It's a melancholy that allows you to wallow on the condition of looking forward after the fact, holding nothing back as you let everything go. If the black-and-white cover art didn't let you know this one would be different, the first song she released off the album, "Look What You Made Me Do," says it all. It also boasts some of Swifts best ever lyricism for example its title track, where Swift vividly describes the wedding of an ex-lover: I sneak in and see your friends / And her snotty little family, all dressed in pastel / And she is yelling at a bridesmaid / Somewhere back inside a room / Wearing a gown shaped like a pastry. Taylor Swift's 10 seminal albums, ranked In honor of her instant-classic, record-breaking new LP Midnights , here's EW's ranking of Taylor Swift's 10 studio albums from her illustrious career. Between those extremes is a reliable lineup of ultra-catchy mega-hits that infected the cultural consciousness through Top 40 countdowns and, later, TikTok videos. While she had flirted with a transition from country in Red two years prior, 1989 came full throttle with heightened production from soon-to-be mainstay producer Jack Antonoff (of Fun. "Mine" proves this point at the LP's onset, condensing years into seconds, tracing the shadow childhood trauma casts over a guarded, grown-up love ("You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter / You are the best thing that's ever been mine"). Cruel Summer, co-written with St. Vincent, a euphoric three minutes of exhilarating 80s synth-pop, should have been a single. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Happy, free, confused, lonely, devastated, euphoric, wild, and tortured by memories past." Note: If you make a mistake DO NOT click backspace unless you find extremely necessary. But "Folklore" has a laid-back vibe that reflects the spontaneity of how this album was created. 2023 Oscars predictions: See who will win at the 95th Academy Awards. Overall, it's charming and mostly tame, but then again, she's happy. From Austin Butler and Cate Blanchett to a potential Best Supporting Actress toss-up, see who EW thinks will win at the 2023 Oscars. On Swifts second album she still kept things country, but this time the pop edge that defined later releases was more evident. From the first track, you know this album isn't like what you've been hearing on the radio it opens with the synthetic beats and sounds of "Welcome to New York.". In honor of her instant-classic, record-breaking new LP. Songs that sum up this album include "State Of Grace," a different sound with gorgeous lyrics that are undoubtedly Swiftian; "I Knew You Were Trouble," a reflective song full of dramatic production effects and a driving beat; "All Too Well," a slow ballad reminiscing a past love with emotional lyrics and execution; and "22," an effortless pop hit. And that's really all Swift, whose genius for conversational melodies and knack for giving every chorus a telling new twist every time around remain unmistakable trademarks.". "Fearless" outranks "Taylor Swift" as it has more standout songs and has a cohesive sound that distinctly country-pop. But back to the music. The album feels incredibly personal to Swift, as the songs are odes to important parts of her life, from her current boyfriend to New York City. But before expanding on her honeymoon phase, we're treated to the tour-de-force track "Cruel Summer" (not a Bananarama cover), a buzzer-beating, angst-wielding anthem that's among the greatest pop songs her auteur has ever crafted. ", Big Machine/Republic Records/Republic Records/Big Machine. No one would have blamed her for taking a well-deserved creative hiatus after that marathon of releases, but Taylor has proven herself to be an artist of momentum multiple times over. As Rob Sheffield wrote for Rolling Stone, this album combined a lot of previous versions of Swift, seemingly capping off her career. From Taylor Swift to Midnights, we've ranked all of the singer's studio albums from best to worst. But, as is tradition, the haters hardly scratched the surface of this sixth record, overlooking its genuine feats of all-encompassing production and high-energy, in-your-face vocals. Perfectly Fine." But reputation is much more than an extended diss track; It's also a not-so-private ceremony for a new, hush-hush love affair (that years later blossoms into a now-rumored engagement to partner Joe Alwyn). ", Released in 2019 and named after one of the album's singles, "Lover" introduced a new era for Swift one that seemingly had elements of many of her past works, like "1989" and "Speak Now.". But on Red, it's "worthwhile fight" and "a ruthless game," never easy but always intoxicating, almost to the point of nausea. Pick what song you like better in each battle to get an accurate list of your favourite songs. "Drew looks at me / I fake a smile so he won't see / that I want and I'm needin' / Everything that we should be" was as good as poetry, and a north star to the forlorning that looms in girlhood. Keefe, Swifts third album, Speak Now, is problematic in precisely the same ways that its predecessors are, but there isnt a song here that isnt an absolute wonder of technical construction. But over a decade later, Taylor makes the incredible move of re-recording her teenaged relics almost note-for-note, now at 31 years old. On earworm lead-single Anti-Hero Swift sings: Its me/Hi/Im the problem, its me, the kind of thought weve all had when lying awake trying to drift off. What condemns 1989's position at the lower third of this list then is the sad truth that some of the choruses rotating here sound like they could have been parsed