1989

It was alright. Just not my genre

There's a lot of great and interesting pop right now, so quite how Taylor Swift is the biggest artist in the world when her songs are just so aggressively bland, I'll never know. The production's admittedly very clean but it's just so unrelentingly boring, and I found myself begging the arrangement to do something even remotely exciting. There are a couple of good tracks on here, I find Blank Space and Shake It Off to be the best, but neither of them are really that great, and I almost found myself bored to tears during the worst parts, like How You Get the Girl and Clean. And I swear if I hear another I–V–vi–IV I'm going to go insane.

Lyrically vapid poison eating away at the fabric of society. But it’s damn catchy.

Another Taylor Swift..hell yeah, using a private spotify session on this one. Not for me, it's somehow too sweet and bland at the same time. This is the second Swift album I have had to listen to for this undertaking. This first one had me desperately desiring the end of the album. This one made me eager for the album but I didn't hate the experience,so there was an improvement.

Je wendt je één keer tot god, en de bitch komt met deze reactie. Hij laat even zien wie baas is. Maar deze eindbaas van een plaat moest toch doorstaan worden, als een sprong onder een koude douche. De plastic pop diva, die recentelijk folk muziek omarmt. Maar dit was echt prime Taylor Swift. Met nummers als 'Blank Space' en 'Shake It Off', die elke muzieksnob - die z'n uiterste best doet om haar te ontlopen - gewoon wel van A tot Z kent. En toegegeven, ze is een ster in wat ze doet. De muziek reflecteert geen serieuze maatschappelijke thema's, breekt niet met een patroon waardoor muziek kan door evolueren, en er valt geen instrumentele of vocale virtuositeit te bespeuren. Maar een gros van de songs zijn wel echt earworms. De twee reedsgenoemde liedjes zijn generieke pop-heaven. Maar ik kwam moeilijk door m'n post-'Shake It Off' dip heen, die zo vervelend infectious is dat Pharrell Williams er wel iets mee te maken moet hebben. Dat tweede deel begon het me wel echt te irriteren en te vervelen dat werkelijk waar elke song dezelfde opbouw heeft naar een refrein - met vaak het zelfde melodietje - en Taylor die de songtitel een keer of 10 herhaalt. Bij 'Out of the Woods' trapte ik er nog in, en vermaakte ik me prima, daarna kwam het al snel m'n strot uit. But we gotta pay respect to our legends: 6,5/10 Highlights: Blank Space Out of the Woods Shake It Off

Oh, god. Hoe gaan we dit doe Wanneer zet je dit als zelf-respecterend-muzieksnob nu aan? In de volle spits-trein? Tijdens het werk? Met het risico dat mede kantoor gangers je betrappen? Op een weekendje weg met de familie? Dan moet dat vergelijkbaar zijn met een coming-out. Of gewoon thuis dan? Terwijl vriendin lief staat te koken? Gewoon even lekker Taylor op je oortjes. "Want ik moet deze van een recensie voorzien." Ik voel teveel ongemak hierbij. Taylor Swift is de meest zoete popmuziek waar je als 'liefhebber' verre van wil blijven. Dus hoe voorkom je nou die gêne als je hier naar luistert? Of is is dit volledig te wijden aan alle vooroordelen die bepalen dat ik het ongemakkelijk vind om dit 'gewoon even lekker aan te zetten'. Taylor Swift beoordelen puur op kwaliteit van de muziek is onmogelijk. Natuurlijk is dat ook zeker niet de reden van haar populariteit. Er zijn veel betere zangeressen. Pop, folk of country. Er zijn knappere vrouwen, er zijn inspirerendere voorbeelden, er zijn betere teksten te bedenken. En de muzikale omlijsting is wel het laatste wat uniek is aan Swift. Zij is zo pop, zo mainstream, zo 'normaal', dat dáár de aantrekkingskracht voor de Swiftie in zit. Ze doet précies wat je verwacht. Plaat na plaat, show na show. Na 3x checken of mn oortjes goed waren aangesloten dan toch maar 1989 in de trein opgezet. Beetje stress-zweterig stiekem zodat niemand mij bezig ziet of kan liplezen welke zoete pop-tune ik stiekem meezing. Want 1989 staat boordevol pop-bangers waar je onmogelijk aan hebt kunnen ontsnappen het afgelopen decennium. En die dan !dus toch! voor een stukje nostalgie zorgen... Op 1989 staat veels te veel, 61 minuten aan pop-hits is echt niet nodig en in mijn ongemakkelijke toestand een hele opgave. Toch kan ook ik niet ontkennen dat de plaat volstaat met earworms en er weinig voeding is om de plaat helemaal de grond in te schrijven. Omdat snob-Youri het ook aandurfde, durf ik mijn ongemak ook maar onder ogen te komen. 2 sterren voor de dame die voor altijd aan ons muziek-tijdperk, onze generatie, zal kleven. We hebben het met haar te doen, laten we het dan toch maar (stiekem, een beetje) omarmen. 5,5/10 Highlights Blank Space Bad Blood

I said to James I'd go into this with an open heart and mind, I did, and I'm sorry but I remain unmoved about Taylor Swift. I just DON'T GET IT. I like certain songs, the catchy ones, but on the whole I just find it so beige bland and boring. I feel nothing about about a majority of the music. To compare to recent pop that absolutely SLAPS - have you heard Chappelle Roan? The clever lyricism and musicality are just miles ahead of Swity, in MY opinion. I so get what Chappelle Roan is about from her music, I don't at all from Taylor Swift. What I'm saying is I can love and appreciate pop music - I don't at all think I'm above it, I'm not being snob it's just not for me.

I’m sure if you like this sort of thing it’s great - not for me though

Taylor Swift is a huge artist, but I honestly think it shows the state of the music industry these days that she is so huge. If she was around in the 80s she (and this album) would be fairly run of the mill. She's a female Ed Sheeran!

it’s a pretty good album and i listened to it a lot when i was younger. don’t get me wrong. but some of the pop hits are just so repetitive and generic, i do think this is the origin point of taylor making uninspired music chasing hits. some songs are great, it’s polished, but there is better taylor swift music. i give it a 2 for my personal feelings about her discography, i think this is more of a 3

This is the other side of the coin of guys listening to heavy music and fantasizing about saving someone. This is so purposefully built to be successful it isn't even music anymore but it makes sense to include something like this on the list. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep there's a device that people can select emotions on and then for the duration they fell them. It's to show how hollow the world became and how even the strive to experience was taken as a dosage vs something organic. Listening to these tracks feels like each song is a button on that machine.

It's solid but very conventional, especially the production. How you get the girl goes hard.

“1989” is the fifth studio album by the world's most famous singer-songwriter, Taylor Swift. I think there is no doubt that it is the album that has generated the most discussion in her professional career. This is because of everything that has been generated around the album from the moment of its release. The change she has to pop, the historical change in the streaming platforms that it generates and the new audience that listens to this sound related to Synthpop are some of these things that came into discussion. In the last few years the non-synthpop community had a rather uncontrolled hatred for this album, but why this hatred? It's simple, it broke records. Everything that breaks records in art related fields usually comes into discussion in questions of if it deserved it, if it is really good or simply from the side that they don't share at all. “1989” crushed all of its competition that year, even one of the most important albums in history such as Kendrick Lamar's ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’. But here I am not questioning if it deserved these awards or records, I am questioning if it is really a good project. Because it is a before and after in the modern era is undeniable, but its quality is relative to its influence? I don't think so. Musically, this Taylor's album leaves much to be desired. I consider her to be a pretty neat artist when it comes to delivering albums. I don't consider her a bad artist by any means, but I do feel that this is a project “to seize the moment”. I mean she took advantage of the Synthpop boom and her already large audience and released this album that was made for the commercial masses. You can see it in his production, a production in some cases quite boring and monotonous. I have already said it, Jack Antonoff seems to me a very mediocre producer and this is one of his projects where you can see the lack of ideas. Although he has some very well produced tracks, most of them are not. But it is not only to blame him, Taylor's performances are not the most lucid either vocally or lyrically. There are some outstanding songs like “Style” or “Wildest Dreams”, but there are some songs where her performance is too characteristic and basic. In short, a project that is both over-hyped and over-rated. Over-hyped by the more hip hop affiliated community and over-rated by the performing media. I say this even though these terms seem really stupid to me.

I don't hate Taylor Swift, hate is a strong word. I do however think her music is simplistic and only interesting to children. She can write a catchy pop song, but her success is disproportionate to her talent in my humble opinion

Ok

Came in with a positive attitude, but quickly worn down. What was going on with the production in pop in the 2010s? It's really overproduced, and the sound - that slight autotuning - is mostly bland and often awful. Interesting to hear the 80s touches, but it pales in comparison to the best of that decade. Some obvious talent, and a couple brighter tracks - Shake It Off, Bad Blood etc, but otherwise pretty disappointing. Now the wait to find out if my nieces forgive me...

I’ve heard a good chunk of these before but this is my first Taylor album. Sorry to say but I’ll remain firmly in the hate train. I get the appeal but she is just not for me, and I really struggle with pinpointing my lack of enjoyment. Maybe because she’s so overexposed, but it just feels like the most lifeless and corporate pop music you could create. As an outsider it just feels like her entire identity is her brand, and there’s no real person being expressed in these songs. Maybe I’m just a hater but lord knows she doesn’t need my listens to continue her success

Very divisive artist, you either love her or hate her. Im not a huge fan of this sort of pop, heavily over produced and a bit repetitive. First time listening through entirely. 2.0

Det här är musik meningslöst. Fick lyssna mycket på High School Musical när ettan var liten. Skulle kunna vara ett soundtrack från Disney. Hitsen är okej men det är trist i övrigt. Har hört att Swift var en riktig bajskorv i skolan. Rik och dryg men hon kompenserar iallfall det med att ta politisk ställning idag och vi kan ju hoppas att hon uppmanar sina fans att rösta i vinter.

