Harry Styles (album)

In August 2015, One Direction announced that an extended hiatus would take place following the release of their fifth studio album. In January 2016, Us Weekly published a report claiming that the group's hiatus would, in fact, become a permanent split, noting that each of the four remaining group members did not renew their contracts following the completion of the On the Road Again Tour in October 2015. Representatives for the group denied the report in a statement to Billboard, stating, "nothing has changed regarding hiatus plans for the group, and all will be revealed in due time from the band members' own mouths." In February 2016, it was confirmed that Styles had left the group's management, becoming the second member of the band to do so after Zayn Malik's departure almost a year prior. In June, it was confirmed that Styles had signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. Styles enlisted American producer Jeff Bhasker to executive produce the album. Most of the album is written by the two with Bhasker associates producers Tyler Johnson and Alex Salibian, engineer/bassist Ryan Nasci, and guitarist Mitch Rowland; Rowland was introduced by Nasci when a session musician dropped out. Additionally, One Direction producer John Ryan helped write "Two Ghosts" with Julian Bunetta and English singer-songwriter Kid Harpoon produced "Carolina" and "Sweet Creature". Johnson and Kid Harpoon would go on to produce much of Styles' second album Fine Line together. Recording sessions for the album took place in a number of locations, including in Los Angeles, London, and the Gee Jam Hotel Recording Studio in Port Antonio, Jamaica, where Styles and his production team had a two-month writing retreat in the autumn of 2016. The album was primarily recorded at The Village in Los Angeles. ==Promotion==

On 31 March 2017, Styles announced the album's lead single to be "Sign of the Times", which was released on 7 April. The album name, artwork, and track list were revealed on 13 April. The album track "Sweet Creature" was released as a promotional single on 2 May. Styles performed the songs "Sign of the Times" and "Ever Since New York" on 15 April episode of Saturday Night Live. On 21 April, Styles appeared on The Graham Norton Show for his first televised solo performance in his native country, and guested on the French talk show, Quotidien, five days later; he performed "Sign of the Times" on both shows. On 9 May, Styles performed the tracks "Carolina", "Sign of the Times", "Ever Since New York", and a cover of One Direction's "Stockholm Syndrome" on The Today Show. The album was officially released days later, on 12 May. On 13 May, a day after the album's release, he held a surprise concert at The Garage in London. Styles held a similar show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles on 19 May, and invited Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks to perform as a special guest. Proceeds from both shows were donated to charity. On 15 May, Harry Styles: Behind the Album was released exclusively on Apple Music, a 49-minute documentary film showing footage from his writing and recording sessions in Jamaica and Los Angeles; The Performances version features a full-length live performance of the album filmed at London's Abbey Road Studios. Styles was the musical guest on The Late Late Show with James Corden every night in the week spanning from 15 to 18 May, and performed in various sketches alongside Corden. In support of the album, Styles embarked on his first solo tour, Harry Styles: Live on Tour, which ran from September 2017 through to July 2018 and visited North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and South America. On tour, Styles debuted two unreleased songs, "Oh Anna" and "Medicine", which were originally written for the album. ==Music and themes==

Music publications have described the album as soft rock, rock, and pop. Critics noted influences by British classic rock and singer-songwriter folk. Varietys Eve Barlow described the album as a "cocktail of psychedelia, Britpop, and balladry", while for Jon Caramanica of The New York Times it "is steeped in the singer-songwriter music of the late 1960s and 1970s, and in moments, in the flamboyant harder rock of the late 1970s and 1980s." Lyrically, the album's themes mostly focus on women and relationships. In a Rolling Stone interview with Cameron Crowe, Styles said "The one subject that hits the hardest is love, whether it’s platonic, romantic, loving it, gaining it, losing it...it always hits you hardest." == Songs ==

Tracks 1–5 {{Quote box The album's opening track, "Meet Me in the Hallway", is a psychedelic pop ballad. "Sign of the Times" is Styles's debut single. Conceived in Jamaica as a pop rock and soft rock ballad, the song was written and recorded in 3 hours. The song peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number one on the UK Singles chart; it is certified 5x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and is considered one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone's editors. The vaguely Caribbean groover track "Carolina" recalls Blur's Britpop style; described by Styles as "the little bit of fun we had been wanting but didn't have" while making the album. "Two Ghosts" is a country influenced soft rock ballad about former lovers. The song is certified platinum by the RIAA. A slower track, the rock troubadour "Ever Since New York", features lyrics that are a meditation on loss and longing. "Woman" has elements of funk rock, in which Styles compares his jealousy to a howling beast. The acoustic closer track, "From The Dining Table", features lush, multi-part harmonies, and recalls the confessional style of the album's opener. ==Critical reception==

