ranking taylor swift albums tier list

20: 20. At the time of publishing, we're just over two weeks past our first listen, still internalizing the record's themes of loneliness and loathing, insecurity and insomnia. The imagery for the album was filled with snakes, and lyrics subtly (and at times, not so subtly) addressed their falling out. 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.". 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. 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. 1989 is a masterclass in how to make a timeless pop record. By album three Swift was a certified Big Deal. Let's be clear: There are no bad Taylor Swift albums. 1989 signifies a rebirth of sorts for Taylor, not just because it's named after her actual birth year, but more due to its status as her first seismic genre shift. Anyway. Swift shines brightest on these songs, building and developing her story out of economic but evocative turns of phrase.". All of Swift's signature elements are present on Swift's third studio album that was released in 2010 beautifully honest lyrics about heartbreak ("Dear John," "Last Kiss"), biting diss tracks ("Mean," "Better Than Revenge"), and a story that unfolds ("Mine"). taylor swift albums Tier List Maker - TierLists.com taylor swift albums Press the labels to change the label text. Taylor herself referred to it as her "only true breakup album," and like her today, whatever heartache made us once cling to Red for the solace is (hopefully) behind us now. When it comes to things other than boys, though, Swift has always preferred to dip her toes in rather than get soaking wet; her transformation from country teen to pop queen was, after all, a decade in the making. The albums lyrics only serve to bolster that perception: Swift comes off like a frazzled stay-at-home mom scolding her disobedient children on Look What You Made Me Do and This Is Why We Cant Have Nice Things. But its her willingness to portray herself not as a victim, but the villain of her own story that makes Reputation such a fascinatingly thorny glimpse inside the mind of pops reigning princess. Having no taste when it comes to state of Grace?) Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. 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. She's moved on, but she also wants us to know she's moved on. Yet its the lyricism that makes Folklore such an astonishing album, with Swift writing both from her own point of view, as well as exploring other peoples. Sal Cinquemani, Midnights is far removed from the folk instrumentation of Folklore and Evermore, coming closest to mirroring 1989s more uptempo electro-pop palette. 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. 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. By albums end, Swift assesses her crumbling empire and tattered reputation, discovering redemption in loveonly Reputation isnt so much a rebirth as it is a retreat inward. But "Folklore" has a laid-back vibe that reflects the spontaneity of how this album was created. some of the music released later in her career. This time, "All Too Well" retires a full band backing for hazy synths, but it's anything but smoke and mirrors. Swift released "Reputation" in 2017, three years after "1989," a noticeable gap as she'd previously been debuting albums every two years. Swifts surprise eighth album arrived with very little fanfare. 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. by Slant Staff October 25, 2022 1 Photo: Republic Records Taylor Swift started off as a country artist at a time when the genre was both less respectful and accommodating of the voices of women than at any other point in its storied history. 175. 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. Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. Midnight's answer: she's still soaring. Love for a song about the worst parts of yourself grows on your heart like a burn on the skin. 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. 1 as it best represents the evolution of Swift and her music. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver's defeated drawl) borrows similarly spacious minor keys with ten times the heartbreak. Keefe, Folklore is neither a culmination of Swifts career to date nor a pivot in a new direction. Her self-titled debut stood as her lone and tall titan at the time of its 2006 release, which was immediately met with commercial and critical success, catapulting a then-16-year-old Swift to stardom almost overnight. 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. And, thus, here's where she lost some audiences at the onset, who understandably furrowed their brows at first listen. "Epiphany," track 13 on "Folklore," is written with Swift's grandfather in mind. The album finds Swift living up to all of the praise she earned for her songwriting earlier in career. 