Flera låtar är tyvärr helt eller delvis generisk radiomusik/listpop, som jag verkligen är allergisk emot (exempel är Blank space och I wish you would). Det är synd eftersom Taylor uppenbarligen har talang och sjunger bra. Ska dock sägas att det finns ett par låtar som har lite mer karaktär och därmed sticker ut åt det positiva hållet. Tycker t ex Wildest dreams och Clean är okej. Även Shake it off och Bad blood är hyfsade. Att hon hyllas som en stor textförfattare är helt obegripligt, åtminstone om denna skiva är representativ. Det är till stora delar uttjatade kärleks- och relationstexter som ChatGPT skulle kunna ha skrivit. Sammanfattningsvis är det egentligen inga stora fel på hantverket i sig, men det är musik som verkligen inte väcker någonting hos mig. Förstår dock att den kan uppskattas av osofistikerade människor (läs barn), alternativt vuxna utan själ. Stark tvåa.

Some of the songs are very nostalgic for me but after listening to this album I've come to the conclusion that it isn't for me. There are other pop singers/pop albums in modern day that I love and this just isn't that one. Still has some good bobs here and there though.

Better than I thought it would be.

Welcome to New York 3 Blank Space 2.3 Style 3.1 Out of the Woods 2.4 All You Had to Do Was Stay 2.3 Shake It Off 3.2 I Wish You Would 2.3 Bad Blood 2.8 Wildest Dreams 2 How You Get the Girl 1.9 This Love 2.4 I Know Places 2 Clean 2.1 Score: 2.446153846

I don't like this at all. But it is a teeny-weeny star better than Adele. Like half a star better. Or a very distant star ... that has probably fizzed away by now. "He's so tall. And handsome as hell." Poetry this is not.

'Darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a Daydream'. A great songwriter? Really? I love swifts, and swallows too, but not Taylor Swift.

Bland.

Although I understand the appeal of this album to her plethora of fans, this album wasn’t made for me and that’s ok. Proud of myself for making it to the end of this lol

This album was OK, it's filled with pop jams and I see why people like it. It's not really my style. I don't really relate to any of the lyrics and I don't think they're particularly profound or interesting. I wouldn't put this on again. 4/10

Sometimes a great album can sound generic and unoriginal because of how much music since has been influenced by it. This sounded generic and unoriginal in 2014.

Taylor Swift is my L’il Sebastian. Blank Space, Shake it Off, I Wish You Would and Bad Blood are all good enough songs. I don’t mind a wingy album or a relationship/love album but when you mix them both together I get tired and just start thinking, “Hey, you’re the common denominator here, maybe explore that?” And the album never does. On a funny note, in Clean Taylor sings about a “Wine-stained dress”. I heard “Winestein-ed dress” which would have made for an interesting song.

Her shift to pop from country fully complete, this album didn't age well and compared with other contemporaries feels a bit weak and propped up by her cult of personality more than artistic merit.

I pointed out the dearth of female artists on this list so far, averaging only about 1/25. Then, as if in response, the list gave me a female artist this week! But because God has a sense of humor, it was Taylor Swift. Be careful what you wish for. I guess I'll just go ahead and get this out of my system now, for this, the first Taylor Swift album I'm encountering on this list. Because apparently there will be others. The thing about Taylor Swift as a cultural phenomenon is that she is absolutely inescapable, and her ubiquity only grew even stronger these last two years (2023-2024). Everything I know about her I know against my will. Her marketing team must be just about the best on earth, to be able to forge a legion of such parasocial followers on the back of such basic pop music. Some people lose their damn minds over Taylor Swift. I detect a social pressure to like her music, like I'm always being nudged toward it somehow. I never felt like anyone was wrong for liking her, but I somehow feel “wrong” for not being a fan. My sister, who is younger and more firmly in the millennial cohort, has a harder time. We've talked a few times about this, and we joke about it, but it's hard for her to forge female friendships without Taylor Swift being brought up at some point in the early stages, by the other gal, as a potential bonding point. And woe betide any young woman or girl, like my sister, who is less than enthusiastic about Taylor Swift. She may be viewed suspiciously or even hostilely by her peers. She may be seen as a “Pick Me,” her dedication to feminism may be called into question, she may be seen as suffering from internalized misogyny! All because she is less than enamored of some middle-of-the-road pop music seemingly designed in a Nashville lab to be as appealing as possible to as many people as possible. So Taylor Swift the cultural phenomenon sort of exhausts me, and her fans baffle me with their extreme passion over something so (imo) bland. This was the baggage I carried into this review. But since I had never sat down and listened to one of her albums, I was actually quite eager to see what it would be like. I've heard a lot of her singles, just by being out and about in the world, and they always seemed to just exist in the background, not something I could muster up love or hate for. But I feel like I genuinely came into this album listen with an open and curious mind. However, it was soon clear that I was vindicated in my initial feelings about her music. And as I continued throughout the album, my disappointment and exasperation grew. I was so hoping to be surprised and delighted by something, but it was pretty much all in the vein of the things I had already heard. Insipid. Flat. Monotone. Childish. Tweaked to perfection but lacking a soul. Undeserving of the hype. Oh, well. I love a great pop song, but there are other pop artists who can do what she is trying to do much better. The fact that there are multiple Taylor Swift albums on this list and not one Whitney Houston album, for example, is a travesty. I'm beginning to understand why Kanye, who can't always control his impulses, intercepted her award.

Well we knew it was coming. Its 2024 and I have never listened to a single solitary Taylor Swift song all the way through. I'd heard snippets here and there but just never really got what all the hype was about and never really was drawn in by anything I'd heard. Now I understand why. Taylor has a decent voice. I didn't hear prominent use of auto tune on her voice in this album so that's a plus for me. The problem is, the album is dry. Other words to describe this album.... monochromatic, repetitive, unimaginative, formulaic, manufactured. It's sounds like mainly processed predictable melodies. No dynamics. Really not trying to sound mean, but at about song number 4 or 5 I found myself wanting to turn it off. Towards the last few songs I was hoping it was near the end of the album. Think of the dynamic contrast between this and the the king of pop on the Bad album. I kept thinking that there were a host of other female artists that simply do the whole electro pop thing a lot better than what is presented in this album. Here's a list of these ladies/female fronted bands that I think present something superior and simply more interesting to Swift in this same listening space. Ladyhawke, Haim, The Start, Goldfrapp (particularly the Head First album), The Sounds, The Aces and JJamz (Z Berg was great with The Like). Taylor is apparently worth 1.3 billion and as of now I am not sure why. Maybe people are seeing something that I don't.

I can't say I liked this, but it's not really made for middle aged dads either. It's just so mediocre. It's catchy, but only on the surface. The instrumentation has no soul. The lyrics are laughably bad at several points. It's just incredibly sterile pop. Compare to someone like early and mid career Madonna and you see the lack of balls. I know it's got teen girls, but it really seems to be for pre teens. Before kids understand anger, fear, oppression, horniness, really any real feelings. The adults that are in to this are the real frightening ones. Anyways, I'll give a 2 because I reserve 1s for things that I find to be so bad I'm mad it exists. This isn't that.

Could have been any one of a number of modern female singers as far as I'm concerned. Yes it was palletable, but nothing special. Can't really see it being worth more than 2.

I swear I'm not a hater, I just don't care. "Blank Space" is an all-timer, though.

I go into all my reviews with an open mind. I'm not listening just for the sake of listening, I really want to expose myself to more music. She makes some good music - some. Not all, but some. Blank Space and Shake it Off are fine. Welcome to New York is not - bad blood was alright. Just not for me but im not her demo. It's fine

I guess I'm still not a Swifty

Not into it, really did try.

Простите, но я не женщина (я долбаеб) 4/10

I don't see what makes this album so highly regarded. I can definitely admit that it is well made, written and produced. But it just seems like the rest of the polished, mass produced pop music of the 2010s.

Don't believe the hype.

I tried to listen to this with an open mind. I do agree, given the change in artistic direction and cultural impact it had, that this album deserves to be on this list. That said, the 80s synth music is anodyne and the lyrics milquetoast. Anodyne because others have done it much, much better and milquetoast because the change in artistic direction didn't extend to the lyrics. It's the same "boyfriend who didn't measure up to my expectations" schtick that made Taylor a meme in the first place. I'd give this one star if it wasn't so impactful on the cultural zeitgeist for some reason.

Guilty pleasure for blank space, the rest is so boring

Hate the album art, pastiche music. Really boring

https://i.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExNjUyMDlhcjNldWV6NjNneDVkODJ2Nnc2Y3F2YzE1Y3d2czRxNXNjMyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/oiJ0Yf3sLucp2/giphy.gif There are some real earworms on this album, but as a whole it felt like a bunch of computer-generated filler. Really shallow lyrics, a race to get to the hook in every song, some really cringey 15-year-old ideas about romance. Honestly, this sounds like a more polished Rebecca Black. I have no idea how this album is held in such high regard--it feels like this was assembled in a corporate boardroom.

Clearly catchy tunes but just some vapid, low self esteem, and degrading lyrical content

Bonus star because it's my daughters favourite album

I listened to this album recently. I don't like Taylor Swift. But, for this, I tried to be impartial and tried to separate “art from artist” and try to listen to this. The album, really, started to kick off from the second track and I like its Pop sound and the beats were good! Her singing sounded good too. I enjoyed it musically. But, I was left to yearn lyrically, it just contained the same buzz words, “ex love, red lips, dress, being free, being happy” etc. It felt like listening to the same song over and over again lyrically, but, musically, they were distinct and good. So, I enjoyed the beats and production of this album and also, Taylor's singing and voice. So it's a good 2/5. Had it been for more diversity in lyrics, I would rate it 3/5.

I just couldn't listen to it, just too over produced and poppy

an uninspired classic

Melody and themes aren’t personally inspiring.

