Taylor Swift is one of the most frustrating musicians around with songs I like ("I Knew You Were Trouble", "Love Story", "Safe and Sound") and songs that annoy the living daylights out of me ("We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", "Bad Blood", "Shake It Off"). Somehow with her completely abandoning the country roots that got her famous and respect from many as an artist, she has still managed to win two undeserved Album of the Year victories at the Grammy's and is right up there with Beyonce', Kanye West and apparently Post Malone as one of the most popular American musicians. I do not understand a lick of it. She's ditched the "totally innocent" Taylor act yet, refuses to overdo the "new, controversial" Swift character that so many pop stars have adopted over the past three decades (See: Madonna, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus). Red was her first poppier country album with hints of country and was the first Swift album I fully dug into. I thought it was just okay with the real highlights being the non-singles and "I Knew You Were Trouble" (which sounds so incredibly 2012-13 in retrospect). Then, she refused to join streaming services and let 1989 become the first non-streaming album to be a monster hit in the streaming-era. I was unimpressed by the singles released and the album represented a complete abandonment of her original country voice that felt organic. 1989 was a very real album with real lyrics and a nice song or two that was somehow named Album of the Year for 2014 by every music-reviewing magazine and their readers. I was dumbfounded by her sudden domination of both the charts and the media critics, even if Jack Antonoff (who is great by the way) was heavily involved. Between the overhype and the unneeded feuds with Katy Perry, Kanye West and Spotify, I completely soured on her over the years because like many, I am just an overly-critical dick with a keyboard. Now comes Reputation, an album with three songs I have heard and am VERY confused by and twelve other songs that could determine whether or not Swift has any staying power whatsoever in a year where pop music has taken a backseat for weird emo trap-infused hip-hop or if she is simply another name to add to the list of famous pop stars delivering duds as they quickly fade from our memories despite trying to hop on the latest musical fads or changing too much of their style (see: Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, etc.). Taylor Swift still knows how to make catchy music but, does she still have enough good music to add to her reputation?
NOTE: All reactions to these tracks were typed up mid-song and therefor, the opinions are subject to change later on.
1. "...Ready For It?"
- The beat for this song is trying too damn hard to be something and it is clearly just single-bait. I sure hope Swift has worked on her live performances as there are plenty of vocal breaks in this song that are not in any other Swift songs that don't feature a guitar. The pre-chorus buildup works, the rapping and chanting 100% does not.
2. "End Game" (ft. Ed Sheeran & Future)
- The only four-minute song on the album begins with Taylor chanting/talking again and fuck, it is just not good. Future does his autotune Future stuff and it sounds like an actual song and then Taylor sings the chorus that is a solid C- of a chorus. Ed Sheeran is now rapping and I'm pretty sure this is the part they did not tell Future about because what white nonsense is this song? How did they get Future to sign up for this???
3. "I Did Something Bad"
- "Narcissists love me" exclaimed pop's biggest name. This song features gunshots and it honestly feels like Max Martin is trying to do too much with this song here (you have to have some serious misses in order to achieve the list of hits he's produced). The crowds at her concerts will go wild to this song but, that's because it feels like some other pop star's generic long-forgotten non-single and not a Taylor Swift track.
4. "Don't Blame Me"
- Swift is getting lower and breathier with her singing and I am actually here for it. Of course, the song's weakness are the lyrics that sound way too generic for an artist once known for her lyricism. It also sounds sort of like one-hit wonder Hozier over an overproduced beat. I don't hate this song as it brings back reminders of "I Knew You Were Trouble" but, maybe this song will age just as weakly as that one has. Time will tell on whether or not this is a keeper in her discography.
5. "Delicate"
- Multi-layered synthesized vocals melting into a tropical-pop beat but thankfully, this isn't just another upbeat attempt at reclaiming the successes of Drake, OMI and so many others in 2015. It's just a nice pop song that is quietly catchy with a surprising amount of autotune. It sounds like she's really into whoever she was with when she wrote this song and that's nice because the bitter ex-lover songs are five years past old news.
