By Sarah Sinovich
The recent 2021 Grammy award winner, Harry Styles, has been rumored to drop his third album before the end of March 2022, according to fan speculation and Sony’s CEO Rob Stringer. With this in mind, as a possible new album is around the corner I wanted to rank his current discography. As a great admirer of Styles’ music, I find this to be a difficult and controversial task, but nonetheless, his discography as a whole is a trip. It’s fun-filled, pleasing, and passion-induced up until that very last second. My rankings will be in order from best to “worst,” but as I am a fan, don’t get that twisted. I don’t believe he has a single bad song. It is not simply best to worst. It is the preference that caters to my current mood in this new year of 2022.
I am going to compare the tracklists and rank which of the songs I like best from his solo debut album Harry Styles (self-titled or HS1) and critically acclaimed sophomore album Fine Line. A regular tracklist created by an artist is carefully calculated, so the order of every song adds to the experience as a whole. When fitting or piecing together one coherent piece of art, an album is created and born. The original tracklist for Harry Styles (debut self-titled 10 tracks): “Meet Me in the Hallway,” “Carolina,” “Sign of the Times,” “Two Ghosts,” “Sweet Creature,” “Only Angel,” “Kiwi,” “Ever Since New York,” “Woman,” “From the Dining Table”. The original tracklist from Fine Line (sophomore album 12 tracks): “Golden,” “Watermelon Sugar,” “Adore You,” “Lights Up,” “Cherry,” “Falling,” “To Be So Lonely,” “She,” “Sunflower, Vol. 6,” “Canyon Moon,” “Treat People With Kindness,” “Fine Line”. In total, his entire discography is 22 whole songs that range in genre, mood, and musical instruments. Every song is so different and unique, and the entire tone of the two separate albums is completely different. As HS1 is more acoustic/rock, Fine Line definitely leans more pop/sonic or almost atmospheric.
Alright, now before I start to rank off the music, I must preface that this is from a streaming pov, the studio versions if you will. I gravitate towards the lyrics and that soulful tie or the deeper meaning the words express. I also gravitate to the technical atmosphere, the song in its sonic form truly matters to me as a fan and avid listener of music. I want to get something or feel something from his art, whether that be emotionally or physically making me want to throw a dance party. If I were to do this from the live show perspective, it would include a few unreleased songs, and the songs would have a completely different rank. Live music with Harry is just that different but in a really great way.
The rankings go as follows (best to worst): “She,” “Meet Me in the Hallway,” “Fine Line,” “Ever Since New York,” “Woman,” “Lights Up,” “Only Angel,” “Two Ghosts,” “Sign of the Times,” “Adore You,” “Kiwi,” “Carolina,” “To Be So Lonely,” “Sweet Creature,” “Falling,” “Golden,” “From the Dining Table,” “Canyon Moon,” “Cherry,” “Watermelon Sugar,” “Treat People With Kindness,” “Sunflower, Vol. 6”.
Although that was an excruciating and strenuous task, you can tell while listening that each individual song was made with many layers of vocals, instruments, and just so much love. I deeply care about all of his songs, and they deliver so much momentum and added emotion to moments in life. I could truly have a different ranking every day, yet this feels pretty official. Tomorrow I might just be jamming out to “TPWK” or having a dance party by myself, loving every minute, every beat, every chord, or every tick of a syllable sung. Tomorrow I could be crying and “Cherry” or “Falling” could be my go-to, and just because I ranked them so low doesn’t mean I don’t love every song in a completely different way. By the end of reading this how could you think that way?
I must recommend his music, although it might not be for everyone. Each song sounds different, and the two albums have two completely different vibes. Check out at least a few songs from each album! With that being said, have fun with music, whatever relationship you have with it.
“Be a lover. Give love. Choose love.”