No thanks

4 / 10 Pop petardo de la novia de EEUU. No entiendo cómo pueden aguantar un disco entero.

Over produced and repetitive

Please Swifties don’t hurt me

The lyrics are just so annoying. Production is decent

The state of Pop in 2014. And pretty much today still. Well-produced, some catchy tunes, some forgettable ones, some decent lyrics, some cringey ones. At the end of the day... A bit forgettable despite the hits.

Jeg kendte flere sange end jeg troede. Det viser måske hvor svært det er at undgå det kæmpe popfænomen Ms. Swift er blevet. Jeg kan godt lide Taylor vokal. Så da musikken på dette album var trælst 80er synthet, hoppede jeg direkte til hendes Folklore album efter 1. gennemlytning af 1989.

This album has a lot of nostalgic value because almost all the tracks were hits when I was a child. I was never super into Taylor Swift then and I most definitely am not now. I liked Shake it Off and Style though but I can quickly become sick of it because of how overplayed they are. Won’t listen again at will.

This album isn't for me because it isn't for me. I am not a rich white woman that bounces through relationships. Her trials are real, but I can't relate and the saccharine music doesn't help me relate.

Jag försöker lyssna med öppet sinne men det är inte särskilt bra. Hört många låtar då radiokanaler inte har någon variation. Tycker synd om ungdomar som inte får ha en egen smak utan blir påtvingade detta genom olika medier och då inte förstår hur mycket annan bra musik som finns.

I feel like I came into this with the honest intent to give it a fair shake, knowing I am not the target demographic. I did not enjoy it, but I understand why it has an audience. It is sort of the daytime tv or soap opera of music, simplistic writing and production, incredibly approachable, it lacks any real depth but that isn’t really what the audience is looking for. It is relatable, non-confrontational, and for much of her audience, nostalgic for their youth. The themes of troubled relationships or wanting for a better romantic situation than you have are universal, and obviously her personal life is incredibly public so fans who are engaged can follow her relationships just as they would the characters of a show. I don’t think her voice is anything special or unique, but it is good. The tracks, particularly the singles, are repetitive and anybody could sing along after a listen or two. For some people, that is the experience they want from their music listening, and though I want different things, I cannot fault them. I’m not going to sit here on a pedestal and pretend all my favorites are super unique or deep either, one of my top artists last year was Fall Out Boy, so, you know, glass houses and all that. With that said, my personal experience of the album was that it is rather shallow and unexciting. My closest points of comparison are Carly Rae Jepsen’s Emotion and Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS, two albums I quite enjoy, and recognize as likely being influenced by Swift’s work (particularly GUTS). Emotion has the same synthy 80’s vibe of this album, but it is pulled off much better with more complex arrangements that make the instrumentals a treat on their own. Something about the percussion on 1989 sounds like everything was straight out of an audio sample pack on a drum machine, where EMOTION adds some sweeping sax and more filtered vocals to match the period it is emulating. Rodrigo’s GUTS borrows more from punk influences and has an edge that I understand Swift does get closer to in later records, but this album is so rounded at the edges that it doesn’t hit the same. Perhaps I will feel differently about her as an artist if I get to a more mature album of hers, as this one could not get out of a saccharine place even in the most derisive or “angry” tracks like Bad Blood. GUTS covers all the same themes, but it is more raw and honest, and frankly, the explicit language is a part of that to me. Basically, as one of my only points of reference for her work, 1989 is not a particularly compelling reason for me to delve further into Swift’s catalogue, as everything this album does for those that love it has been done better for me elsewhere.

Pop Bible. Quintessential Taylor and a time capsule.

After nothing but 1960s - 1980's classic rock albums for weeks upon weeks with this list, this album came out of nowhere with such a jarring change of style, comparatively. Baffling how *this* album is considered a "must-listen" among the company of 90% nostalgic boomer rock; it's beyond me. Regardless, if you have been within a 50 mile radius of a radio or a speaker playing music during the last 10 years, chances are you know 50% of these songs already. While those biggest hits aren't anything I care much for, some of the lesser-played songs were a touch more interesting that I possibly might return for. This was the equivalent of being bored to tears with hearing mundane, tepid nostalgic stories from an older relative for hours, only for a rock to come crashing through the window. Nothing even remarkable, but it was just something so confusingly out of place that broke up the monotony ever so slightly.

Not my style of music but I can appreciate the enormity of the Swift phenomenon.

i can see why people like it, but some of it is really goofy 🤷‍♂️

I get why this was and is so popular, catchy and simple...like so many. I tried, I really did. But bored quickly. A head bob is not really feelin it.

This is what I imagine Christian rock sounds like to devout Catholics, but instead for basic girls

Guess it’s a fine pop album, but it feels pretty vapid. Not sure why I needed to hear this before I die.

Style is an excellent song, Blank Space is cool, Shake It Off is alright. Everything else is filler.

I applaud her for her huge commercial successes. However, having auto-tuned voices, drum machines and 2 verses and a chorus where you repeat the same 2-3 words over and over and over again, does not make for a great album.

Good album, but not to my taste.

Welcome to New York... OK thanks, but no thanks. Blank Space is a catchy hit but when I actually read the lyrics it sounds like Taylor Swift is the biggest player and isn't afraid to dump your ass. Style is so obviously about Harry Styles that I knew that and didn't even know she and Harry dated but, girl, it reads like a 16 year old's break up poem (no wonder the tweens are infatuated with her - she speaks to them like she is still one of them). Out of the Woods - another breakup song. "You were lookin at mayyyyyyyyy." All You Had To Do Was Stay - oh good another breakup song. I'm starting to think I would need to be a teenager going through a breakup to like this album. Stay! Stay! Stay! Stay! Ok now that you're broken up with... Just shake it off. This song, Blank Space, and Bad Blood are the hits off this album for good reason. They're catchy AF. Nothing too unique really. Actually they're very standard pop songs. Soooo formulaic. Instant moneymakers. I Wish You Would - oh good... another breakup song! Bad Blood - fuck now I'm a Swifty. Band-aids DON'T fix bullet holes! I was hoping there would be more breakup songs on this album. Poor Taylor must have gone through some shit. It makes me sad she is two years younger than me and about 1.1 billion dollars richer than me all because she got broken up with a lot - worth it I suspect. Wildest Dreams - breakup song but fuck it's good. It's giving Lana Del Rey. How You Get The Girl - you don't want this one... it only ends in heartbreak apparently with this one. Am I ever going to listen to this entire album again? Absolutely not. Am I ever going to hear the major hits and kind of like them... Yes. I can't give this one star because of that so two it is.

This music is like recent Disney Pixar movies. It checks all the boxes that are needed to make a huge profit but lacks any kind if soul or meaning. These songs are shallow pop anthems to be chanted by braindead followers of the Swift Cult. They lack any kind of substance and while they all sound vaguely different, they follow the same basic outline making them repetitive within their own lifespan. I will never understand this music but I understand why it’s popular. 3/10

taylor is never bad, just boring

Bleh. I can see why she goes on tour and makes $1,000,000,000 but this bored me. Some of the songs were catchy I guess, but it’s mostly pop drivel.

Production on this is just horrible, way too much use of cheesy vocal effects, poorly used synthesizers and generic pop lyrics. If the goal was to make a bad remake of a bad 80's synth-pop that I guess it's a success.

Bubble gum for teenage girls.

I found this to be more annoying than anything. However, a few songs weren't terrible.

I've tried really hard to *get* Taylor Swift. I don't get the draw. She's clearly talented and her music seems to come from a personal space, rather than just being some shit written by someone else. I don't begrudge her her success... I just don't like pop music.

I know she’s a big star/sensation - but the album seemed corny AF to me - only made it in 5 songs

most of the songs were catchy with flashy production but just felt really shallow and sauceless and then the last three songs were actually quite nice and made me wonder why the entire album wasn't like that

2.5 a bunch of non-offensive pop songs that are plagued by over production

I only liked four tracks on this project. How did this album win over To Pimp A Butterfly.

I really wanted to listen to understand the hype but I just couldn't stop skipping.. will try again another time.

I don't know what I was expecting. But I was kinda excited, like "finally, maybe my eyes will be open to wonderful pop music I have acidentally missed; that's a chance to become less of a snob". but no, it did not work. the music is awful, as bland as possible, literally unbearable to listen to. I would love to love Taylor Swift, but this time I could not

amerikanisches Mädchen mit Vocoder

Hater det ikke, men er ikke for meg. Veldig generisk

I expected this to be pretty mid and I was still disappointed.

Catchy enough and I can see why it’s so popular but pretty sure 51 year old men aren’t the target audience here

i dont have much to say maybe other than it cant be a one star because it takes so little risk and is just fine and i dont think it will be anything more or less for me the only songs that i was interested by were wonderland and shake it off but that is about it

I mean, respect. Just not something I'd choose to listen to.

Good songwriting. Lacking originality in the pop genre and album feels dated to 2014 with synths and overall sound. Some hooks quite good other uninspiring and repetitive.

i liked "evermore" more and i only kinda liked that one, sorry swifties, this was very generic stadium pop to me but I am also old. i loved janet jackson and liked madonna 30 years ago

Incredibly heavy stuff

I respect her for stuff she’s done, but this music isn’t for me. I went in with an open mind but these lyrics seem childish at best. Also, I thought she was a country music singer at one point?

There’s worse pop

Wenn Du nicht singen kannst wie Amy, oder nicht den Sex-appeal von Madonna und auch nicht tanzen kannst wie Shakira dann brauchst Du einen Mega-Apparat der Dich als Marke und Ikone erscheinen lässt. Das macht Deine Musik weder besser noch abwechslungsreicher. 1989 ist eintöniges blechernes Gesinge zu stetig wiederholenden Drums. Auch der Hit „Shake it off“ Schaft es nicht ansatzweise in mein Playlisten.. Einziger Hoffnungsschimmer ist „This Love“ was ein vielleicht brauchbare Stimme der Interpretin erahnen lässt.

