One Direction: Four [SYCO / COLUMBIA]

Why you'll love it

Four made One Direction the first band ever to have their first four albums debut at No. 1 in the U.S., and it topped the charts in 18 countries. "Steal My Girl" and "Night Changes" both went platinum.

This edition

• Four on vinyl
• Syco / Columbia pressing

About the album

By 2014 One Direction were the biggest band on the planet, and Four is where the boys started steering the ship themselves. Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne co-wrote most of it with Julian Bunetta, John Ryan and Jamie Scott, and you can hear them reaching for the big, warm, guitar-driven sound of the classic-rock records they grew up on.

"Steal My Girl" opens with a stadium-sized piano riff, "Night Changes" is one of the loveliest ballads in their catalogue, and "18" (written with Ed Sheeran) and "Fireproof" show just how far they'd come from "What Makes You Beautiful." It was also the last album with Zayn Malik, which makes it a fan favourite to this day.

Also at Kops: more One Direction on vinyl · browse Pop

Tracklist

Listen

On Syco / Columbia, a reissue of the 2014 album.