--- title: Harry Styles Album Review: Unexpected Rock description: On his eponymous solo debut, Styles proves he’s done his homework on the history of rock and roll. canonical: https://time.com/4775461/harry-styles-solo-album-review/ author: Sam Lansky article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-11T10:50:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:52:32.740Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Harry Styles’ New Album Rocks Hard og:description: Styles, formerly of boy band One Direction, makes a rollicking solo debut Tweet: You might not expect it, but Harry Styles’ new album really rocks — and rolls og:url: https://time.com/4775461/harry-styles-solo-album-review/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67cdad5b5732ab7f/6988ccd3196cf4f5e6040101/harry-styles1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: harry-styles og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Harry Styles’ New Album Rocks Hard twitter:description: Styles, formerly of boy band One Direction, makes a rollicking solo debut Tweet: You might not expect it, but Harry Styles’ new album really rocks — and rolls twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67cdad5b5732ab7f/6988ccd3196cf4f5e6040101/harry-styles1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Harry Styles' Solo Album Is an Unexpected Tour of Rock History > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Sam Lansky](https://time.com/author/sam-lansky/)  ## Sam Lansky May 11, 2017 10:50 AM UTC  Harry Styles performs "Sign of the Times" on Saturday Night Live in New York City, April 15, 2017 Harry Styles performs "Sign of the Times" on Saturday Night Live in New York City, April 15, 2017NBCUniversal/Getty Images  by [Sam Lansky](https://time.com/author/sam-lansky/)  ## Sam Lansky May 11, 2017 10:50 AM UTC It was always easy to dismiss One Direction. Formed on reality TV and cannily styled to appeal to young listeners, it had all the markings of a manufactured boy band. But by its fifth and most recent album, One Direction had become a stealth classic-rock delivery service, repackaging crunchy guitar riffs and soaring arena-ready choruses that went down easy with kids and reminded parents of their youth. In 2015, Zayn Malik left the band to top charts with sulky alt-R&B songs like “Pillowtalk,” a No. 1 hit last year. Now Harry Styles, the band’s de facto front man, is next to make a bid for solo stardom. On Styles’ self-titled debut album, out May 12, he eschews slick production and sharp hooks. But he still synthesizes influences from the last half-century of rock, so much so that you can practically travel through history on the back of his references. The anxious opener “Meet Me in the Hallway” has a riff straight out of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit,” while the operatic lead single “Sign of the Times” channels David Bowie. “Kiwi” is straight-up grunge, full of rage, and “Two Ghosts” sounds like late-’90s adult-contemporary radio, in the best way. Working with veteran producer Jeff Bhasker (Kanye West, Mark Ronson), Styles has crafted a grownup rock sound that doesn’t pander. Styles’ lyrics can be opaque, which makes the confessional final track, “From the Dining Table,” all the more important. It’s a vulnerable ode to the lonely hotel room, the curse of the famous. The song not only proves Styles’ talent as a storyteller but also shows that he may potentially be as good at looking inward as at looking backward in time. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4775461/harry-styles-solo-album-review/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4775461/harry-styles-solo-album-review/"},"headline":"Harry Styles' Solo Album Is an Unexpected Tour of Rock History","datePublished":"2017-05-11T10:50:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:52:32.740Z","description":"On his eponymous solo debut, Styles proves he’s done his homework on the history of rock and roll.","url":"https://time.com/4775461/harry-styles-solo-album-review/","keywords":["Music","Pop","One Direction","Harry Styles"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67cdad5b5732ab7f/6988ccd3196cf4f5e6040101/harry-styles1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Lansky","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-lansky/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67cdad5b5732ab7f/6988ccd3196cf4f5e6040101/harry-styles1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"harry-styles","caption":"harry-styles","creditText":"NBCUniversal/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4775461/harry-styles-solo-album-review/","name":"Harry Styles' Solo Album Is an Unexpected Tour of Rock History"}}]}] ```