Objectively good. Some songs I really enjoy the lyrics. Overall too long and annoyingly pop.

i think ive tried this album like 6 times based on recommendations but every single time im hit with the fact that she makes overwhelmingly millennial music and im just gonna have to accept that it almost always is not for me

Cohesive sound! Not a sound that I find interesting or innovative or even frankly enjoyable, but it sure was cohesive! What can I say. I fully went into this wanting to dislike it and I did dislike it. Boring production mixed with constant talk-singing that delivered lyrics so simple and unimaginitive that it had me double checking how old she was when she made this one (25!!!! 25 years old!) Generally fine, had me asking "who cares": All You Had to Do Was Stay, I Wish You Would, Wildest Dreams, How You Get the Girl, This Love, I Know Places, Clean Pissed Me Off: Welcome to New York, Shake It Off (her Meghan Trainor slay?), BAD BLOOD (the fucking stomp clap, give me a breeeaakkk. Just the most infantile rhymes and lyrics in this one with her grating talk-singing... it doesn't earn the final chorus but really seems to think it deserves it! "Did. You. Have to do this. I was thinking you could be trusted." KILL MEEEEE) Solid pop singles for the radio: Blank Space (decent chorus! cheesy generally.) and Style (boring but definitely my favorite song on here). I'm giving it two stars because I am trying to be nice.

Swift has talent. This is true. but the contents/genre just isn't for me. I'm the wrong gender and way too old.

That’s right, same as Yes!

Fuck that, j'écoute pas un album de Taylor swift à ma fête

Good music, if I can ignore Taylor’s voice. I listened to her version instead, and it is a little lazy in production. All drums are drawn in.

Who even writes these, a teenage girl or a commitee for teenage girl music?

Is this a fucking joke?

Listen, im not a T Swift hater alright. And i fully recognize that this is an album meant to encapsulate pop and produce hits and that it did. But to me, it succeeded so well that its to its detriment. These are very surface level pop songs that i have heard so much since they came out that i would be perfectly fine never hearing them again, and would prefer it for a few of them (bad blood and shake it off). Also, people say this is supposed to be an homage to the 80s sound but i honestly barely hear it, i think it has too many of the trappings of mid 2010s pop songs that will age these songs worse than they would otherwise. Its not objectively bad by any means, theres a few more underplayed songs i enjoy, but for me personally im never gonna want to put this on.

Gawd; first Beyonce then Taylor Swift? Really? As much as I think it is important to be a bit eclectic, I wish I would get more of stuff I will actually listen too... Of course I am open to new things... So far (4 songs in) as repetitious as expected. I can see the draw to voice and lyrics for pop, I probably listened to some of this kind of stuff, and some some of the rock I listen to goes in this direction, but it is quite droll and repetitious. I listened to 10 songs and no reprieve from the boredom Better than Beyonce is all I can say.

I’ll try to keep my disdain for generic pop music aside but the majority of the album is very derivative both lyrically and musically. It seems to show the push and pull of a relationship and often comes with a very basic song structure. It is danceable and singable so I can see why some would like it, just not my thing. The best and only quasi unique pop song would be shake it off. That’s the only song from the first two thirds that stood out to me. The best two songs for me were the last two a slower guitar song (I know places) and a more retrospective down tempo slow burn (Clean).

Thanks for making me listen to this. She's beautiful, for sure, but I don't know ... I don't understand her popularity. 21 songs was a bit much for me.

The kind of songs that make you wish you didn't know english. Her voice is amazing to listen to, and the music is interesting enough for pop music, but the lyrics are just not my thing at all. Favorite melody: Wildest Dreams.

You know this is the second Taylor Swift album I have listened to on this list, and I am just having a tough time with it. It just seems so incidental to me. Clearly it's well produced, written and performed, and is catchy, but it just feels empty and like pop churn. Officially do not get the whole phenomena.

What is music? I heard it once described as audio decoration; as we decorate a wall with paintings and pictures and colours so we decorate the space around us with music. Music is also a very human endeavour. Mankind has made music and chanted since time immemorial. Poetic sagas and myths were passed along in rhytmic meter; where we now make a distinction between powerty and music it seems the ancients weren't quite so discriminatory. Indeed we remember things better to a beat and a rhythm; it remains a power mnemonic. I wonder often how the commodoiffication and industrialization of music has changed it. How long were ancient songs?

not a fan of the over-produced stock instruments. Songs about surface-level love leaves me wanting more.

Maybe all of the hits have been too overplayed to be fully appreciated but this album was a bore. Wildest Dreams still slaps but didn't find anything new here.

This album turning up is quite opportune as I’ve been making effort recently to listen objectively to Taylor Swift. I’ve previously dismissed her and her music as run of the mill manufactured pop for the teen masses. But her recent stance of music streaming and her remixing her earlier albums (including this one) presumably because she wanted to improve them made me take note of her. Listening to this album I realised that just about each track was a hit in the past but I had dismissed at the time. As i could remember each of these tracks from way back then, they must have lodged in my brain somewhere. Partly due that every track has a memorable pop riff and hook. This skill I applaud even though the actual substance of the music is still not to my taste. However, my Taylor Swift discovery has taken me to her most recent albums Folklore and Evermore, which I have found myself liking and occasionally going back to.

There are times which are ever increasing as I get older where I tell myself on the first listen "I have heard this song a 1,000 times already". Looking deeper into this album I find Max Martin which tells me why I know this album without having to listen to it. The guy has wrote or co-written 25 number singles since 1998, won ASCAP pop songwriter of the year 11 times and yet I do not find his songs enjoyable. Taylor Swift is a wonderful artist and I wish she wouldn't have worked with this producer for this album.

Ughhh I’m so over TSwift.

Helvítið hann Max Martin. Þetta er drep. Fær auka stjörnu því Taylor er fær söngkona, en þessi tónlist er bara gjörsamlega úrkynjað auglýsingapopp.

Generic. Sterile.

With some albums on here I assume I’ll hate them and I end up pleasantly surprised. With this one I secretly thought I might like it but actually it’s was mostly bland, over produced, 4 chord pop. Shake it off is a great pop song but it doesn’t really sound like the rest of the album. I like Taylor’s voice but it was quite an uninspiring album.

tämä ei ollut hyvää aikaa populäärimusiikin kannalta. silti tulee minimaaalinen määrä nostalgiaa, nuorimies olin tällöin.. ja pakostikkin muutama laulunlurakko tuli kuunneltua. ei ole huono mutta tuskin menee radionauhuriin toistumiseen.taylor 2 sweep..heh..jokainen biisi yli 100 miljoonaa kuuntelukertaa...ekoes 20 milj..länsimaailma hävitty.. And everything is green and submarine... out of the woods

I am fine with Swift being a huge star. But her music is the cultural equivalent of a pop tart. Sugar on top of card board. There is no meat in these songs. It's all a sugar rush. I didn't get much out of this.

Not my cup of tea. 2 songs were ok. I won't listen to it again.

Two stars. Everything is the same, pop sugar fix for kids

Taylor Swift is not for me. I’m too old, too cynical, too lots of things. That’s fine Taylor makes banging tunes for millions of other people. A sad, middle aged, balding bloke from the North West of England feeling bewildered by the appeal of fairly bland, quite clinical, sonic wallpaper is not going to make any difference to anyone. ‘Shake it off’ is pop perfection, mind.

Couldnt make it through it

some solid pop songs of my generation. still think its average pop overall.

I heard the album before, but I didn't remember much of it. Some of the safest, least offensive music ever. That's probably why she's so successful. Three of the songs were big hits in my country. Two of them are still played a lot everywhere after 10 years. Her voice is unremarkable, so are most of the songs. I don't hate it, it's just not very exciting to me. Shake It Off is by far my favorite song off the album.

I listened to Taylor's Version of this album; I'm not sure what the differences are between it and the initial release. This is the first TS album I've listened to and it was okay. Most of the songs are blandly anthemic; they're like aural versions of Hollywood biopics that have been focus grouped and cobbled together to within an inch of death. Shake It Off and Wildest Dreams were probably my faves, but I won't listen to this album again.

To stjerner

All pretty boring. Clean was a good song. Big meh/10

Being a guy growing up during the rise of Taylor Swift, it was very much uncool to like her music. That on top of the fact that I'm not big into country and pop has led me to pretty much ignore her music all together. I acknowledge my biases going in to this listen and I'm going to try my best to put them aside... Damn this bitch has some catchy songs. Despite it not being a song I ever sought out, Blank Space was stuck in my head for hours while at work today. But some of her other hits like Bad Blood and Shake it off make my brain bleed. Overall I struggled just to finish this album today. The first two songs and the last two songs were enjoyable but the rest was a slog.

Not my thing

I just don't get it. I will say like Thriller, this album is packed with a bunch of singles I immediately knew. So from that perspective I can see why this would crack a top 1001 list. However, the music itself does absolutely nothing for me but make me feel like I'm in a GAP clothing store.

Where radioy, can be fun to listen to but I don't really like the style. Also not a lot of variation between the songs

Hits, but thats about it. Really empty

Completely generic modern pop. Mercifully, all the tracks were a ‘short’ 3-4 minutes. Helped it go by quicker.

Not for me. Sounds like a commercial on tv

This sounds exactly how I imagined Taylor Swift would sound. It's not my thing; production is the best money can by, and I like her voice, but I wouldn't choose to listen to this again.

