Yep, it's another T-Swift album. There are honestly few artists in the mainstream I find more fascinating than her, and here's an album where you can clearly start to see the pivot between country and pop. You can also start to see the downsides of Taylor Swift embracing pop, which would be mostly fixed but still present in 1989, and exacerbated in reputation and Lover.
The songs that work the best, as is usually true on any Taylor Swift project, are the ones which showcase her at her most vulnerable. You can see this in songs like "All Too Well" and "Begin Again", where the emotional complexities of her decision making and regret are best present. The song also has quite a few tracks that meld pop and country together quite well, and provide a possible avenue for Taylor to pull of a full pop turn, like she did on 1989. On the other hand, the album's duets flop for me for being unforgivably boring and not really showcasing either artist well. And "I Knew You Were Trouble", while not necessarily a bad song on its own, provides a dangerous path for Taylor Swift to take into pop. Again, see the worst songs on reputation for that. Shallow, overwrought, and using pop influences that don't match her style at all.
It's a bit of a mixed bag, this album, but I'm inclined to be charitable for it being Taylor Swift's first real taste of full pop. It seemed to go over well with fans, as all the strictly pop singles did well. Me, I think I mostly prefer the country side of this album, but if this was the album that inspired Taylor to try 1989, I can't hold a grudge against it. Good stuff.
7/10
Best Tracks: "State of Grace", "All Too Well", "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", "Starlight", "Begin Again"
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