By: Jayben Favila
Harry Styles, a former member of One Direction, has made a name for himself as a solo artist within the Billboard charts and with his most recent Grammy win for “Pop solo performance” for his hit Single “Watermelon Sugar.”
In 2019 he released “Fine Line”, an album that is far from a“Sophomore Slump” but is Styles' most acclaimed album in his young music career. He takes influence from 70s rock that you can hear in songs like “Watermelon Sugar”, "Adore You", and "Sunflower Vol 9." Billboard reported that Harry Styles's "Fine Line" was the leader of the 2020 vinyl sales breaking US records.
I chose to feature this album not only because of his Grammy win but also to serve as a reminder of how fantastic this album is from start to finish. The album is jam-packed with songs that narrate Styles' vision of the "Fine Line" era with exciting sounds that represent his euphoric passion towards his lover, accompanied by psychedelic visuals that give the album a fresh appeal to fans.
When it comes to the vinyl itself, you are welcomed to a gatefold record that shows various portraits taken by British photographer Tim Walker. The visuals show a 70s David Bowie-esque photo paired with a giant poster of half-naked Styles on one side, and the other of him in a pilgrim hat with pink spandex and psychedelic visuals. The variant I bought was the limited edition coke green vinyl which was repressed during the summer of 2020.
My first copy of this was a black and white splatter Target edition but, I was not pleased with the water damage that came with it due to Target's shipping methods, so the Coke Green vinyl definitely made up for it.
The vinyl was pressed in different variants such as standard black, coke green, and the majority of the copies pressed on 180-gram vinyl. This was a major setback for a lot of briefcase/red needle turntable owners as it was reported throughout social media during the release of the album that and were met with the album skipping due to the 180-gram vinyl quality.
Furthermore, for the first year anniversary, Harry decided to commemorate the album with the Fine Line album box set that included the 180 gram black vinyl, the rest of the fine line photos from photographer Tim Walker, a zine from the one night Fine Line show, and a pair of white gloves for a personal experience from home.
The next time you go to your local record and want something modern in your collection, grab a copy of Fine Line- you won't regret it! The