Minne meg om russerevyen

I ain't no swifty

Welcome to New York is the Sbarros of songs about New York. Blank Space is like she's trying to channel Rebecca Black doing a bad Lana Del Rey impression. Style could be a decent pop song if it was sung by someone else, leaned into the cooler riffs and didn't do that terrible stilted vocal delivery (which again, sounds like Rebecca Black). Out of The Woods has some cool stuff in the backing track but is weighed down by Taylor Swift's remarkably unremarkable vocals and by high school sadposting level lyrics. She was 25, she had no excuse on this. All You Had To Do Was Stay- the overdubbed high notes on 'stay' are actually pretty cool, the lyrics are someone in 2009 posting vague half sentences on Facebook for attention but its a grown woman in song in 2014. Shake It Off- okay, I can see how this was a hit. Lyrics are still really weak (and are all about her personal life) but her vocals aren't as glaringly bad or out of step with the backing track in this uptempo dance song. I Wish You Would- honestly, see above. Bad lyrics, boring vocals, nothing to hear here. Bad Blood- understandably a hit. Probably not a coincidence that the two best songs on this album were the product of Max Martin. The song is at its best when it's uptempo and it nearly loses it when it drops and starts talking about band-aids, but it pulls through. Wildest Dreams- somewhat enjoyed this one, but again, Taylor Swift's voice is a mismatch for the song. She's not quite twee enough to give it a haunting quality and she's not got enough depth or range to pull off what I think she is trying here (which is to rip off Lana Del Rey). It just ends up being at best an okay song because it doesn't really do any potential angle for an illicit love song well. How You Get The Girl- A) no one should take relationship advice from T-Swift, she makes this clear in all of her other songs B) this song could not end fast enough This Love, I Know Places, Clean- album filler, again, I Know Places could actually be good if sung by someone else because of the same uncomfortable middle with Wildest Dreams 2/5 gonna let Max Martin have a W here

Okay, Shake It Off is a great pop song — all the more so because of the video of the cop caught on camera singing it while making his rounds. But the rest of it just sounds like bad 80s pop to me. I know she was was going for that sound on purpose, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

This is the first review I've written where I could actually stand to get in some pretty serious professional trouble, if certain friends of mine find this review 😂 (I know some of the people involved. And let the record show that, track by track, the people I know who worked on this all did stellar work). This has got to be the biggest whiplash I've ever gotten for an album that I used to listen to in college. The difference between how much I liked it when I was 21 (which was, more or less, positive), and how much I like it 10 years later is... cavernous. I had MANY questions this time around. I found every song Max Martin was involved in to be silly. His production is annoyingly uninspired. I consider Max Martin to be a net negative on music as a whole. Other producers did a fine job, but Max and his crew dominates the record, and it's that ultra sleek, maximalist, very bland sound that I just can't stomach anymore. I think that certain pop artists, for whatever reason, in the press and the listening public, are afflicted with the soft bigotry of low expectations. We expect so little of them, from a music-y, album-y, concept-y side (they're busy doing other things, after all), that when they clear an exceptionally low bar we've been holding out for them, it's seen as groundbreaking. When this album came out in college, the press around it was very, very positive. Universal acclaim. We were all kind of swept up by this album, and the idea that Taylor Swift might be doing something exciting. The excitement lasts for precious few songs (Welcome to New York is great), before quickly being bloated by these maximalist records! Why did I think otherwise? I just never expected that much of Taylor Swift, and she cleared the bar. I don't feel this way about Folklore, Evermore, or anything after. I think those genuinely are getting into great music territory. This one was so lacking the actual artistic meat and bones that my memory (and the press around it) promised it would have. A fate suffered by plenty of Britney Spears albums... also a Max Martin creation! There is a pattern here. A generous 2/5. If you're reading this and you worked on this album (and you know me)... you know who you are, and I like your work on here. Actually good shit.

Excited to recognize a couple of songs on here (the shake one and bad blood), but otherwise i had a hard time actively listening. It just faded into background music. Perfectly charming bubble gum pop but just didn’t do anything for me.

Heard before: some Looking through the other reviews, it's all 5's or 1's. Hilarious for what is really a totally fine Swedish Pop record, further proof that personal identity weighs more heavily than the music in many cases. I'm just as guilty; I think my White Stripes rating yesterday was wrong. Anyway, despite the onslaught of hooks here, this one is as cold as advertised and isn't as deep or varied as her best records. It has two of my favorite TSwift songs, but points off for Welcome To New York, the soundtrack of gentrification, one of the 10 worst songs ever. Top tracks: Blank Space, Out Of The Woods, Style

I don’t dislike this as much as I would have back when I started the challenge, but I still didn’t like it that much A lot of the songs are objectively similar

One of the greatest mysteries. Besides if there is life on other planets is why this woman so successful. It must be a scientific explanation for this, i mean, other artists of the same caliber, offer much more. Her music is just a series of hilarious, boring and monotonous songwriting with mediocre production. I think my newborn baby boy likes it though, until he grows up. 2

Well produced pop with a couple of hyper catchy tracks which will get stuck in your head. Really not for me.

Ready Salted Music fr

Style is a good song I guess

She sells out stadiums? How? Why? Based on this album, I can't see why she's as big as she is.

It's 2016 and I am back at infant school age kids' birthday parties. The album with the two Swift songs I know. Shake it Off is a bop. Most of the rest just kind of blend together into the perfect polished production. I dunno, I just don't get adults listening to this regularly. I'll row that back slightly - unless they were kids or teenagers when it came out. I still go back to those Erasure records occasionally with joy and revel in their polished poppityness.

Style aside, there aren't any memorable tracks on this album apart from the ones I've heard endless times on their own (Shake it Off/Out of the Woods).

I recognize the significance of this album both in the realm of modern pop music and as a landmark of Taylor's career, and there are a few songs here I do like quite a bit (namely Style and Clean, Blank Space is good too when the mood is right), but those tracks aside this album is mostly boring or annoying. I can't STAND Shake It Off, the other singles are kinda weak, and the album tracks I've never heard of are...album tracks I've never heard of for a reason. I don't think I'll need to revisit this one. 2.5/5

2/13, 15%

I've never listened to full Taylor Swift albums, so if context is important on this one, I'm very sorry but that got lost on me. My main takeaway from this one is it's a well written pop album without much in terms of challenge. Taylor Swift has a nice inoffensive voice and musical sensibility. That being said, nothing about it makes me think it should be a mandatory album to listen to before I die; it's a radio friendly unit shifter. I'm gonna go with a 2 here. This is the Diet Coke of music; if it's the only thing available, you're not going to be angry, but you're not going to like it either.

I only knew the singles. I had to check how old she was when this was released aa some of the lyrics were a bit teenagey at times. Won't knowingly listen again

I hadn't knowingly listened to Taylor Swift's music until this album, 1989. I downloaded it along with Ryan Adam's interpretation of his track by track album covering 1989. It is clear I am not a Swifty and not her target audience, as she fills the void left from Britney, Christina and Selena for the financially precious white, middle class, preteen girl target group that seems to drive music business nowadays, but Taylor is above the others because she writes her own songs! Apparently, she has the cred as she entered the "prestigious" Songwriters Hall of Fame four years before this album, so she's clearly gifted and a true talent...for country music. On 1989, it's such a synth-pop mush, it hides any kind of "elite" songwriting and all I hear is a bunch of electronic, dance poppy robotic shit with so little substance it lowers it's standards to appeal to young girls and their gullible parents who are so proudly supportive of their daughter's musical tastes. Blonde, beautiful, rich..."she's such a great role model", let's throw more money her way when she's on tour. P.S. by comparison, the Ryan Adams album is the stripped down version of 1989, at times sounding like, Springsteen covering Taylor Swift. An alt-country, indie rock record that bares no similarities to the Swift record at all, which is a good thing as you would never know these songs are covers. Hey wait, it's not a bad album after all.

Not my favourite album by Taylor Swift. I definitely prefer the one recorded with Bon Iver, whose influence is very noticeable on "folklore". On the other hand we have "1989", an album made out of overplayed singles and just uninteresting and forgettable songs. If I would have to make an honest summary of the album, I would say - it's overproduced cotton candy, whatever that actually means, because I'm just throwing some words at the keyboard. 5 words, I did not like it. I will happily move on to the next album.

La production et le mixing sont excellents, mais ce sont pas mal les seules qualités de l'album. Les paroles sont TRÈS clichées et peu recherchées. Les instrumentations sont ultra génériques. C'est vraiment du fast food musical. 4/10

This is apparently where every Taylor Swift song I've ever heard came from. I was unaware some of these songs were by Taylor Swift.

A produção brilhante e os ganchos pegajosos garantiram um padrão comercial de sucesso, um marco do pop limitado, mas sempre eficiente.

I appreciate the huge success this album achieved, it's just a bit too modern pop for my tastes. Couple of tolerable tracks, but overall, meh.

Meh 4/10

I just don’t like pop that much and have never connected with Taylor. Given this is her poppiest and most mainstream album I just can’t get into it. It’s just not for me.

This was an album I couldn't wait for it to be over. It's like being slowly smothered by a pink cuddly cloud that's overly cheery and dreamy. Pros: + Taylor Swift surely can sing +The production quality is great + Some songs are catchy... Cons: -...but they overstay their welcome - The hooks are repetitive and get annoying after a while - It's like a teen drama film in music format and wouldn't surprise me if some of the songs have been used in such a film - The lyrics get tiresome after a while. In short this wasn't for me at all. I usually don't notice the lyrics that much but I made a concious effort and it was a mistake. It's like watching a teen drama. Not trying to be insulting but maybe if I was a teenage girl I would like it. I've never been one so I couldn't say.

Not my thing.

Pop hell. Catchy. Not my thing.

I definitely love a good pop album, but for me, this isn't it.