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album has an average score of 68 based on 24 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Rolling Stones Rob Sheffield states that Styles "claims his turf as a true rock & roll prince" on his "superb solo debut". Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club felt Styles took a "bold step forward by leaning on the past", adding, "hopefully the songs will someday catch up to his ambition". Mesfin Fekadu of Associated Press noted the performance aspect of the album is where Styles "truly shines", but "not so much" in the creative process. Anjali Raguraman of The Straits Times called "Sign of the Times" the "strongest" track on the album and felt Styles sounds "most self-assured on the slower numbers", while noting that "his inexperience shows when he falls into tired tropes". In a negative review, Dave Hanratty of Drowned in Sound felt that Styles "failed to make a defining statement", writing that the album "from start to finish [...] is a series of impressions" of Elton John, Beck, Mick Jagger, and The Beatles. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph wrote that, compared to the other One Direction member's solo careers, Styles' is "more eccentric but more appealing, with an endearing quality of relish in its musical adventures", calling the album "so old-fashioned it may actually come across as something new to its target audience" and "perfectly lovely and about as substantial as ripples on the surface of a Beverly Hills swimming pool". Leah Greenblaat of Entertainment Weekly named Styles "a man proudly looking backward, a faithful revivalist steeped in the tao of dusty vinyl and dad rock" while noting that he "basks in the privilege of paying tribute to his many musical heroes, and trying on all the styles that fit". Leonie Cooper of NME described the album as "a not-that-bad-actually mish-mash of Los Angeles' style classic rock and ballads", commenting that fans will be "over the moon with this collection of radio-friendly rockers and heartstring tugging balladry" and "everyone else" will be "pleasantly surprised – if not a little taken aback at just how many tricks he’s pinched from other artists". She ends the review by opining that "taking inspiration from the best seems to have paid dividends, but it doesn’t half make you wonder what the real Harry Styles sounds like". Jamieson Cox of Pitchfork wrote that the record "pays fine tribute to classic rock’n’roll and shows off his exceptional voice, if not his enigmatic persona", opining that his "vocal performances are invariably the best parts of these songs" while particuraly praising the album's last track, "From the Dining Table", writing that "it’s intoxicating, and it ends Harry Styles on the most promising possible note". Retrospectively, the album has received acclaim from publications who were initially critical of the project. In 2022, Consequence of Sound retracted their low grade of the album, stating "The man’s solo debut was not C+ material [...] What’s odd is that the initial review that ran on Consequence is overwhelmingly complimentary — we’re happy to now set the record straight and confirm that Styles’ debut solo record is a great one." In 2024, American Songwriter named Styles' debut as the most impressive solo debut following a band breakup. Year-end lists ==Commercial performance==

The album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 57,000 units, with Styles becoming the second One Direction member to achieve a number one solo album, following Zayn's Mind of Mine in April 2016. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 230,000 album-equivalent units, of which 193,000 were pure album sales. It is the highest first sales week for a British male artist's debut full-length album since Nielsen SoundScan began in 1991. The album was ranked number 22 on the list of the top 40 biggest albums of 2017 on the UK Album Chart. According to IFPI, it was the ninth best selling album of 2017, with 1 million copies shipped globally. It was the sixth best selling album of 2017 in Mexico. "Sign of the Times" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, the song debuted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 The second single, "Two Ghosts", peaked at number 58 on the UK Singles Chart and number 34 on the US Mainstream Top 40 charts. ==Track listing==

Note • "Only Angel" contains a sample of dialogue from the film Barfly. ==Personnel==

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Harry Styles. Performers and musicians • Harry Styles – vocals, background vocals, claps , guitar , omnichord • Steve Aho – orchestrator / conductor / musician contractor • Erik Arvinder – violin • Jeffrey Azoff – background vocals , claps • Kala Balch – alto vocals • Laurhan Beato – alto vocals • Jeff Bhasker – background vocals , claps , keys , lap steel , moog , piano • Edie Lehmann Boddicker – gospel choirmaster , alto • Johnny Britt – tenor vocals • Reid Bruton – bass-baritone vocals • Caroline Buckman – viola • Charlean Carmon – soprano vocals • Carmen Carter – soprano vocals • Alvin Chea – bass-baritone vocals • Monique Donnelly – soprano vocals • Allie Feder – soprano vocals • Vanessa Freebairn-Smith – cello • Jim Gilstrap – bass-baritone vocals • Ira Glansbeek – cello • Taylor Graves – tenor vocals • Kid Harpoon – background vocals , bass , claps , guitar • Clydene Jackson – alto vocals • Tyler Johnson – background vocals , claps , keys , piano • Keri Larson – soprano vocals • Songa Lee – violin • David Loucks – tenor vocals • Jamie McCrary – tenor vocals • Ryan Nasci – bass , lap steel • Diane Reynolds – soprano vocals • Mitch Rowland – acoustic guitar , background vocals , claps , cowbell , electric guitar , guitar , drums • Alex Salibian – acoustic guitar , background vocals , claps , keys , piano • Aretha Scruggs – alto vocals • Fletcher Sheridan – tenor vocals • Katie Sloan – violin • Carmen Twillie – tenor vocals • Ina Veli – violin • Julia Waters – soprano vocals • Oren Waters – tenor vocals • Will Wheaton – bass-baritone vocals • Michael Whitson – viola • Baraka Williams – alto vocals • Eyvonne Williams – alto vocals Production • Jeff Bhasker – executive production, production , additional production • Matt Dyson – assistant engineering • Chris Gehringer – mastering • Kid Harpoon – production , engineering • Tyler Johnson – production , co-production , additional production , programming • Ryan Nasci – engineering, mixing • Alex Salibian – production , co-production , additional production • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing Design • Calvin Aurand – specialty packaging photography • Jacob Hassett – graphic design • Molly Hawkins – creative director • Harley Weir – photography ==Charts==

Weekly charts Monthly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==