Elevate

Photographer: Michael Muller.
Big Time Rush's 2011 sophomore effort, Elevate, features more of the Nickelodeon boy band's pop-oriented dance-rock and R&B-infused music. Once again showcasing the talents of singers Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, Carlos Pena Jr., and Logan Henderson, the album brings to mind a mix of Maroon 5's funky soul-pop and the yearning alt-rock of OneRepublic. This is slick, well-produced pop music that, while aimed at "tween" fans of the band's Nickelodeon TV show, has enough smart songcraft and romantic passion to appeal to even more mature fans of radio-friendly pop music. To these ends, songs like "Music Sounds Better with U," the yearning "No Idea," and the funky "Time of Our Life" are, like most of Elevate, positive-minded and joyful party tracks. ~ Matt Collar