There's no question her most recent two albums are related, as "Evermore" has a similar sound and features nods to "Folklore. Her detour is immediately apparent with a simple piano opening on "the 1," as piano chords echo a slight reverb off a guitar's strum-claps, while melancholy ballad "exile" (feat. It's the stuff of shared languages, not unlike our own pensive journal entries when we had nowhere else to turn but the page. 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). 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). Whether thats emphasizing the wrong syllables of words because she hadnt quite mastered the meter of language (most notable on Teardrops on My Guitar) or mixing metaphors (on Picture to Burn and the otherwise catchy Our Song), theres a lack of polish and editing on Taylor Swift. The tongue-in-cheek I Forgot That You Existed is a strutting reminder of Swifts skills as a lyricist. Working with a whos who of trendy producers and writers (Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, Ali Payami alongside indie darling Imogen Heap), she crafted a collection of glossy belters, that flit from fluffy dance-pop (Shake It Off) and sophisticated electronic-tinged bops (Blank Space, Style), to glorious indietronica (Out of the Woods, Clean). Haim collaboration No Body, No Crime is a full-blown country revenge song, while Long Story Short and Gold Rush fuse Swifts new sound with some 1984-era gloss. Reputation is, without a doubt, Taylor's most polarizing work to date. Rather, reputation is often compelling in its lavish catharsis, best seen on tracks "Gorgeous," "King of My Heart," and "Getaway Car" (which has co-writer/producer Jack Antonoff's handprints all over its Bleachers-like chorus builds). 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. "This ain't for the best / My reputation's never been worse, so / You must like me for me," is a perfect thesis for the album as a whole on "Delicate," one of the LP's highpoints for its light-as-air ambiance, late night whispers coasting on a swirling current of synth waves. Another remote collaboration composed in secret, evermore is a sort of epilogue to the backwoods mythos and backdoor relationships on folklore, delving into new character studies with a familiar, folk-infused air of coulds, woulds, and shoulds. 1 as it best represents the evolution of Swift and her music. 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. "Should've Said No" carries the same torch with a steadier hand, being one of the three songs she penned completely on her own. So, though this list must include the favorites, it's also a love letter to her illustrious career and its intersections into listeners' lives. But as we all know, Taylor Swift isn't like other artists. All of Taylor Swift's Albums in order + Some unreleased, bonus, and soundtrack songs (only ones that are in a mostly complete state) in table form A mean/mode score calculator under each album Page 2 A macro-enabled automatic ranking table of each album's mean score, with colours that re-orders automatically as you score the songs on Page 1 Page 3 Taylor is again musically faithful to the source material she spawned, honoring her then 22-year-old self by jeering and tearing up right on que, though this time with an inherent air of maturity. If nothing else, the album proves shes unwilling to operate on anyones terms other than her own. 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. ", "Ivy," the 10th track on "Evermore," alludes to an illicit affair, which is the name of track 10 on "Folklore.". Shes mined this type of melancholy tone before, but never for the full length of an album and certainly never with such a range of perspectives. In a review for Rolling Stone, Claire Shaffer called the album "a refreshing change of pace.". But as Pitchfork critic Anna Gaca pointed out, the album may be honest and genuine, but it feels uneven with how much it sways from garish pop singles like "ME!" There are many more parallels to past albums, as revisiting life moments already explored in her previous songs creates yet another treasure map of topics for knowledgeable fans. 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.". this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Gone is the will-they-won't-they tension of Reputation's hushed, closed-door affair; Taylor's Lover is here to stay, and this seventh studio album exists almost solely to deliver that proclamation between a few self-love clichs ("I'm the only one of me") and tired girl-power taglines ("If I was a man / Then I'd be the man"). 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. 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. Her once apolitical music is, on Lover, peppered with references to Americas current state of affairs, both thinly veiled (Death by a Thousand Cuts) and more overt (You Need to Calm Down). Swift certainly has an . Two things before we get into the list: 1. 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. 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.". In the 2017 article, Jenkins also noted that this album features hip-hop influences, something Swift hasn't really done before. 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 MCUs tiniest heroes are kicking off its biggest phase yet, setting up the next several years of storytelling. 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. I'm using weekly Spotify Charts because I hate Billboard 2. He's right "Folklore" further cements the fact that Swift is in a league all her own and cannot be placed in a stylistic box when it comes to her music. That early nuance and the fact that she wrote this entire album completely on her own is no small feat. Swift dropped a "special very chaotic surprise" in the form of seven bonus tracks. I'll admit it took me a second to warm up to "Folklore" and realize how sophisticated and masterful it was so much so that it jumped from second-to-last to second place since this ranking was last updated. 