Three years after 1989, Taylor Swift finally releases her sixth album, ‘reputation.’ The record comes eleven years after her debut album, ‘Taylor Swift,’ and those eleven years in the spotlight changed her significantly. Now over a decade later, Swift is still widely popular, but “the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Cause she is dead.”
Angry, beautiful, vengeful, melodic: this album is unlike anything we have seen from Swift in the past.
Swift released her first single “Look What You Made Me Do” on Aug. 24, and the reaction she got was not completely supportive. A vengeful song is complete with techno music and many secret messages to the people who have a history of spiting her.
She then released “…Ready for it,” a single with another strong beat, but this time it was more fiery, romantically oriented. As the first song on the album, “…Ready For It?,” the stage for the rest of the album is set, and asks Swifties if they are ready to embark on reputation’s adventure: a trip to her heart and inner demons.
Next came “Gorgeous”; a fast-paced love song about the guy Swift wants but cannot have. Along with the song, she released a behind-the-scenes video, featuring Swift at her piano running through lyrics and trying out melodies. “Call it What You Want,” her next release, is a bit more on par with what we expected from Swift; resonant of the soft romantic singer her fans know. Then just two hours before Swift released “reputation”, she premiered her song “New Year’s Day” on ABC Network, surrounded by her fans in her house while playing the piano.
Then came “reputation.” On Nov. 9, Swift dropped her album, marking the beginning of the raunchier Swift she warned us about in her singles. In addition to the five singles, ten songs were released to complete “reputation.” The album progresses through the artist’s love life, friends turned to foes, and her struggle to defy the media’s perception of her.
She is back and significantly more mature, just as emotional, but stronger. From heavily edited songs like “I Did Something Bad,” to sultry songs like “Dress,” Swift appeases all audiences. She ends her album with “New Years Day,” a soft, beautiful love song that reminds us of the old Taylor that we fell in love with 11 years ago.
The record-breaking sale of this album is a telltale sign of how magnificent “reputation” is.
On the first day of the release, Swift sold over 700,000 copies of her album, setting her well on the way to sell over 1,000,000 copies in its first week and become the Billboard album of the year.
Overall “reputation” is a triumph in pop music and a monumental move in Swift’s career. Swift’s sixth album is a brilliant tale of romance in the modern world and the trials and tribulations of finding friends, love, yourself, even when you have quite the reputation. Whether or not “reputation” does it for you, it is undeniable that the new Taylor Swift will be just as successful as the old Taylor Swift.
