doesn't feel of the moment."

The review said that the band members seemed to be playing their roles resentfully. And that's why "they are easily among the least musically adventurous acts on the pop charts."

"The guys are pretty, and maybe that is enough," the NYTimes quipped.

The reviews are swinging extremely on opposite directions that it can only have one explanation: those who already love the band will appreciate what the group is trying to do. Those who don't will always have an excuse to weigh, measure and find them wanting.

Sometimes, however, reviews don't matter since to date, the album tracks "Story of My Life" and "Best Song Ever" have reached Top 10 peaks in Billboards' Hot 100 Chart.

One Direction is composed of Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson. They first joined "The X Factor" as individual contestants in 2010 but Simon Cowell thought that they would be better off as a group. And he was right because even if they came in third, they had more success compared to the winners.