Although she claims the old Taylor is dead in the lyrics of "Look What You Made Me Do," we see touches of her "old self" in the softer chorus of otherwise intense "Ready For It?" Casting aside the usual lengthy album campaigns or meticulously planned drip-feeding of singles, T-Swiz uncharacteristically announced Folklore the day before it was released. Look, Reputation served a purpose. Her self-titled debut stood as her lone and tall titan at the time of its 2006 release, which was immediately met with commercial and critical success, catapulting a then-16-year-old Swift to stardom almost overnight. After spending the last two years re-recording some of those early releases, including Fearless and Red, Swift has returned with Midnights, her first album of new material since 2020s Evermore. Its a brilliantly honest moment, taken from Swifts most mature album yet. There were TikTok teasers to reveal the track titles, but beyond that fans weren't given many clues about what to expect from the album. Midnight's answer: she's still soaring. Still, what some may see as folklore's central weakness is in actuality its greatest strength. The finished product is, of course, sterling. The worlds defining voice in music and pop culture: breaking whats new and whats next since 1952. What condemns 1989's position at the lower third of this list then is the sad truth that some of the choruses rotating here sound like they could have been parsed out to much-lesser 2010s pop stars. Working with a whos who of trendy producers and writers (Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, Ali Payami alongside indie darling Imogen Heap), she crafted a collection of glossy belters, that flit from fluffy dance-pop (Shake It Off) and sophisticated electronic-tinged bops (Blank Space, Style), to glorious indietronica (Out of the Woods, Clean). The record's tales unfold into imagined personal histories, with what Swift calls the "Teenage Love Triangle" songs (suspected to be "Cardigan," "August," and "Betty") painting three vivid portraits of an interwoven affair at different points in time. A 20-year-old Taylor, mid-transition from childhood to adulthood, draws from that dizzying dysphoria and uses it to refine her already awe-inspired songwriting. These are songs that beckon celebration, hands raised over heads in secular worship of a 20-something's innate need to romanticize their life visions of nice dresses and sunsets, the epicenter of the world awaiting your arrival, hope that your beauty and grace will never fade. 1,062 Likes, 2 Comments - BLKPIK IDI ( ) (@blackpink.india) on Instagram: "#TaylorSwift, BLACKPINK and #OliviaRodrigo are the only female artists ranking inside IFPI's Top 10" To celebrate the release of Swifts tenth album Midnights, here we take a look back on Taylor Swifts entire career and rank her ten albums in order of greatness. folklore is a backward glance over your shoulder clouded by a cold air exhale and it remains Taylor's greatest work to date. Report RESET RANKING RESET TEMPLATE SAVE/DOWNLOAD TIER LIST Template by lucy And though she does vary her phrasing in ways that attempt to mask her limited voice, Swift is still noticeably off-pitch at least once on every song on the album. folklore. Written in her freshman year of high school, it positioned her as a country-crossover hopeful ready for mainstream success. Then there's the true-to-life nostalgic musings of romantic naivety at fifteen and unrequited love looming on the high school bleachers. Acoustic guitars, violins, and banjos enjoy free reign, dancing across tales of childhood friends destined for sparks, short-lived summer love, and backroad rendezvous. And on this album, in particular, the stories she tells are about how her narrators choices impact others, often in ways that cause irreparable harm. In the 2017 article, Jenkins also noted that this album features hip-hop influences, something Swift hasn't really done before. The contrast of that relationship with the one detailed in "Champagne Problems" makes the latter seem even more heart-wrenching. It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together in the end. Songs range from edgy and confident with "I Did Something Bad" to breathy and beautiful with "Dress," all the while playing with different musical styles and production effects. Only vault songs are included. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. This new sound may not be a far cry from the original, but to the trained Swiftie's ear, these small changes culminate into a noticeably "richer" listening experience from all angles. " Bad Blood . Although "Folklore" may not have the mainstream appeal of her previous albums, it's an album longtime fans will appreciate as it highlights her stellar songwriting and pays homage to her acoustic roots. Sure, this album has its highs and lows and is filled with impressive tracks, but it ranks below others because although it feels like many things she does here (like haunting lyrics and pop beats) are things she's done before and a bit better in her previous releases. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver's defeated drawl) borrows similarly spacious minor keys with ten times the heartbreak. "Evermore" takes us deeper into the mystical music-writing forest established by "Folklore," but like many sequels, it doesn't resonate as powerfully as the original. ", Big Machine/Republic Records/Republic Records/Big Machine. From the first track, you know this album isn't like what you've been hearing on the radio it opens with the synthetic beats and sounds of "Welcome to New York.". The best Taylor Swift's Albums rankings are on the top of the list and the worst rankings are on the bottom. This time, "All Too Well" retires a full band backing for hazy synths, but it's anything but smoke and mirrors. Related: Ranking Taylor Swift's 10 Most Viewed Music Videos. Thus, her 10th album is at the neutral midpoint on this list, though Midnights' careful metaphors are some of the best mirrors for abstract projection and self-reflection that listeners will find on this list. Gone is the will-they-won't-they tension of Reputation's hushed, closed-door affair; Taylor's Lover is here to stay, and this seventh studio album exists almost solely to deliver that proclamation between a few self-love clichs ("I'm the only one of me") and tired girl-power taglines ("If I was a man / Then I'd be the man"). Stuffed with 80s influence, it also saw a step up in Swifts song writing, with her sharp, pithy lyrics feeling refined and sleek, hook-laden melodies dominating the entire record. this includes her entire catalogue/discography and eras debut to evermore. These were the de facto anthems for young listeners especially, clutching MP3 players to the chest like rosaries as we projected onto Taylor's portraits of then-mythical teen love. "I have this Forrest Gump-ian way of touching something and it becomes a hit!" "Champagne Problems" serves as a painful tale of a failed relationship. 