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