Pulp Ranked: All of Taylor Swift’s Albums
By Haydn Hickson
7. Taylor Swift
In 2006, a 16-year-old Taylor Swift popped up on our iPods, giving us a country-pop hybrid that we didn’t know we needed. With Picture to Burn, Our Song and Teardrops on My Guitar, Taylor Swift blasted onto the scene with impeccable song-writing ability and a voice that could move mountains. It was obvious, that this was the start of something big – just how big was the question. We had no idea what was coming.
6. Speak Now
Speak Now, Taylor’s third album, saw the pop star firmly set up camp within the genre of country. While the LP gave us the hits of Mine, Mean and Back to December, the pop world started to wonder if clean country-pop and formulaic ballads were all we were going to get from this singer-songwriter. But, little did we know, this was the final album that confined itself into one genre.
5. Lover
The singles leading up to Lover had Swifties worried. From the Kids Bop-inspired ‘ME!’, to the LGBT-anthem that was seemingly rejected by the LGBT community ‘You Need to Calm Down’ to the flop that was ‘The Archer’, it looked as if Taylor Swift had officially lost her magical touch with pop music. But, as Lover was released, she proved that it’s going to take a lot more than Scooter Braun’s bullying to take her down. The release of Lover, the only album that Taylor Swift actually owns, seems to channel the introspection that we got in the early days. She’s not trying to prove anything to anyone, she’s doing everything for herself. And, it sounds pretty good. Ironically, this album is a lot like Kanye’s Life of Pablo, it’s a summary of where she’s at the moment, giving us glimpses of her past selves in an array of instrumentals that evoke different albums of Taylor’s past. We have no choice but to stan.
4. Reputation
I, for one, am a Reputation stan. Sure, Reputation was born out of some petty drama. And sure, Reputation was a tad self-indulgent. But you cannot deny, that it gave us some of the best bops of Taylor’s career. The way Taylor snaps on this LP reminds me of myself in high school, in the way that every little bit of Taylor drama in the real world was ripped apart and put under the microscope; blown out of proportion for the sake of a song. Like, who doesn’t overreact like that sometimes?! Not to mention, this album gave us some of the most interesting and enjoyable instrumentals of Swift’s career. There are moments on this album that Taylor Swift sings (and even raps) on some hard af beats, that evoke the essence of Arca, Flume and Metro Boomin at their literal best. If anything, Reputation proved that Taylor might be able to do anything.
3 . 1989
This album is pop-perfection. There’s really nothing else to say. Exchanging Ed Sheeran for Kendrick Lamar and acoustic guitars for blaring horns, this evolution of Taylor Swift saw the popstar embrace what was always at the core of her music, pop. Welcoming the pop-God Max Martin with open arms, Taylor pumped out some bangers that were on-trend with radio hits at the time, but she did them in a way which was just… better. With this LP, Taylor Swift took her public reputation and embraced it. She wasn’t the cool girl – and she didn’t want to be, giving us all, the not-cool-people, hook after hook after hook of relatable content. And Starbucks content. It was awesome.
2. Red
There has never, in the history of the universe, been a cross-genre album that has sounded this good. Taking influence from EDM, synth pop and dubstep, this country album was unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. In a good way. I Knew You Were Trouble, Red, 22 and We Are Never Getting Back Together, are some of the best pop songs that have been released since we’ve been alive, presenting a sound that no other artist has ever done. With this album, Taylor Swift basically showed to everyone that anything she touched turned into gold. If anything, Red seemed to be the era that Taylor Swift went from a pop-princess to a pop queen.
1. Fearless
A classic album. There isn’t much more to say. With highlights including You Belong With Me & Love Story, how could this not top the list.