Look, Reputation served a purpose. Casting aside the usual lengthy album campaigns or meticulously planned drip-feeding of singles, T-Swiz uncharacteristically announced Folklore the day before it was released. Its an effortless fusion that, like much of 1989, displays Swifts willingness to venture outside her comfort zone without much of a safety net, and test out an array of sonic experiments that feel both retro and of the moment. Keefe, Nearly every track on Swifts sophomore effort, Fearless, builds to a massive pop hook. 1 as it best represents the evolution of Swift and her music. 2023 Oscars predictions: See who will win at the 95th Academy Awards. "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. "Speak Now" comes in at no. Released as a surprise sister album to folklore, it focused on Swift's exploration of lyrical storytelling based on tales and experiences that weren't her own. She draws from her accumulated life experience and musical insight to connect with her younger self, refining her past homages to youth with matured, knowing vocals (dropping her country inflection for a more rounded singsong). Ten albums, a mantelpiece of awards and over a decade later, Swift has become one of the biggest popstars on the planet. You could have at least changed RED/FEARLESS to Taylors version. Some songs lean more country ("Mean") whereas others hint at the musical experimentation that would follow in subsequent albums ("Enchanted," "Haunted"), and, yet, the album is a mix of styles that seamlessly blend together. She may be on the outs, but she sure isn't alone. "Swift's usual approach to dabbling in new genres or sounds is to go balls-to-the-wall, but on 'evermore,' she's just as good at curating these more detailed production flourishes, all with the same contouring and meticulousness as she does with her best lyrics," she wrote. How do you follow-up Reputation, a revenge album filled with vengeance? On Red (Taylors Version), we got the spellbinding 10-minute version of the song, an epic rendition that cements the tunes place as a songwriting triumph. Released in 2008, "Fearless" steps away from country and edges into pop in an impressive balance of the two as Swift continues to develop a style that is uniquely hers. 1989. rep. Red. When "Midnights" was first announced, Swift described it as "the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life" and invited fans to meet her at midnight the night the album dropped. 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. 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. Note: If you make a mistake DO NOT click backspace unless you find extremely necessary. This winning combination warrants countless replays and, even now, listening to this song more than 10 years later reminds many of us so strongly of a crush we had when we were younger. This new sound may not be a far cry from the original, but to the trained Swiftie's ear, these small changes culminate into a noticeably "richer" listening experience from all angles. What once felt (or possibly still feels) like the end of the world is, on "Taylor's Version," also a testament to resilience we'll make it to the other side, and we'll do it again and again. In the song, she celebrates a level of stardom that she'd continue to exponentially build upon in the years to come: "And bring on all the pretenders / One day, we will be remembered. Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince, however, is her stock in trade, a richly painted narrative punctuated by cool synth washes and pep-rally chants, while The Archer is quintessential Swift: wistful, minimalist dream pop that displays her willingness to acknowledge and dismantle her own flaws, triggers, and neuroses. Many artists lucky enough to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame peak at the onset, delivering one or two tokens of pop culture product before a dwindling stream of less impressive ventures. ", "Ivy," the 10th track on "Evermore," alludes to an illicit affair, which is the name of track 10 on "Folklore.". Two things before we get into the list: 1. There were TikTok teasers to reveal the track titles, but beyond that fans weren't given many clues about what to expect from the album. She's an artist defined by eras (as is the name of her heavily anticipated upcoming tour) a Reputation era for self-defense, a Lover era for romantic solace which her adoring fans latch onto and assign to their own life stages with fervor. The Grammy-winning Mean is amongst Swifts most underrated songs, Sparks Fly is a toe-tapping head-banging anthem and break-up slow-burner Back to December is a karaoke classic. Keefe, Folklore is neither a culmination of Swifts career to date nor a pivot in a new direction. Whether it's a song about an ex or someone else who wronged her, Swift's clever, catchy "revenge tracks" have only continued to improve from here. Some of her trademarksher gift for melody, her third-act POV reversalswere already present here, but theres a sloppiness to the writing that shes long since cleaned up. Ranking all 129 of Taylor Swift's songs (from "Tim McGraw" to the 'Reputation' era, Rob Sheffield writes, "the weirdest and most fascinating thing about Taylor Swift will always . Written when she was a high school freshman, it saw Swift dissect her relationship with a senior who she knew would break up with her when he went off to college. Lover. Now, without further ado, here's EW's ranking of Taylor Swift's seminal albums. So reads Taylor Swift's social media announcement that, just two months after gracing fans with her re-recording of Fearless, she was giving the same treatment to 2012's Red with all 30 songs originally intended for the record. document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "ae642da28755683afdf2ec0fe06ed858" );document.getElementById("facec42938").