It's the stuff of shared languages, not unlike our own pensive journal entries when we had nowhere else to turn but the page. But clearly, Taylor is capable of much more, and her nine subsequent albums are proof. Unlike previous albums, no singles were released before the official album drop, and at 3 a.m. It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together in the end. "Red" and "Lover" remain in the middle of the pack. Despite the pandemic, 2020 was a big year for the artist, who released two surprise albums and secured her first Album of the Year nomination since her 2015 record, 1989. This is based on A. It's her only album with skip-every-time songs (why on earth would you force a collab between Future and Ed Sheeran? Im not surprised you guys mostly hate on records and rarely do things right. In short: 1989 is Taylor Swifts masterpiece. First contact is a shock, a singe that lingers and radiates energy, next a scab, hardening as it heals, before calming into a scar you carry, listening to, forevermore. "Cold As You" highlights Swift's talent in writing beautiful lyrics about heartbreak, a key Swift signature: "You put up walls and paint them all a shade of gray / And I stood there loving you, and wished them all away / And you come away with a great little story / Of a mess of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you.". Red is filled with top notch tunes: the brilliantly snarky We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (Swifts first ever Billboard 100 Number One) and fizzing 22 are stone-cold smashers. 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. 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. 1989 instead is sonically joyous without losing dimension or leaning on familiarity. But back to the music. The brooding production glitches and glitters, embracing the indietronica thats permeated the last few The National records. Thus, her 10th album is at the neutral midpoint on this list, though Midnights' careful metaphors are some of the best mirrors for abstract projection and self-reflection that listeners will find on this list. 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. It's synth-pop with depth energetic beats with lyrics that linger in your mind and soul-baring moments softened with catchy choruses ("It's me, hi / I'm the problem, it's me"). 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. "Speak Now" comes in at no. So, though this list must include the favorites, it's also a love letter to her illustrious career and its intersections into listeners' lives. 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. These are songs that beckon celebration, hands raised over heads in secular worship of a 20-something's innate need to romanticize their life visions of nice dresses and sunsets, the epicenter of the world awaiting your arrival, hope that your beauty and grace will never fade. 1989 is a masterclass in how to make a timeless pop record. Its nostalgic sound has paved the way for other artists to make pure pop albums without feeling the need to embrace whatever genres popular at the time (just look at Dua Lipas Future Nostalgia or Lordes Melodrama). Marjorie is a tear-jerking tribute to her late grandmother and Justin Vernon-duet Evermore is a euphoric beacon of hope that feels especially poignant at the end of 2020. But reputation's best serenade is also its most understated (and underrated): "New Years Day." 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. 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. The gist: In each "battle," two Taylor Swift songs (from the same album or not) are pitted against each other for your judgment. Swift shines brightest on these songs, building and developing her story out of economic but evocative turns of phrase.". 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. ", Big Machine/Republic Records/Republic Records/Big Machine. She's endlessly accessible, easy to understand even in her later, more cryptic works, yet her songwriting is also a blank space (*cue pen-click*) ripe for filling in your personal memories and private associations. To celebrate, weve revisited all 10 of her studio albums and ranked them from best to worst. 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"? 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). So, the savant of promotional whimsy announced an upcoming album in August, cloaked her website in a cryptic countdown reading "Meet me at midnight," posted the premise of "the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life," and ceremoniously revealed the track titles from an antique bingo machine in a TikTok series. This record at last acknowledges that, yes, a pop star idolized by young girls can also be a sexual being, singing of dirty daydreams and undressing with your eyes (the chorus on "Dress" even blatantly mimics the cadence of a mounting orgasm). Almost 15 years ago, before the Grammy awards and international tours, a fresh-faced, 17-year-old Taylor Swift released her self-titled debut album. As J. English penned for NPR in 2017, this album really helped solidify Swift's identity in the music world. Note: hitting 'no opinion' or 'I like both' frequently will negatively affect your results. Released in 2006, Swift's first studio album is so country that newer fans may barely recognize the songstress' sound considering she has experimented with a number of other genres since then. And a follow-up to 1989 would always have big shoes to fill but Reputation lacked the stone-cold smashers Swift has proven time and time again shes capable of. True, this album successfully acted as a reminder that Swift is a powerhouse musician who shouldnt be messed with. But on Red, it's "worthwhile fight" and "a ruthless game," never easy but always intoxicating, almost to the point of nausea. "Marjorie," track 13 on "Evermore," is about Swift's grandmother. 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. The album has been described as escapist, cottagecore-inspired, and was written and recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I have this Forrest Gump-ian way of touching something and it becomes a hit!" 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. 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. Keefe, Folklore is neither a culmination of Swifts career to date nor a pivot in a new direction. Its admirable that she tries to incorporate more sophisticated elements into a few of the songs here, but dancing with or kissing someone in the rain is a default image that crops up with nearly the same distracting frequency as references to princesses, angels, and fairy tales. Perhaps even more impressive is Swifts mastery of song structure. 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. Ten albums, a mantelpiece of awards and over a decade later, Swift has become one of the biggest popstars on the planet. And, yes, her songwriting here is not quite fully actualized (as hindsight allows us to see now), but that doesn't diminish these songs' lasting splendor. Standout tracks from my first few listens include "Anti-Hero" and "Maroon. It's a dreamy pop album, though not fully aligned with that subgenre thanks to more of Jack Antonoff's signature production, which injects Midnights with a pulsing, mounting aura in hypnotizing new tracks "You're On Your Own, Kid," "Mastermind," and Spotify play count heavyweight champ "Anti-Hero." Only vault songs are included. '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. To celebrate Folklore's release, there is not a better time to rank Taylor Swift's albums' discography from the weakest to the best. Anyway. And, of course, the other notable solo feat is "Our Song," marrying a whimsical fiddle with a full-circle story of a good girl's heart won through small rebellions and romantic gestures: whispering on the phone, sneaking kisses through screen doors. Although she claims the old Taylor is dead in the lyrics of "Look What You Made Me Do," we see touches of her "old self" in the softer chorus of otherwise intense "Ready For It?" Taylor Swift currently has 10 albums, with 2022's "Midnights" being her most recent release. Welcome to the Taylor Swift song sorter. The songs are as fresh as they were when first released in 2014 with the choruses still getting embedded in your head. 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