Liam Payne’s passing has hit extremely hard for most young women. In honor of him and remembering his time in One Direction, I’ve decided to rank each of their albums and share a personal story about each one.
#5 Made in the a.m
Ranking all of the 1D albums is like picking my favorite children. I love them all equally. However, I think you and I both know why this one is at the bottom. I’ll rip the band-aid off and say it’s not the same without Zayn. March 25th, 2015 was a very dark day in history for little girls. I remember pulling into the driveway of my house with my mom driving me, and I heard the news over the radio. Made in the A.M was still an exceptional album nonetheless. Personally, I think Olivia is one of their best songs across all albums (they should’ve added the trumpets!!). Perfect and Drag Me Down will always be iconic as well!
#4 midnight memories
I think Midnight Memories sparked one important change in the band’s direction (pun fully intended). I remember the Story of My Life being liked by my dad and a lot of my other 4th grade guy friends in my class. This meant a lot to me, it was a turning point for the things I enjoyed also being enjoyed by guys. Usually, things that an 8 year old girl takes a liking to are “annoying” and “unbearable”, but this was different. It made me feel validated in my interests. Does He Know and You & I are my two favorites off the album. Also, the Best Song Ever music video is in my opinion, the best one.
#3 Up all night
Had to give the #3 spot to their very first album. The absolute classic What Makes You Beautiful will forever be iconic. I remember hearing the song and watching the music video for the first time on Teen Nick Top 10 with Nick Cannon (holy throwback). That was the first time I had ever heard of One Direction and it’s genuinely burned into my brain as a core memory. One Thing, Up All Night, and Na Na Na are some of my favorites off this album. That being said, the classics will always hold a special place in my heart.
#2 take me home
Take Me Home has some absolute BANGERS for the time period. There are so many childhood memories for me in it as well. It’s always one of the albums I circle back to when I need a quick hit of nostalgia. I remember listening to Rock Me for the first time in my bedroom on my iPod when I was 8 years old. I had an entire 1D bedspread and a life-size cardboard cut-out of Niall (which I may or may not have gotten caught kissing). C’mon C’mon, Loved You First, Nobody Compares are some of my absolute favorites. Kiss You and Little Things are definitely monumental classics for 1D off this album as well.
#1 four
I might be biased, but this album will always have a special place in my heart. Four was one of the first albums I ever owned on a CD and I would make my mom listen to it repeatedly in the car on the way to school. In my humble opinion, Four has absolutely 0 skips. I think Night Changes, Steal My Girl, and No Control (If you know, you know ;)) easily put this album in the #1 spot, and my personal favorites are Girl Almighty and Clouds. One thing about this album is that it stands the test of time, and I think it diverges from that typical boy-band sound they had previous to this album.
Reflecting on my memories connected to One Direction has honestly made me emotional. Liam Payne’s passing was not only a devastation for my adult self, but my inner child as well. I’m sure lots of girls feel the same as me, and hopefully enjoying memories of the past brings comfort to them just like it did for me.