176. But "Folklore" has a laid-back vibe that reflects the spontaneity of how this album was created. Swift shines brightest on these songs, building and developing her story out of economic but evocative turns of phrase.". Taylor Swift's "Folklore" album cover was photographed by Beth Garrabrant. In a review for Rolling Stone, Claire Shaffer called the album "a refreshing change of pace.". i. Fearless, however, just as strongly made the case that Swift had the goods for a long, rich career. Then there are the hopeful messages embedded in the minor-keys of "marjorie," an homage to her opera-singing grandmother, and "happiness," the chorus of which captures the album's essence best of all: "There'll be happiness after me / But there was happiness because of me.". It was the first taste the world got of Swifts deeply confessional songwriting, and from that moment, we were hooked. Back in 2006, a little-known country singer called Taylor Swift released her debut single Tim McGraw. "1989" is packed with standout songs that hold their own, like "Blank Space," featuring masterful lyrics in a pop context;"Wildest Dreams," showcasing a heartbeat driving the song and breathy singing that creates a dreamlike quality; and "How You Get The Girl," serving as a lighthearted, pop-infused love song. It's synth-pop with depth energetic beats with lyrics that linger in your mind and soul-baring moments softened with catchy choruses ("It's me, hi / I'm the problem, it's me"). First emerging as a country-crossover artist, shes since embraced glossy pure pop and indie-folk; but while her sound may have changed, Swifts brilliantly honest lyricism and songwriting talent has remained a keystone in her tunes. "The 1" and "August" tied for the top spot. folklore in comparison merely flirts along the edges of pop mantras on songs like "the last great american dynasty" and the deeply affecting "mirrorball," while veering straight into indie-folk influence on "illicit affairs" and the finger-plucked "invisible string," among others. She's moved on, but she also wants us to know she's moved on. Keefe, Swifts seventh album, Lover, lacks a unified sonic aesthetic, ostensibly from trying to be something to everyone. His contributions here are uniformly clean and efficient, but plenty of his signature production tics, even if theyre presented here in a fresh context, are beginning to feel overused. The definitive ranking of Taylor Swift's 'Folklore' songs. Fearless in its original 2008 form was adolescent in every way: a gentle voice singing fantasies of Juliet finding her Romeo, a boy on a white horse beckoning his hardened princess. Speak Now. And that's really all Swift, whose genius for conversational melodies and knack for giving every chorus a telling new twist every time around remain unmistakable trademarks.". Keefe, In the run-up to the release of her sixth album, Reputation, Swift was excoriated by fans and foes alike for too often playing the victim. Overall, it's charming and mostly tame, but then again, she's happy. Love for a song about the worst parts of yourself grows on your heart like a burn on the skin. True, this album successfully acted as a reminder that Swift is a powerhouse musician who shouldnt be messed with. Perhaps compensating for that previous album's wave of negative press, Taylor here returns to her tried-and-true toolbox, leaning into romantic whim and angelic daydreams: living room waltzes, paper promise rings, sneaking through gardens, skipping down streets. "Swift's usual approach to dabbling in new genres or sounds is to go balls-to-the-wall, but on 'evermore,' she's just as good at curating these more detailed production flourishes, all with the same contouring and meticulousness as she does with her best lyrics," she wrote. Between those extremes is a reliable lineup of ultra-catchy mega-hits that infected the cultural consciousness through Top 40 countdowns and, later, TikTok videos. She may be on the outs, but she sure isn't alone. Returning to this record then, with its new polish and poise, is a kind of homecoming celebration. the album's opening track, and in the closing track, "New Year's Day," when we hear a stripped-down, piano-heavy ballad in which Swift sings emotion-filled lyrics. Happy, free, confused, lonely, devastated, euphoric, wild, and tortured by memories past." "Drew looks at me / I fake a smile so he won't see / that I want and I'm needin' / Everything that we should be" was as good as poetry, and a north star to the forlorning that looms in girlhood. says the actress. She's since genre-jumped from country to proper pop, to electro R&B and bare-backed folk. Two things before we get into the list: 1. "Cold As You" highlights Swift's talent in writing beautiful lyrics about heartbreak, a key Swift signature: "You put up walls and paint them all a shade of gray / And I stood there loving you, and wished them all away / And you come away with a great little story / Of a mess of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you.". Aside the usual lengthy album campaigns or meticulously planned drip-feeding of singles, T-Swiz uncharacteristically announced the. A country-crossover hopeful ready for mainstream success list: 1, sterling,... New and whats next since 1952, devastated, euphoric, wild, and tortured by past... 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