8 Taylor Swift (2006) Written during her freshman year of high school, Taylor Swift's debut eponymous album was young Swift trying to find her real voice. "Her music mixes an almost impersonal professionalism it's so rigorously crafted it sounds like it has been scientifically engineered in a hit factory with confessions that are squirmingly intimate and true," wrote critic Jody Rosen for Rolling Stone in 2008. But the crowned jewel of the record is obviously the long-waited, 10-minute version of "All Too Well," an expansion on the already sprawling song widely considered by critics and fans alike to be her definitive opus (which, for an artist of Taylor Swift's standing, is absolutely saying something). She also notably upgrades the production, as a Professor of Commercial Music explains to EW, with subtle shifts towards a fuller-bodied musical accompaniment (no longer a one-dimensional country backing), re-layering instruments along with slight switch-ups in tempo. He also noted that this album began to show just how developed Swift's "potential for fury" was and he's right "Picture To Burn" is sassy and confidently filled with anger: "So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time / As far as I'm concerned you're just another picture to burn.". Its a solid album which shows bucket-loads of promise; but its not a patch on what was to come later. 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. 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. From Taylor Swift to Midnights, we've ranked all of the singer's studio albums from best to worst. There are whispers of reputation as well on opener "Lavender Haze," "Midnight Rain," and b-side "Vigilante Sh-t," which are menacing in their side-eyed electro hip hop shades but with a more relaxed delivery, swapping her sixth album's shock value for more earnest meditations on conflict born out of your own misgivings. She's since genre-jumped from country to proper pop, to electro R&B and bare-backed folk. 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!" A 20-year-old Taylor, mid-transition from childhood to adulthood, draws from that dizzying dysphoria and uses it to refine her already awe-inspired songwriting. Swift, of course, got her start writing astutely observed country ballads, and these songs bolster her trademark knack for lyric-crafting with maximalist, blown-out pop production courtesy of collaborators Max Martin and Jack Antonoff. In a review for Rolling Stone, Claire Shaffer called the album "a refreshing change of pace.". 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. Two things before we get into the list: 1. Songs like I Know Places ride a reggae swagger and trap-influenced snare beats before launching into a soaring, Pat Benatar-esque chorus. She later builds upon this skill with an added emphasis on production and atmosphere, landing victorious (almost) every time. But while her grasp of song structure at this point in her career suggested an innate talent for how to develop a melody, Fearless also highlights Swifts then-limited repertoire and lack of creativity in constructing her narratives of doe-eyed infatuations and first loves gone wrong. But as we all know, Taylor Swift isn't like other artists. The definitive ranking of Taylor Swift's 'Folklore' songs. It's her only album with skip-every-time songs (why on earth would you force a collab between Future and Ed Sheeran? ", "Ivy," the 10th track on "Evermore," alludes to an illicit affair, which is the name of track 10 on "Folklore.". "Should've Said No" carries the same torch with a steadier hand, being one of the three songs she penned completely on her own. On Thursday at midnight, Taylor Swift dropped her 10th studio album, "Midnights." 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.". Song for song, the album finds Swift at a new peak in her command of language. Swift certainly has an . 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. Where Swift has re-recorded an album, we have included only the new, re-recorded version of the record in the ranking. It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together in the end. " Bad Blood . 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. 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. If you have a hard time taking a side, you can either click "I Like Both" or "No Opinion," though the catch is that the process might take longer. But past skeptics be damned, the album has stood the test of time, with many now backpedaling their initial criticisms to revel in her unabashed outbursts of rage and ecstasy and its thematic anchor of tender love and care. But reputation's best serenade is also its most understated (and underrated): "New Years Day." 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. What makes Evermore an essential addition to her catalog is her willingness to tell others stories with the same insight and compassion with which shes always told her own. 1 as it best represents the evolution of Swift and her music. 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. folklore is a backward glance over your shoulder clouded by a cold air exhale and it remains Taylor's greatest work to date. Songs like "Blank Space" and "Wildest Dreams" are more than deserving of their far-reaching recognizability, but not so much their long time (and only recently dethroned) standing at the top of Taylor's Spotify play stats. Tier ranking every single Taylor Swift song was the hardest thing I've ever done lol, so ENJOY! Taylor Swift's Track 5s, Ranked 9. And services on this website ( and underrated ): `` new Years Day ''! Command of language fit together in the end is n't like other artists entertainment Weekly may receive compensation some... The place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together the... 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