6. "Look What You Made Me Do"
- I have yet to see or hear of Taylor Swift handling any of her public feuds in a mature manner and this is exhibit A. Kanye did not make you release a shitty rip-off of a Right Said Fred song. This song seems like a better fit on that bizarre album Katy Perry released this Summer. Old Taylor is dead, yadayadayada, petty Taylor that drops an album on the tenth anniversary of Donda West's death is alive. Fuck this song.
7. "So It Goes..."
- I really enjoy this Selena Gomez song. Oh wait, that's Taylor Swift singing about scratches on someone's back? Ok, old Taylor is dead. Reputation is continuing the trend of wildly inconsistent output of both good and terrible songs.
8. "Gorgeous"
- This is just a fantastic sugary pop song that the world is rejecting at the moment (seriously, where did these songs go on the charts?) and if this album is a forgettable dud throughout the second half, at least we got this gem. Max Martin is at the top of his game here as he made the beat fit Swift's almost overly-obnoxious lyrics and it just sounds like a perfect "love at first sight" song. Best song she's ever made.
9. "Getaway Car"
- "Getaway Car" is a perfectly mediocre song with a bad vocal performance, an okay showing by Antonoff and it sounds like a 1989 reject. Swift is the worst part of this song and that's a problem but, the song just fails at being interesting so there is blame all around.
10. "King Of My Heart"
- The first twenty seconds are nice and then she sort of starts rap-singing over an overly bass-ridden beat again and it just sort of blends into this messy, weird ten-track span. JAGOOOWARS is a pronunciation that I am all here for. Wait a minute... is this a Tom Hiddleston song? I'm a bit slow at realizing these types of things around 3 AM, sorry. A song about a famous ex-boyfriend? original... I'm sorry about that dig but, not really.
11. "Dancing With Our Hands Tied"
- This a very solid Tegan and Sara-like song. I think I can finally say that I enjoy synthpop Swift. The lyrics' meanings are unknown but, this seems like the song that has the most depressing lyrics as it hints at her not wanting to be seen out with her latest boyfriend or whatever out of fear that the media will blow that story up and with everybody in the world knowing everything that goes on in Taylor Swift's life, somebody will try to ruin it for her. Good song. That makes 3 out of 11.
12. "Dress"
- Yeah... New Taylor is going with that sexier vibe and unfortunately, her higher-pitched vocals and the chorus are just not good and ruin what would otherwise be a great bedtime slow-jam.
13. "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things"
- Instant "T.G.I.F. (Last Friday Night)" vibes. This attempt at anthemic Swift is just as cringeworthy as "We Are Never Getting Back Together". I do not understand why she keeps trying to do songs like this. Please stop taking breaks to talk during your songs, Taylor. There's a reason nobody liked Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz besides me.
14. "Call It What You Want"
- I did not mind the first part of this song, including the chorus. Can Taylor end the album on a high note? The Antonoff production is on point and the singing is actually some of her strongest on the album because she's so restrained. Restrained vocals Swift is the strongest version of Swift we have. Why this version is not embraced more, I do not understand.
15. "New Year's Day"
- Unlike Lorde's Melodrama, it sounds like Reputation will end on a more muted note. This is a lovely track that I could definitely see her performing at the 2018 or '19 Grammy's because I'm sure they'll welcome her with open arms as they always do. The strangest part about this album is that this song is the first time I've thought of the Grammy's at all throughout the entire ride. It just does not seem like an album they would ever nominate and while that could be a good thing (when does the consensus Album of the Year ever actually get nominated for the award itself?), I just don't think this album is going to move the needle as momentously as any of Swift's last three or four albums. There are 5 good songs out of 15 here and at least 3 very bad songs.
The one thing about Taylor Swift's reputation that has been confirmed through Reputation is that she's consistently inconsistent and the inconsistencies are still too annoying to completely forget when she releases a genuinely tremendous song like "New Year's Day" or a cute earworm like "Gorgeous". Removing all biases, this is her third album in a row that is earning a C-level grade from me and while most will continue to love or hate the artist, I will again fall somewhere in between on the art.
Grade: C
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