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. After the runaway success of country-pop second record Fearless, for Speak Now elements of pop rock, bluegrass and soft rock were added into the mix. Though she only first arrived onto (and soon conquered) the popular music scene 16 years ago, the breadth and depth of her work seems more the stuff of a lifelong evolution, spanning multiple genres and breaking industry records almost every time around. Theres a Bon Iver collaboration, too: melancholy duet Exile, a slow-burning number which eventually erupts into chattering layered vocals and euphoric strings at the climax. That she employs her long-established songwriting tropes in novel ways is truly the most significant development here. "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"). These tales spin out like spools of fine gold, delicate in their delivery, eschewing catchy hooks to instead relish in simplicity. 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. Thus, Taylor Swift is reduced to the last spot on our ranking, partially by default, though also with respect and not without a good fight. Standouts like "Teardrops on My Guitar," "Picture to Burn," and "Cold As You" capture the essence of this album, which is "explicitly country-oriented," as Billboard music critic Jonathan Bradley wrote in 2017. It's the album that immortalized her in the cultural ethos (for the first time around), delivering instant classics in "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" that are forever fan favorites no matter how far her style and sensibilities have evolved. It isnt the weight of the subject matter alone that makes Folklore feel so vitalits the exemplary caliber of her writing. Pam Grier reflects on her most iconic roles, from Coffy to Jackie Brown. 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. "Red" and "Lover" remain in the middle of the pack. "Should've Said No" carries the same torch with a steadier hand, being one of the three songs she penned completely on her own. At just 20-years-old before she had even fully blossomed out of country's genre barriers Taylor had mastered the delicate balance of detailing the life moments blurred between adolescence and adulthood. Swifts surprise eighth album arrived with very little fanfare. Having no taste when it comes to state of Grace?) With the addition of six from the Vault tracks (songs written at the same time as the album, that Swift shared with the re-recorded version), it was like opening a musical time-capsule; with tracks like the emotive Fifteen taking on a new meaning as a poignant tribute to her teenage life. "Musically and lyrically, Red resembled a heartbroken person. 'Red' is filled with top notch tunes: the brilliantly snarky 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' (Swift's first ever Billboard 100 Number One) and fizzing '22' are stone-cold smashers. Swift shines brightest on these songs, building and developing her story out of economic but evocative turns of phrase.". Rosen is right this album combines intimate lyrics and incredibly catchy tunes and it is showcased in Swift's hit single "You Belong With Me," an upbeat anthem for those dealing with unrequited love. "Red" and "Lover" remain in the middle of the pack. Keefe, Swifts seventh album, Lover, lacks a unified sonic aesthetic, ostensibly from trying to be something to everyone. Stuffed with 80s influence, it also saw a step up in Swifts song writing, with her sharp, pithy lyrics feeling refined and sleek, hook-laden melodies dominating the entire record. Consider how the instrumentation drops out during the last two words of the hook in Last Kiss, allowing the singers breathy vocal delivery to bear the entirety of the songs emotional weight, or how a simple acoustic guitar figure on Enchanted slowly crescendos behind each repetition of the line I was enchanted to meet you. Unfortunately, the greater complexity and range found in Swifts sound and in her song constructions doesnt necessarily translate to her songwriting. The album finds Swift living up to all of the praise she earned for her songwriting earlier in career. So, though this list must include the favorites, it's also a love letter to her illustrious career and its intersections into listeners' lives. Jonathan Keefe. On her first three albums, love is mostly a daydream. How Marvel went big with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The imagery for the album was filled with snakes, and lyrics subtly (and at times, not so subtly) addressed their falling out. To make it easy for you, we haven't included Taylor Swift singles, EPs, or compilations - everything you see here should only be studio albums. Following on from the release of Swift's 10th album 'Midnights', let's take a trip down memory lane and take stock of the superstar's career so far. It saw Swift push back at a narrative that saw her portrayed as vengeful and bitter, an image that had been thrust upon her by the media and exacerbated by her very public, very long-running beef with Kanye West (first started when he infamously interrupted Taylor Swifts acceptance speech at the VMAs, and regularly reignited by the Kardashian-West clan). This only further proves that "Reputation" is a prime example that Swift can experiment with a variety of genres and still create magic. 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. The MCUs tiniest heroes are kicking off its biggest phase yet, setting up the next several years of storytelling. Some stories are symphonic semi-pop anthems ("Enchanted," "Haunted"), while others are country ballads dressed with electric guitars, as seen in "Dear John"'s interrogation of a 32-year-old lover's sway on a still-teen girl ("Don't you think 19's too young to be played by your dark, twisted games?"). And as critic Chris Willman wrote for The Hollywood Reporter in 2010, "Speak Now" saw Swift's music style mature while still keeping elements of her youth that her fans so adored in her previous two albums. When you pose the question of why Taylor Swift is among the most distinguished artists in popular music, the strength of her narrative songwriting is among the best answers. This Taylor Swift discography is ranked from best to worst, so the top Taylor Swift albums can be found at the top of the list. 