Score: 30 We've made it to the complete antithesis of artistry; making music with the sole purpose of making hits and winning grammys. Produced to the max, designed to be as catchy as possible. So is it any good? No not really. Some songs are good like blank space and style. Every other song is middle of the road or insufferable. Welcome to new york, shake it off and bad blood fit into this category. The production on shake it off deserves its own little paragraph because it is atrocious. I've heard better horn sound effects on children's toys at target. If the drums are played by a real human being i would be shocked. The clacking drumstick sound is so mind numbing and it's persists throughout the entire track and once you notice it it's game over. The bridge is cringe. Bad blood is just a bad song period, everyone knows that. Taylor never sounds like she's trying at all with her vocal performance besides maybe a few moments in wildest dreams and clean. Her voice never sounds bad but it fuels the soulless feel to this album. Nothing about it feels organic. The lyrics are vapid and I don't believe they are sincere, even as generic as they are. I wanted it to end multiple times

Completely junk food pop. I honestly don't get why some folks are like "Taylor Swift is really a different breed", there is so much more pop music I'd rather listen to. I find everything about it vapid, surface level, and completely polished that nothing interesting remains. Nothing here is what I listen to music for. That said, I get why people would like it. It ticks a lot of the boxes for what a lot of people like to listen to. But my god, it's a 1 in enjoyment but I can't in good conscious rate it that low, but this is my damnest 2 thus far.

I think my issue with Taylor Swift is she feels very distant from the rest of the music itself. It feels like a lot of care went into the production of this music but it lacks real emotion from the delivery.

I can imagine that, when for example played in the supermarket, some of these songs will put a smile on my face. As an album I think it's just overproduced shit without any emotion.

Erittäin tasaista massaa huonolla tavalla. Sanoituispainotteista (musiikissa ei ole mitään sisältöä, kunhan on taustaa), ja iso osa sanoituksista ei ole kiinnostavia, osa on jopa kömpelöitä. Hitit nousee kiinnostavimmiksi. Keskiarvo: meh.

Häivyttää rajaa keskitempoisen popfillerin ja keskitempoisen pophitin välillä. Shake It Off erottuu radikaalisti parhaana biisinä.

El éxito de Taylor no es casualidad, tiene unas letras y un carisma únicos, sin embargo, 1989 se siente como un desperdicio del formato álbum, 13 canciones que todas intentan ser hits de radio y muy pocas exhiben la calidad necesaria para no ser instantáneamente olvidadas por el oyente. 4/10

Honestamente no le veo el charm a las canciones de este disco, a excepción de Shake It Off que me pareció muy divertida, y Wildest Dreams que fue la única con la que pude conectar un poco.

Como bien relata ironicamente el licenciado Molfino, no me siento parte de la audiencia a la que se dirije este album. Si bien, el tono serio y sentimental de la cancion seguramente conecte intimamente con aquellas personas que sí, al no tener esa conección las canciones fallan y cansan. En relación a la musica, hay buenos temas aquí. Entre ellos Style, Wildest Dreams y Shake it Off son temas que salvan al album de un 1 por su mero entretenimiento y solidez musical. Que dice Nahue??

bad blood es un temazo pero cuando escucho este disco me siento una chica blanca y rubia tomando iced pumpkin spiced latte de starbucks mientras uso unas uggs y jeans lavados

Can't say I didn't try.

First Taylor Swift album I've listened to. Probably the last too. Just good shit pop really.

I was toe tapping. This is so embarrassing. I hope the Spotify algorithm was sleeping when I listened to this.

Good for what it is. Do not listen to for more than 30 minutes at a time

Not a Swiftie, but have enjoyed some of her songs, mainly through the osmosis of hearing them randomly. That being said... does this need to be here? It's a fine pop album, but I don't think it does anything super new or mind-blowing. Some of the songs I find somewhat irritating: if I can go without hearing "Shake It Off" again, with it's weird farting-tuba """"sick"""" beat and white-girl rapping. But other ones are pretty decent. I could weirdly pick out a track that I was pretty sure Jack Antinoff was on ("Out Of The Woods"). That being said, it's fine, nothing offensive, but an album I need to hear before I die? Nah, probably not. Favorite tracks: "Style", "Out Of The Woods"

Although overall I believe Taylor Swift is a talented writer, performer, etc., I found this album to be mostly unremarkable. Just a matter of personal preference; not to my liking, that's all. Not bad, just kind of 'meh'.

I really dislike the mainstream pop production. It irks me a lot. This early 2010s sound is something I yearn to escape from. Every once in a while, somebody will bring it back and I don't like it. I really hate the drum machine in this as well. This is all to say that I knew a lot of the words to this album before listening to it in its entirety, so that must count for something. Something that has continuously been proven by Taylor and her blockbuster career is that she does have a great voice. I just have never really cared for her music, especially her mainstream corporate work from early in her career. Highlight: 3.

Mir stellen sich hier aber bei so glattgebügeltem Sound die Nackenhaare auf. Was Synth-Pop angeht gibt es mit Churches außerdem eine bessere und authentischere Band. 1-2. Ich bin gnädig und gebe noch die 2.

Dull and predictable. Too many songs start off slow and moody but go right back to the same radio-ready anthem beat. Production was childish - everyone's drums in 1989 sounded less fake. Despite the supposed influence of synth-pop, the album just goes through the motions, lacking the heart of that genre. Gonna go put on some Soft Cell, Yazoo, and Erasure to get this noise out of my ears.

Okay album, not a fan of hers...

0/100 Not mine

I’m not much of a fan, but it’s not as bad as some people say it is, honestly. I can absolutely understand why people like it, but it’s not my type of music.

God this project is more than 2 years old now. I was shocked seeing my reviews and my thoughts on those albums, I was such a music nerd back then haha. Let's just get straight to review the album, its.... pretty mediocre, sorry swifties. I'm actually quite surprised a lot of Taylor's hits are on this album Blank Space, Bad Blood, and yeah even Shake It Off. I mean they are alright I don't mind them, but the lows on this album are soullessly radio friendly average slop, like the last 7 tracks on this album are forgettable, that's almost half of the album. It would've been better if the album had 12 or 11 songs, yeah sue me I like short albums.

It’s fine, just not really my ~vibe~. I like shake it off and out of the woods tho 👍

I don't get the obsession with her. I'm not just saying that to be musically snobby or contrarian... I just don't get it. She seems like such an annoying "pick me" kind of person in real life. I guess I can give her credit for actually putting the work into writing her own songs. That's fine. I just don't like the bratty entitled shit she comes out with. Ooo you're gunna write a diss track about Katy Perry because she stole your boyfriend that's actually a gross creepbag? You should be grateful she took that bullet for you, you fucking moron. And let's be honest, you would have dated him for like 6 minutes anyway and then moved on to the next poor schlub for songwriting fodder. The complete inability to relate to or care about an artist and their life makes it quite difficult to enjoy their music. Not for me.

Objectively catchy pop, just not my thiiing

Thought I’d hate it, but there are some pretty good pop tunes, along with a lot of not so great stuff.

OK, fine, I bobbed my head to a few of these catchy pop hits... doesn't mean I felt right doing so! It's Taylor's world, she's just letting us sit in it.

De versie van Ryan Adams had van mij moeiteloos 5 sterren gekregen. Gelukkig had Taylor later ook door dat het anders kan. Helaas hield ik het bij Shake it Off voor gezien en heb ik snel die andere aangezet

She is not bad but it's not Rock.

Pop mainstream fet per un dels líders del génere en el nou mil.leni, fa temps ja abandonades les seves arrels més country... però un disc molt sobrevalorat. El treball ve envoltat per un aura des que va sortir que no es mereix en absolut. L'homenatge que li va fer poc després Ryan Adams supera en molt l'original

Nothing special really

Probably Taylor Swift's best album. Which amounts to a 2/5 grade on this app. Pop music has seen far more interesting and talented female singers in the past (Dusty Springfield, ABBA, Madonna...). It also has more interesting and talented pop singers in the present moment (Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa...). And it will also have others in the future... Number of albums left to review or just listen to:  more than 800 , I've temporarily lost count here Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens:  approximately a half so far  Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: a quarter Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): the last quarter (including this one--I mean... seriously, guys...)

I was not looking forward to listening to this. I like the style of "Style". The rest of it seems to be middle of the road pop tosh. Completely forgettable, moderately inoffensive pink noise. The sort of thing you'd expect to hear at a school disco.

Bof. Evermore était meilleur. Ici, on est dans la pop assumé. Tout est en I-V-VI-IV, une mesure chaque. Les beat sonne cheap par bouts. J’ai bien aimé le sample (j’imagine) de drum de Fine Young Cannibals dans I wish you would. C’est fait pour pogner à la radio et ça a fonctionné, mais c’est aussi pourquoi je n’écoute pas beaucoup la radio.

Hmm not really for me. It was better than I thought it was gonna be, but it’s still too pop

Nah.

Je. E suis pas capable de ce genre. Je donnerai un 1 mais etant donne que j’avais deja entendu la moitie des chansons je dnne un 2…

Better than I had expected. There were a couple of tracks I liked and a few I didn't. Blank Space and Style were good, and you can't help but dance to Shake it Off.

Solid Taylor Swift album. Her vocals are great as usual but I found the lyrics and melodies repeated way too much and became annoying to listen to. It felt like most of the songs could be a minute shorter without losing any of their substance.

Not very interesting, unlike evermore which was more enjoyable

This is popular. Not with me.

Decent pop, not very exiting this album

Dit album voelt me te weinig spontaan aan. Elke noot, elk instrument lijkt tot op de milliseconde getimed om het 'zo goed mogelijk' te doen klinken en de massa aan te spreken. Het zijn catchy nummers, maar wanneer 'pop' te 'pop' wordt haak ik wel af.

En ymmärrä hypeä, vaikkakin arvostan itsenäistä artistia

impressively generic top 40 breakup teenage pop. the sort of music the mafia would play while they "take care" of you

First time I’ve willingly listened to T Swift. The songs are actually ok, but feels too overplayed for me to properly enjoy. 3/10

This is a very generic pop album. I remember hating shake it off when it came out but I never listened to it all until now. Welcome to NY was trash. Some songs are ok like Blank Space and Style but overall I didn’t find much impressive about this album. My friend who is a huge Taylor swift fan said she thinks this is her worst album

Forgettable, except I gotta say I love "Shake It Off."

Not for me

Best Taytay record Fav tracks: - I Wish You Would - Wildest Dreams - Out Of The Woods Least fav: - Bad Blood

“Deeply weird, feverishly emotional, wildly enthusiastic.”

