November has been quite an active month for the former One Direction boys. Harry Styles is currently finishing up his L.A. residency despite a few cancellations because of the flu and Louis Tomlinson has released a new album called Faith in the Future and will go on tour this spring. Ex-member Zayn Malik has also come out with some new music— he’s released a song called “Fire Inside” with artist Young Bleu. Niall Horan recently revealed on Twitter that he’s planning on releasing new music and playing festivals in the coming year.
The month of November is when One Direction would typically release a new album. The tradition began with their first studio album, Up All Night, and ended with their final, Made In The A.M. One Direction’s second album Take Me Home was released on November 9, 2012, and recently turned 10 years old. Feeling nostalgic and shocked by how much time has passed, I’ve decided to make an updated (and possibly controversial) ranking of One Direction’s albums from worst to best.
#5 Up All Night
Okay, I feel like this isn’t quite a surprise. Up All Night is the definition of nostalgia. When I listen to the album, I’m transported back to 2011, and I reminisce on the “good old days.” Nonetheless, it’s not my favorite. The boys were quite young at the time, and that reflects a lot in lyrics like, “You only love to see me breaking. You only want me ’cause I’m taken.” Their other albums feature a lot of lyrical growth and better-quality lyrics overall. Also, this album features too many Liam solos, and I feel that might be a bit controversial nowadays.
Best Songs: “Tell Me a Lie, “Everything About You,” and “I Should Have Kissed You”
Worst Songs: “Taken” and “Stole My Heart”
#4 Take Me home
Okay, I warned you that this list may get a bit controversial. To be fair, I really like Take Me Home as an album, and I will be forever jealous of those who go to see them on tour during that era. However, this is another album of theirs that I feel is lyrically weaker than the rest, which is most likely a by-product of how young and inexperienced they were. Also, the lyrics from this album haven’t aged that well, either. Some lines from their song “Little Things” have been criticized and turned into a joke on TikTok. However, the songs that are good on this album are good. Songs like “She’s Not Afraid” and “C’mon C’Mon” will never not be hits, which is why I had a hard time placing Take Me Home so low.
Best Songs: “She’s Not Afraid,” “They Don’t Know About Us,” and “C’mon C’mon”
Worst Song: “Little Things”
#3 made in the a.m.
To me, Made In The A.M. is a pretty decent album. It contains some of my favorite songs by One Direction, like “Wolves” and “Walking in the Wind.” However, at the same time, it has some of my least favorite songs by them. It contains a lot of songs that are too different from their sound, and it overall doesn’t feel like a One Direction album. The timing of the album probably plays a part in this since Zayn had just left, and the other members were getting ready to go on “hiatus.” Nonetheless, Made In The A.M. contains some gems, which is why I believe it deserves the number three spot.
Best Songs: “Wolves,” “If I Could Fly,” “Infinity,” “Love You Goodbye,” and “Walking in the Wind”
Worst Songs: “End of the Day,” “Hey Angel,” and “Long Way Down”
#2 Midnight MEmories
Now, we’re getting into the good stuff. Midnight Memories is a perfect One Direction album. It has songs for every mood you’re in— whether that’s happy, sad, moody, or whatever. Midnight Memories is the album when One Direction fully started to write their own music, and it’s the time when their music began to mature. They started to talk about themes that were different than “boy loves girl” or “boy loves girl and she doesn’t love him back.” Midnight Memories has songs on it that I will forever enjoy. It’s just the perfect One Direction album and would be my number one if another didn’t exist. Also, One Direction’s best singles came from this album.
Best Songs: “Little White Lies,” “Little Black Dress,” “Diana,” “Why Don’t We Go There,” and “Happily”
Worst Song: “Better Than Words”
#1 Four
Four, in my opinion, is the best One Direction album. Four has the best lyricism and shows their growth as artists. They went from writing lyrics on Up All Night like, “You don’t really want my heart. No, you just like to know you can,” to writing, “Mind is running in circles of you and me. Anyone in between is the enemy. Shadows come with the pain that you’re running from.” Four contains their best songs and was their most cohesive work. It has songs like “Ready to Run,” “No Control,” and “Stockholm Syndrome,” which is my favorite song of theirs. It’s also their last album with Zayn, and I think that adds to how special it is.
Best Songs: “Stockholm Syndrome,” “Fool’s Gold,” “18,” “Where Do Broken Hearts Go,” and “Ready to Run”
Worst Songs: “Spaces” and “Act My Age”
And there you have it— my possibly controversial ranking of every One Direction album from 2011 to 2015.