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 back to the music. 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. Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. In a review for Rolling Stone, Claire Shaffer called the album "a refreshing change of pace.". 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. ", Big Machine/Republic Records/Republic Records/Big Machine. But once the title track's idyllic and endearing comedown is over, and the atmospheric funeral march for past woes of "The Archer" makes way for new beginnings, Lover has very few high points after its fifth track. By album three Swift was a certified Big Deal. Taylor Swift's folklore rose from quiet shadows at the peak of isolation and uncertainty, written and produced in quarantine and released during the first COVID summer. 40 "Should've Said No" Swift's uptempo. The Definitive Ranking of Every Song on Taylor Swift's 1989 Grammy winner's fifth studio album is officially out today, and we cannot stop listening to these top five songs By Jenna Mullins. Fearless, however, just as strongly made the case that Swift had the goods for a long, rich career. Would it be soft and sincere, like "New Year's Day," poppy and upbeat like "Wildest Dreams," or go back to Swift's acoustic roots with songs like "Untouchable"? Taylor Swift's Track 5s, Ranked 9. Rather, their relative simplicity only adds to Fearless' charm, bridging the old with the new a woman's voice singing a girl's anthems to make a once good album now great. October 26, 2022. What follows is a collection of stone-cold glimpses into the ripple effect discontentment has on relationships: the sadness of a seasonal lover, affection and effort met with indifference, infidelity ending in death. Taylor may be wise beyond her years, but that doesn't spare her from petty rage, especially on "Better Than Revenge" (which is essentially her "Misery Business"), scorning another girl for "the things that she does on the mattress" while likening their shared love interest to a toy on the playground in the next breath. Drag and drop items from the bottom and put them on your desired tier. So while it's vehemently impressive that an adolescent was the creative force behind the best tracks on a seven-time platinum record, it doesn't change the fact that it's far from her best work, and mostly made of songs that slip through her legacy's cracks more than any other album. escaped the fate of Pharrell in Minions or Timberlake in Trolls). If Teardrops on My Guitar from Swifts debut album was her breakthrough song, it was Love Story, the ballad from its follow-up Fearless, that cemented her name in the pop history books. Where her debut guaranteed she was, at the very least, a momentary sensation, it wasn't until 2008's Fearless that the world understood the musical force that Taylor Swift could be. This is based on A. But her self-titled debut is stagnant in retrospect, its feet firmly planted into an arbitrary industry mogul's limited vision of the "next best country artist." In honor of her instant-classic, record-breaking new LP. As critic Jon Caramanica wrote for The New York Times in 2014, this album is filled with catchy pop tracks but it sets itself apart from mainstream music of that genre. But clearly, Taylor is capable of much more, and her nine subsequent albums are proof. Welcome to the Taylor Swift song sorter. Where Reputation before it was a risky, abrasive side-step shrouded in a smoky eye, Lover's follow up is a blushing cheek beaming with rosy retrospection and hopes for the future. Shes doing exactly what shes always done: offering a collection of incisive, often provocative songs that incorporate authentic, first-person details and leaving others to argue over specific genre signifiers. In fact, most every song is stripped to a softer core than we've ever heard from Taylor before, with the exception of some past anomalies (re: Reputation's "New Years Day"). That early nuance and the fact that she wrote this entire album completely on her own is no small feat. 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. 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. 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"). It's hard to say. Read on for a ranking of all of Swift's albums, from least to most iconic in descending order. First released in 2008, its original release won the Grammy for Album of the Year, and thirteen years later in 2021, Fearless (Taylors Version) became the first of Swifts re-recorded albums to drop. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. 