A soft, twirly album with a couple of catchy beats and songs, but too bubble gum for me

It's okay but not her best work.

Vissa va basic men bra som typ weezer, flesta va int

Quintessentially average pop with just a hint of musicality to let you know that someone working on this had greater ambitions

Not really my thing. And its not that i dont like pop music there's just a bunch of other pop artists i prefer. Nothing really memorable here, Shake it Off is the most ear wormy song and its ok.

good for running.

Standard pop fare. Shake It Off is catchy, otherwise meh.

Sounds much the same as modern pop, though less bombastic and generally lower-key. A lot of the lyrics I think reinforce bad relationship habits and hearing Swift sing as if she can't just have anyone she wants at a moment's notice beggars belief. Not my cup of tea but it was easy enough listening.

Really not my taste. Extra star because it is well executed

3/10

Some undeniable hits on this one but just not my kinda thing

I've hard like 60% of this album in grocery stores, malls, or when I'm with someone that only listens to Top 40. It's good enough, the people that wrote, produced, and put together all of the songs for her to sing did a good enough job on a technical level. But at the end of the day it's Focus Group music. Not for me, it's cold, emotionless, appeal to the masses music, there's no art here; only marketing.

It's scary how easy to listen it is.

The Swedish album. ABBA (who I love) have a lot to answer for. A quick poll of a few teenagers who were in the sweet spot for this album when it was released: they remember nothing. Pop, good Pop at least, must be memorable and enduring. This album fails on the second count. (I’ll pass on the first.) Nobody argues if the new Taylor Swift album is better than the last, because no one remembers the last. (This may be a failing of autobiographical Pop too…)

Now This is A challenge for me! I always linked Taylor Swift to Manufactured Pop or Country. So Listening to this Album for the first time! (My Daughter had suggested that there is more to Taylor than meets the eye but I have to be convinced. After Listening to this I am NOT CONVINCED! derivative manufactured pop for the teenage girl I fear! Can't say I've been converted by this. Best song on the Album... so hard to chose but if I had to chose I suppose Champagne Problems sort of breaks the ManPop mould a bit. but as I say not a fan or convert. Okay I suppose reluctantly I might concede that "Shake It Off" is a goodish pop song but still not convinced that this rates as an LP to hear before I Die!

I don't like her voice. The songwriting is generic and heavy-handed. The music is extremely overproduced. In short, it sucks. 3/10

Jamen godt produceret og sårn. Hitslasker. Ikke et album je vil høre i fuld længde igen.

Meh some ok some obnoxious

Bland and a bit repetitive. Not for me

I have no idea of how to rate this album It's well-produced pop for the masses, but I don't really find anything interesting here. "I Know Places" is kind of all right, though.

Not really my speed, but she can write a hook. First album where I had never gone out of my way to listen to any of the sons, but had already heard all of them.

Just tpop

No me gusta, me siento en un mall. No es insoportable, pero no lo escucharía por voluntad propia. "Shake it off" es adictivo as fuck y te hace mover el piecito. "Bad Blood" me parece un muy buen tema aunque sigue siendo muy american pop para lo que puedo tolerar. Después de eso, todo va en picada.

No denying she’s a decent songwriter that knows how to write a catchy hook. She is not a good singer, though, and I find her lyrics to be insipid and catering to the LCD. Not for me.

No

Nothing unpleasant or offensive about it but nothing poetic or profound either. I don't understand the appeal.

50000000 Taylor Swift fans CAN be wrong.

Oh god my ears are bleeding and I haven't even gotten 2 seconds in. How did this bitch get a record deal, she can't sing

People hate Taylor Swift because she's a successful woman musician. Not me, I just think she's an average billionaire nepo baby. Why getting into mysoginy when you can just stick to class conscience? Regarding the music, she doesn't seem untalented or bad, but it's so plain. It's basically an output to the prompt "write me music for a large-scale engineered bland pop world success from the USA". I guess someone can think of this as an achievement, but for me it's just uninteresting. Some tracks are kinda nice, but overall it's indistinguishable from all the other stuff that was on the radio back in that days. And it's like the third woman I get on this website, which is otherwise dominated by average (but for some reason critically panned) male musicians, I just hope that there will be some picks from the very large pool of good, worth-listening-to, recent female ones.

I’ve tried giving this a go a few times, the first right when it was released and I was only a mild Taylor skeptic. Now I’m a full-blown hater, but I like to think I can put my bullshit aside and extend some grace or at least patience to appreciating something that millions of others love. I’m still a fan of a range of pop music, a lot from the 80s, some (although not many) of the Swedes’ other productions but there’s a basic quality to Swift’s compositions and melodies that even they can’t improve. For millions, that is probably the secret sauce that makes them fans. For me, it’s a glaring, here we go again formula that is pretty much everything I hate about a certain kind of music.

Not my thing

Taylor Swift is, quite possibly, the worst thing to happen to modern music, and the fact that so many (SO MANY) people love her so blindly, and champion her brainless music, baffles me. What the fuck is so interesting about this album? Half of the music sounds like it was recorded with a drum machine and a Casio keyboard, and the lyrics are so banal I can only assume Taylor Swift thinks we all got lobotomized. What Taylor Swift did when she became so monstrously popular is reset the bar -- only, she set it down. On the floor. What we're left with is a whole world of music and artists, desperately aspiring to clone her sound and success, pissing on the zeitgeist with minimally thought-out, appearance-focused, radio-hit-desperate recycled garbage-crap. And by the way, how much money does Taylor Swift make? How much does she have? Shouldn't we be hearing about her generosity and philanthropy way fucking more? Shouldn't she be one of the biggest donors in the history of planet fucking Earth? But no. Her claim to fame is riding in a private jet more than anyone, ever. Fucking great. Not to mention, when will she EVER use her vast, sprawling, unthinkable influence to make a political statement? Even just once? Maybe just to try gently steering us in a better direction? But who gives a fuck, right? Because that would mean fewer fans, and fewer fans are fewer sales. So let it all burn. Now listen. I have been informed that hating Taylor Swift can only be perceived as hating all women. That it is not an opinion I should have, nonetheless be insistent on. To that I say: I do not, cannot, will not, ever give a fuck. Give me Dolly Parton. Give me PJ Harvey. Give me Amy Winehouse, or Lauryn Hill, or fucking Adele. I was glad to see this album for one reason only: that I am officially done with seeing her show up on this list for the rest of my time.

boring. so very boring. and over produced. is she using a drum machine?

Every now and again I'm exposed to mainstream American pop music and for the past, I reckon, 20 years it's all just sounded exactly the same to me. I have no idea about which artist is which and oftentimes it feels that for majority of people it doesnt even matter; they just need some easy, instantly gratifying background music while they're at home doing whatever. It's the case here too: well-produced (as in absolutely harmless and as non-offensive as possible) pop music that I might've heard playing at a grocery shop or something but would have no recollection of, since, like said, all American pop music has sounded the same to me for at least 20 years. So in short, it's well-made music, but have I personally any reason or desire to listen to this ever again? Well, no. I don't hate it the way some of the albums here have made me actually upset; I just feel completely indifferent about this.

No creo ser el público objetivo de este tipo de música, me gusta el pop, me refiero más a ese tipo de música que parece ser creada con el unico propósito de ser escuchada en un auto junto con otras personas y tener un momento tipo película gringa sobre estudiantes populares... demasiado específico pero es lo que se me ocurre, "buuhhh no me gusta la diversión y los mensajes de positividad buhhhh!!!", puede interpretarse así y estoy de acuerdo, la verdad no soy alguien a quien le fascinen los encuentros sociales, supongo que ese es uno de los factores por los que no me gusta. No juzgo negativamente canciones/artistas por sus letras, mi inglés no es perfecto, entiendo a un nivel decente de lo que hablan algunos temas y no me forma ningun otro pensamiento que no sea "esto suena a la canción anterior", claro, con otro sombrero, así que por ese lado no opino nada, está vacío y no me llegó ningun mensaje. Por otro lado, no, musicalmente tampoco me llama la atención ni un poco, el climax de cada canción no me transmite nada, no siento nada, no me dan ganas de tararear porque simplemente no le encuentro el hilo, son canciones planas y secas, bastante rudo decir esto sabiendo que se trata de un género pop, pero dioooooos mio, ni siquiera pienso decir que son repetitivas porque es un patrón que siento que es algo positivo dentro de una compocisión musical, por este punto es comprensible. Supongo que se lleva 1 estrella unica y exclusivamente por Shake It Off ya que es la única que logro ubicar gracias a la película de Sing, muy buena película, amo el personaje de Rosita! Sinceramente antes de ver que canciones incluía no sabía que esta canción le perteneciera a Taylor aún despues de tantas veces de escucharla cuando estuvo de moda, es un buen hit, pero no algo tan grandioso como para obsesionarme. Tampoco voy a mencionar que el álbum sea malo por sonar comercial, aunque si, lo pienso, suena y es bastante comercial pero no sería justo basar todo en eso, es malo por x y bueno por y, yo que se, su voz es normal, no la distinguiría como "oh, es taylor swift", la verdad no. Ni siquiera es que odie a Taylor, soy indiferente a ella como artista y a su trabajo, no pienso incluir demasiado de lo que he leído o escuchado sobre sus opiniones y sus vuelos privados a la tienda de la esquina por un galón de leche. No encuentro el mensaje que hace que tanta gente caiga a sus pies para pasar a defenderla a capa y espada. Me siento un poco tonto por no lograr verlo, siento que me pierdo de algo y no me siento precisamente mal por estar fuera, no quiero ser parte de eso. Es un "no, gracias" ajaja. No me subo al tren de fans de Taylor, pero tampoco me subo al otro de hater. Prefiero quedarme en la estación y ver como ambos trenes se estrellan y explotan a lo lejos. No me interesa discutir y solo escribo esto para entender bien que es lo que no me gusta de su música, es buena forma de ordenar pensamientos y opiniones. Conclusión: 1 estrella porque Shake It Off sale en Sing :) No hay otra cosa positiva que pueda resaltar.