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. Returning to this record then, with its new polish and poise, is a kind of homecoming celebration. 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." It's humbling to hear a decades-defining artist at the absolute top of her career sing confessionals about self-loathing ("I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror") and toxic longing ("I hosted parties and starved my body / Like I'd be saved with a perfect kiss") with less inhibition than ever before. The brooding production glitches and glitters, embracing the indietronica thats permeated the last few The National records. Perfectly Fine." 2023 Oscars predictions: See who will win at the 95th Academy Awards. 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. '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. It made sense then for this, her second studio album, which won her four Grammys including Album of the Year, to be the first altar in the "Taylor's Version" re-recording saga. The best Taylor Swift's Albums rankings are on the top of the list and the worst rankings are on the bottom. Jonathan Keefe. Sal Cinquemani, Midnights is far removed from the folk instrumentation of Folklore and Evermore, coming closest to mirroring 1989s more uptempo electro-pop palette. "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"). "The 1" and "August" tied for the top spot. These were the de facto anthems for young listeners especially, clutching MP3 players to the chest like rosaries as we projected onto Taylor's portraits of then-mythical teen love. She may be on the outs, but she sure isn't alone. The album's comedown is a moment of quiet reflection carried by a piano's lone lullaby, when the festivities are over, the partygoers are gone, and all that's left is a lover for the long haul ("I want your midnights / But I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day"). So it is written in "State Of Grace," beginning the album with a percussive prologue la U2, warning that we "fall in love 'til it hurts or bleeds or fades in time" before proclaiming, almost joyously, that she'll "never be the same." 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. Keefe, In the run-up to the release of her sixth album, Reputation, Swift was excoriated by fans and foes alike for too often playing the victim. 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. Look, Reputation served a purpose. But this is Taylor we're talking about here, and the fact of the matter is, she's at her best at her most singular, when there's zero doubt that anyone but her could have been the creative mind behind the record. Shes described it as a sister record to the aforementioned Folklore; where that record allowed Swift to completely reinvent her sound, coupling her trademark hooks and vibrant storytelling with indie-folk instrumentals, Evermore exudes a new sense of confidence. But what's never changed is Taylor's enchanting ability to translate a memory whether charmed or trying into a moment that feels like yours. 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. Immediate highlights include tracks like "Willow," an upbeat song that transports listeners back to the "Folklore" universe. 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. Pick what song you like better in each battle to get an accurate list of your favourite songs. Midnight's answer: she's still soaring. Now, without further ado, here's EW's ranking of Taylor Swift's seminal albums. These subtle parallels between songs form a sheen narrative web that hovers above the awareness of the average listener but dazzles the die-hard fan, who at this point is well accustomed to Swift's scavenger hunt antics. Unlike previous albums, no singles were released before the official album drop, and at 3 a.m. In the 16 years since the single Tim McGraw launched Swift to country stardom, shes jettisoned the genres ill-fitting signifiers and overcome the limitations of her early recordingsimprovements captured in her Taylors Version re-recordings as a powerful statement of artistic agency. But none are more affecting than "champagne problems," a first-person post-mortem after rejecting a marriage proposal a classic "it's not you, it's me" scenario with simple piano chords accompanying the guilt of walking away and the peril of being mentally unwell ("'She would've made such a lovely bride' / 'What a shame she's fked in the head,' they said"). But Evermore finds Swift digging further into her explorations of narrative voice and shifting points of view, taking bigger risks in trying to discover how the newfound breadth of her songwriting could possibly reconcile with the arc of her career. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver's defeated drawl) borrows similarly spacious minor keys with ten times the heartbreak. 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. 1989 instead is sonically joyous without losing dimension or leaning on familiarity. The catalyst was lead single "Tim McGraw," but this ticket to the country radio airwaves turned out to be a red herring with the advent of other ironclad, infinitely repeatable songs that remain fan favorites, even in lieu of our now excess of options. On Thursday at midnight, Taylor Swift dropped her 10th studio album, "Midnights." And, thus, here's where she lost some audiences at the onset, who understandably furrowed their brows at first listen. 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. 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