out to much-lesser 2010s pop stars. Less gradual was Swifts shift from political agnostic to liberal advocate. Although the first glimpses we heard from it (the musical theatre-style Me! and the stomping You Need to Calm Down) didnt do the record justice, listen to Lover in full and youll find moments of pure joy. 1,062 Likes, 2 Comments - BLKPIK IDI ( ) (@blackpink.india) on Instagram: "#TaylorSwift, BLACKPINK and #OliviaRodrigo are the only female artists ranking inside IFPI's Top 10" The tracks combined her typical impressive storytelling abilities while tying together strong emotions of frustration that feel at home in "Reputation" (seen in the track "The Man") as well as stories of falling in love and almost losing it that feel at home in "Speak Now" or "Red" (as seen in "Cornelia Street"). Like the "Taylor's Version" before it, 2021's rendition of Red lassos fans' near-decade old affection and nostalgia for the songs and herds them into an encore of adoration. Annie Galvin, Evermore is at once as confident and complete a statement as Folklore. After a fiery Twitter storm courtesy of Kanye (though it was far from their first feud), Taylor finally sheds her decade-old, good girl persona for the villain alter-ego curated by the media, opting to settle the score through what she does best: traversing new sonic territory. And I'm telling you, it's going to be a journey. There's no question her most recent two albums are related, as "Evermore" has a similar sound and features nods to "Folklore. Fearless, however, just as strongly made the case that Swift had the goods for a long, rich career. Lover is a backtrack in a way. The record's tales unfold into imagined personal histories, with what Swift calls the "Teenage Love Triangle" songs (suspected to be "Cardigan," "August," and "Betty") painting three vivid portraits of an interwoven affair at different points in time. Standout songs on the album include "The 1," which sets the tone of the album; "The Last Great American Dynasty," a folk song-esque storytelling in Swift's signature style; and "Exile," two perspectives on a broken love story (the lyric video shows off the mirroring narratives well). In short: 1989 is Taylor Swifts masterpiece. The spectacular The Last Great American Dynasty describes the life of American artist Rebekah Harkness (whose Rhode Island house Swift bought in 2013) with vivid descriptive lyrics. The imagery for the album was filled with snakes, and lyrics subtly (and at times, not so subtly) addressed their falling out. Then there are the hopeful messages embedded in the minor-keys of "marjorie," an homage to her opera-singing grandmother, and "happiness," the chorus of which captures the album's essence best of all: "There'll be happiness after me / But there was happiness because of me.". Filled with rootin tootin tunes like Tim McGraw, Our Song and Teardrops on My Guitar (largely considered Swifts breakout song) that stormed the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, it earned a teenage Taylor support slots on tour with Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts and Faith Hill. All in all, reputation is by far Taylor's most misunderstood work though its criticisms aren't without merit. The worlds defining voice in music and pop culture: breaking whats new and whats next since 1952. His contributions here are uniformly clean and efficient, but plenty of his signature production tics, even if theyre presented here in a fresh context, are beginning to feel overused. Plus her later albums feature songs that are more interesting and creative lyrically and stylistically. 1 as it best represents the evolution of Swift and her music. But Midnights and its seven "3am" bonus tracks are still steeped in singularity, mostly due to its ultra-honest subject matter and intriguing concept parsed out with Taylor's expert execution. Teaming up with The Nationals Aaron Dessner (who worked on 11 of the 16 songs) and long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff, its a stunning collection of modern folk songs. Swift closes the non-deluxe edition of "1989" with "Clean," which adheres to the pop theme but is more low-key and showcases the heartfelt, haunting songwriting she's known for: "The drought was the very worst / When the flowers that we'd grown together died of thirst / It was months and months of back and forth / You're still all over me like a wine-stained dress I can't wear anymore.". Periodically, Midnights does run into issues of redundancy, which has more to do with Jack Antonoffs deficiencies as a producer than with Swifts skills as a writer and performer. The difficulty (and, perhaps, the beauty) of attempting to order her albums is that 1) she's been so consistently good, and 2) whichever albums harbor your affections most can change by the year, month, day, and even hour depending on your headspace and heartache. With a record thats a love letter to love itself. The finished product is, of course, sterling. The contrast of that relationship with the one detailed in "Champagne Problems" makes the latter seem even more heart-wrenching. It's 1989's sonic spirit with more lyrical depth, dipping a brush in her newfound solipsism and painting musical murals of Taylor's "13 sleepless nights," scenes of "self-loathing, fantasizing about revenge, wondering what might have been, falling in love, and falling apart" construed in vivid detail. It marks a shift from the retro-minded pop-rock of 1989 toward a harder, more urban aesthetic, and Swift wears the stiff, clattering beats of songs like Ready for It? like body armor. 175. 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