Well ......no

Taylor Swift blocked off the streets of MSG for thousands of New Yorkers and requested the cameras inside be turned off and not track attendees for her wedding, but doesn't do anything to help the regular attendees.

I am shocked anyone over 12 enjoys this. Total bubblegum garbage.

cuando decidió entra al mundo del pop copiándose de lana del rey, nada más que decir

Soulless overproduced pop slop made for mass appeal and not artistic expression. It does what it’s trying to do very well, but I’m just not interested at all in listening to music that was made purely for profit and not as art

Never listened to Taylor swift before. What is this. How is she a cultural phenomenon? The terrible cheesy lyrics and terrible overuse of synths are so poorly done. Man that was a tough listen

Trying to put my bias of dumping on Taylor’s insanely generic music aside, this album gives me insane PTSD from high school. The record opens with a song the genuinely feels like it could be AI. In fact, that’s a common theme i feel throughout the entire record. This record is such a product of its time. It’s a common theme with a lot of the pop stuff in the 2010’s. But Jesus I hate how synthetic and non human most of the popular shit from this era is. I don’t know dude the more I try and follow along with this album, I try and put myself in the perspective of a swiftie. I want to hear what they hear, because I can get why this sound is appealing to kids, but for any normal functioning adult all I’ve learned is they have shit music taste and should probably be confined to a padded cell. Like how can you listen to a record like this and genuinely take anything away from it? How do the build a relationship with such a lifeless personality as this? Idk man. Cult vibes have been confirmed. I find this very cringe to listen to as an adult man.

This is the aural equivalent of the uncanny valley.

Wasn’t my thing when it first came out, still feel the same way. I don’t understand why everyone thought it was so era defining. Its just the same Pop that everyone else did and still does

Some of the least inspired pop music I’ve ever heard.

Insipid

Bue.... Es Taylor Swift, no me gusta, si es de este tipo de música, prefiero a Britney Spears

Please. Music for 5-year old parties. If you're older than 15 and vibing with this you need to broaden your horizons

no me gusta taylor swift

No

*listened before the project* Stop playing with me, ok? It’s the worst even in synth-pop. When I first heard “Shake It Off” in high school, I almost threw up. What’s that burp-like beat? Pretty gross. And the lyrics? Better not to mention. Cut: Blank Space

Chicken sauté with white rice on a plastic plate.

If you ever needed proof that popular does not necessarily equal quality, I present T Swift

bruh

Dear lord, its so boring, that was rough and im glad its over.

I thought one Taylor Swift album was pushing it but now 2?! Wtf?! Is this just the albums teenagers should listen to before they turn 20? Even that's pushing it.

The GOATed industry plant, this album is so shallow and boring. Overly produced and mechanical sounding, lacks any depth or soul. Maybe if I was a teenager this would resonate with me but I am far from the target for this slop. It is just inoffensive over produced radio pop, I know she is a mega star but this is pretty boring

Not too inoffensive to be hated

They really put this in the Library of Congress for preservation huh

Shake it off ist ja mal wirklich unerträglich. Blank Space ist ganz nett. Ansonsten vollkommen belanglos.

With all due respect, skipping today’s album

Yikes. I need a palate-cleanser after that. 0.5/5.0: Unlistenable

FUCK TAYLOR ZUUIFT

Listening to 1989 by taylor swift cause of the 1001 albums thing, im not complaining about its inclusion cause this album was incredibly popular and an important time capsule for the mid-2010s but hoooooooly crap this album blows Her lyricism is poo, the production is poo, her vocals are indistinguishable from song to song and it just sounds like music Disney adults would like Tbf i was never the target audience for this but i feel like the more recent pop stars have been so much more interesting musically and lyrically and vocally and various other terms that end in -lly than taylor

Этот альбом хорош только потому, что вызвал у меня стойкое желание выкинуть наушники и выйти из этой группы

A constructed "perfect pop record" that sounds completely dead, cold and hollow to me. Lyrics may be based on personal experience, but they still sound generic and repetitive to me. The music is pseudo retro 80s, which sure fits the title. It still feels cheap, generic, and simplistic without any kind of edge that could make it interesting. Just awful.

Style is a banger. Clean is fine. The rest of this is HORRIBLE

I have heard worse. Not my cup of tea.

poop

Taylor Swift was born in 1989 on December the 13th, so she doesn't have a clue about what the 80s really were. Hell, she's too young to even remember most of the 90s that well. So this album should be called: "2000s something, when I could actually understand the world I was living in". Anyway, this title could still be a tribute for a decade she likes a lot musically, but that also doesn't seem the case. Her style is generic post 2010s harmless barebone pop, a thing that wasn't really a genre back in '89, even Roxettes have more bite, better production, fuller arrangements and interesting hooks than this mass homogenized product of an album. No, I think that the title of the album is in relation to the year she was born, meaning that before that date nothing was worth listening to or living, because she wasn't there. Listen Taylor, even you aren't so important as to believe that your year of birth should be an album's name or an extremely crucial date, this is entitlement of biblical proportions. We don't care, and personally I don't even like your sorry excuse for a living that you call music. This boring record shouldn't be on this list, or on any list of people that love music.

3/10

The worst part isn't the dumb singing on "Blank Space", nor the artless rhymes of "Bad Blood", nor the lyrics of "Shake it Off", where Taylor claims that she's unfazed when you're annoyed by her annoying behavior. No, the worst part is that she considers this fun, maybe even cute. She's repackaging her immaturity as pop anthems. There are some okay album tracks hidden in here. But the hits, the stuff you hear on the radio, are terrible. This is Millennial brainrot. This is a boot sashaying on a human face forever.

Of course I am aware of Taylor Swift's existence, and it's possible I have heard some songs by her - but I wouldn't have known it since it would have just been randomly in public. I've never actually proactively played a song by her. I did hear a bunch of middle school girls sing some of her songs in a school talent show back in the day when my kids were in school. I think that was off her first album. At the time I just thought that she was whoever was the latest person that the middle school girls were obsessed with and it would fade over time - but she definitely seems to have more staying power. So, I'm curious what the hype is all about - especially since this is supposedly her best record. After first listen, I'm pretty sure I've heard "Shake It Off" and "Bad Blood" before - but I don't really like those. "Out of the Woods" sounds A LOT like Lorde. I looked it up - Lorde used Jack Antonoff as her producer for the Melodrama album (which I reviewed on here), so that might be the connection since he is the same guy that produced this specific song. This caused me to go back and re-listen to the songs I liked from Lorde's album. What I like about some of Lorde's songs is she is a little more vulnerable and confessional in her lyrics and singing style - whereas the only thing Taylor seems to be confessing is that her boyfriends are all the bad guys and she's never done anything wrong. It's all so black and white. So, my summary is 21 year old Lorde was writing much more mature lyrics than 25 year old Taylor. "I Wish You Would" is one of the most vulnerable songs on the album but I just noticed it's one of the least played song on Spotify - so clearly her fans don't like that side of her. Same with "Clean". "Bad Blood" vocals sounds kind of like Lorde to me. On the 2nd time through, I starting realizing how forgettable / generic most of this sounds to me - since I didn't remember hearing the songs from the first time. After the 3rd listen, I did end up liking "Clean" and "I Know Places" (the last 2 songs on the album) - since they feel more authentic to me and the production is a little more spare with room to breathe. So that's 2 Taylor Swift songs added to my Spotify playlists where it was 0 before. That's progress, right? Serious question - did 25 year old Taylor Swift think about anything else but boys and relationships? Have her interests and lyrical focus expanded in the 12 years since then? I understand she's getting married, so I wonder if she's gonna run out of things to write about if she can't write about boyfriends who (usually) screwed her over - i guess until something happens with her current relationship with the football guy. Maybe she does write about other things - but it's not apparent on this particular album. As a contrast... Fiona Apple wrote a very self-reflective song like "Criminal" at the young age of 20, Sarah McLachlan wrote "Possession" at 25, Stevie Nicks wrote "Landslide" at 27. All of those artist's song writing (and many others) is so much better, and memorable, and thought provoking in my opinion. I do respect that she writes her own lyrics - apparently with help from the producers. So I give her credit for that. Unfortunately, the lyrics generally don't make me feel anything positive or negative nor think about anything new or different. And most of the music doesn't really interest me, it sounds too programmed and polished. I think this is my problem with most modern pop music. I don't think Taylor is going to be too upset about my 1 star review - she's just gonna shake it off and will be just fine :) Liked songs on Spotify: 2/13 Rating: 1/5

Hate all you want (and I will) but the New York song is basically the core of every song about New York ever. No matter how artistic you want to make living in big city, it remains an insufferable song concept. I'd MAYBE be interested in hearing about it from somebody who's from there, but the "we're not in INDIANA anymore <3 #NewYorkPizza #Sbarro" vibe makes me claw at my own eyes with the hunger of a starving rat. I oscillate back and forth. I hate this. I hate who markets it, I hate hearing it constantly everywhere I go, despite never requesting it. On the other hand, I don't want to sit here and be the guy who writes a negative review of Despicable Me 4 because it "lacked the precocious vitality of its predecessors." It's lame to over intellectualize fluff. Sure, I can tell you that the music is overproduced bubble gum garbage that is probably focus grouped to be addictive. I can explain that the lyrics are like early AI's interpretation of a high school level sonnet. It's all bad, but there is some value to it as the kids seem to dig it. My neck isn't so bearded that I would deny a kid their fast food multimedia mass marketed music experience. If my daughter asked me to take her to listen to it, I'd oblige and wince through the experience. Keep that in mind as I ferociously slap a zero on this. 0 HIGHLIGHTS: HOO ONE PIZZA PIE HOT TO ORDER

zero