Taylor Swift’s Six Albums Ranked
Taylor Swift is a songwriting goddess, marketing genius, and performing queen. She has released six solo albums and has been featured in dozens upon dozens of movie soundtracks, and other artists’ albums. Many would agree that Swift is among one of the most successful musicians in her generation, but few take on the task of actually ranking her successes. Today I am going to attempt to take on that task. Here are Swift’s six albums ranked worst to best, in my opinion.
Number Six: Reputation (2017). On this album Swift took her “pop phase” to the next level. It was by far her darkest themed album, and involved the most technology use in the music itself. I didn’t hate the album, granted I have never hated anything she’s done, but it was for sure my least favorite. It didn’t have the heart and soul behind the music that her other albums have, and it didn’t have the meaningfulness behind her song lyrics that has filled her other two albums. It was also just a step too far on the dark side for me.
Number Five: Speak Now (2010). I love this album dearly, and praise Swift for the vulnerability in her lyrics of the songs on this album. We learned all about every relationship Swift had been in the past two years from these songs, and exactly what she felt about each of them. It was also a solid genre of music for Swift. It wasn’t country, but it wasn’t quite pop either, just a nice, happy medium. However, it sadly did not feature as many top hits as most of her other albums, but is definitely a hidden gem in her portfolio of music.
Number Four: Taylor Swift (2006). This was Swift’s debut album, and was absolutely classic. We determined the reasons for teardrops on our guitars, made relationship “songs” out of nature, and went through some car-destroying breakups. The genre of this album was completely country, a 180 from what she is producing now. Many of the songs featured on this album were written while Swift was still in high school, making it one of her most relatable albums.
Number Three: Red (2012). This album was Swift’s first real transition to the all pop genre. Her songs on this one were excellently written and conveyed some hard truths about the relationships she had recently been in. “All Too Well” is my favorite song of hers ever, and it was released on this album. She also had several other №1 hits on this album like “We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together,” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Red was a very honest album about the good, bad, and ugly of modern relationships.
Number 2: Fearless (2008). This album was filled with some of Swift’s most iconic singles. When I think of the “old Taylor,” as she likes to call herself now, I think of “Love Story,” “You Belong With Me,” and “Fifteen.” This album also featured a few songs written by high school Swift, making them relatable like her first album, but these songs were infinitely catchier! Fearless also had a good balance in tones of songs. Some of them were really upbeat and happy, while others were sad and mournful. This album was a perfect mix of emotion played to catchy music with wisely-chosen lyrics.
Number 1: 1989 (2014). 1989 was incredible. That’s all I have to say. Oh, wait, no it’s not! This album was both Swift’s greatest music producing, and most phenomenal lyric writing. She perfectly encapsulated the emotion she wanted to portray with every song, and did so in a way that was beautiful, enjoyable to listen to, and even made me want to dance. The music to every song was spot-on, and I felt all of the emotions she was feeling in those moments. It was also stylistically very pleasing and went along well with her portrayal of herself at the time. Though I love all of Swift’s albums, this will forever be my go-to one.
Taylor Swift has done some amazing work over the past decade, and I cannot wait to see what she has in store next.
