The Wanted ‘Warzone’ Music Video

by David

If someone had said to me 12 months ago that I’d be gagging to watch every new video by The Wanted, I would’ve told them to get real. [Editor's note: "Get real"? What is this, Limoncé? 1999?]

The tide is definitely turning for The Wanted. After an utterly forgettable debut album, the British pop quintet managed to shift gears and slaughter the charts with some turbo-charged pop hits like ‘Glad You Came’ and ‘Lightning’. Needless to say, I’ve been very impressed with the aforementioned singles but do we really need to take a detour back into balladsville?

‘Warzone’ is the third – fourth if you wanna count last year’s ‘Gold Forever’ – single from their second album Battleground. The song is very much indicative of what you can expect on Battleground but it’s just not as exciting as the preceding singles. ‘Warzone’ sounds like a basic piano-based Brian McFadden ballad, albeit rendered with some dark electronica synths and a dub step switch up in verse two. It’s these minor upgrades that actually make ‘Warzone’ appealing and current.

Technically speaking, ‘Warzone’ has a more advanced-level production than ‘Glad You Came’ and ‘Lightning’. The attention to detail the producers Phat Fabe and Harry Sommerdahl have invested really pays off with every listen you take. Note the synth melody at 2:16 that resembles September‘s ‘Cry For You’ and how the music becomes more complex as the song progresses.

‘Warzone’ – the video – is just as dark as the song, building on the lyrical theme of betrayal. No surprises here with the shooting flames, smoking piano and dramatic scenes where each of the lads take turns walking in on their girl cheating on them. There’s also all the usual elements – ie. Max serving “face, face, face, beauty face” which is part of the real reason why I continue to watch The Wanted‘s videos, and Jay looking pedestrian and unpopstarly as ever.


 
Footnotes:

The Wanted will release ‘Warzone’ as a single in January but as you’ve probably already worked out, this video’s arriving this week to coincide with the album launch. Meanwhile, their current single ‘Lightning’ is still climbing up the Australian ARIA Top 100.