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. With a record thats a love letter to love itself. Still, what some may see as folklore's central weakness is in actuality its greatest strength. The worlds defining voice in music and pop culture: breaking whats new and whats next since 1952. Sal Cinquemani, Midnights is far removed from the folk instrumentation of Folklore and Evermore, coming closest to mirroring 1989s more uptempo electro-pop palette. Perhaps even more impressive is Swifts mastery of song structure. And theres what Swift has called The Teenage Love Triangle, a trio of songs (Betty, Cardigan and August) that explore a knotty romance from three peoples perspectives. But reputation's best serenade is also its most understated (and underrated): "New Years Day." And on this album, in particular, the stories she tells are about how her narrators choices impact others, often in ways that cause irreparable harm. The rest of the record sees relationships rise and fall like once-great empires reduced to dust, each an individual tragedy set to incessantly hooky choruses. In every instance, whats noteworthy is Swifts precision in communicating her exact intent. Any album judgment requires not just multiple listens, but the passage of time to sit with the music. In an album review for Variety, critic Chris Willman wrote, "For some fans, it might take a couple of spins around the block with this very different model to become re-accustomed to how there's still the same power under the hood here. This time, she trades her upbeat synth-pop for overt trap tremors and heavy-handed hip-hop, like harsh emergency strobes disrupting a blacked-out cityscape. This time, "All Too Well" retires a full band backing for hazy synths, but it's anything but smoke and mirrors. 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. On 2012s Red, Swift began her transition from country crossover artist to creating glossy, mainstream pop; on its 2021 re-record we were reminded just what a superb songwriter Swift has always been. 'All You Had To Do Was Stay' - '1989' Article Continues Below Don't get me wrong, "All You Had To Do Was Stay" is an amazing song that fits perfectly into. But just because Taylor took a sharp left turn doesn't mean she was unsuccessful. Paul Attard, Considering that Swifts previous material was almost always better when she tossed the ill-fitting country signifiers and focused on her uncanny gift for writing pop hooks, Red was a smart, if overdue, move for the singer. And the majority of Lover proves her path to better things, being an airy, whipped topping "love letter to love," both for the self and for a partner. Modify tier labels, colors or position through the action bar on the right. As if a trump card she saved specially for its bridge, Taylor relinquishes a rare shriek of elation and dismay ("He looks up grinning like a devil!") Such contrast in tone and prophecy perfectly capture the beautiful whiplash strewn throughout the album as she walks us through the stages of moving on: willing them to stay ("Treacherous"), drinking with friends to forget ("22"), ending the reconciliation cycle ("We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"), and starting anew with the next beau ("Begin Again"). some of the music released later in her career. Swift has proven herself capable of laughing at herself, thereby defusing the criticisms often levied at her, but with Reputation she created a larger-than-life caricature of the petty, vindictive snake shes been made out to be. ), and is occasionally clumsy in its comebacks. In this critical-darling album, Swift has done away with over-the-top production, catchy lyrics, and any sort of hit-making formulas and instead presents a stripped-back collection of songs with captivating stories and, in true Swift form, incredible lyrics. 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. 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). Lover is a backtrack in a way. Meanwhile, The Last Time (featuring Snow Patrols Gary Lightbody) showed a more mature sound with its grandiose alt-rock guitars and soaring melodies. "Entirely self-penned, sans the collaborations of the previous albums, it's an enormous breakthrough in songwriting maturity, while hardly forsaking the childlike lack of pretense that made earlier efforts such guilt-free ear candy," wrote Willman. Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone writes that the album "most notably picks up where the pure pop triptych of '1989,' 'Reputation,' and 'Lover' left off, a dazzling bath of synths complementing lyrics caught between a love story and a revenge plot.". There are, of course, a handful of golden tunes (Dancing with Our Hands Tied, Call It What You Want, Delicate). She's since genre-jumped from country to proper pop, to electro R&B and bare-backed folk. And then theres the title track, a gorgeous slow-dance, that acts as a reminder to why the world fell in love with Swift in the first place. Anyway. The definitive ranking of Taylor Swift's 'Folklore' songs. She also adds that with her recent re-recording of previous albums, Swift has "unlocked something brilliant and fresh in her songwriting," by dipping her toe back into previous eras. "Epiphany," track 13 on "Folklore," is written with Swift's grandfather in mind. For the album ranking, I considered a few factors including cohesiveness, listening experience, the number and quality of standout songs, and if the album is musically interesting or lyrically special. The albums standout tracks retain the narrative detail and clever metaphor-building that distinguished Swifts early songs, even amid the diversions wrought by the aggressive studio production on display throughout. Expectations were sky high, raising the stakes with them; just how close can Taylor fly to the sun? Even so, there are simply too many placeholders on Lover's 18-track roster for it to fare well against her discography's worthier, meatier contenders. ", 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.". She colors its lyrics and soundscapes between the clear cut, ear candy lines a hint of bubblegum pop, a dash of animated movie-anthem flair (it's a miracle that "ME!" Top that, Shakespeare. The resulting 2021 album, Fearless (Taylor's Version), is an inspiring feat and first step forward after reclaiming the masters of her life's work. Welcome to the Quantum Realm. And though she does vary her phrasing in ways that attempt to mask her limited voice, Swift is still noticeably off-pitch at least once on every song on the album. 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