After three long years, Taylor Swift released her highly-anticipated album, Reputation, on Friday, November 10th. The 15-track LP is her most intimate, personal, and tell-all album yet.
Being away from the spotlight for a year or so allowed Swift to find herself, find true love, and live her best life without having everyone, including the media, track her every move.
This may be her second pop album, but this one has a new sound. It’s more electropop.
Before the initial album was released, fans were treated to four singles: “Look What You Made Do,” “…Ready For It?,” “Gorgeous,” and “Call It What You Want.” Although all four sound different, they all perfectly depict the 27-year-old’s new image and life.
In the first single, “Look What You Made Me Do,” Swift proclaimed that the “old Taylor was dead,” meaning the Taylor who was constantly depicted as not being able to keep a relationship and always hounded by the media, is ‘dead.’
A stronger, hard-hitting, more mature, and in love Taylor is alive and here to stay. She’s smarter and harder in the nick of time, which is the theme of the album.
Reputation has brought us more into her personal life than ever before. The 12th track, “Dress,” goes “only bought this dress so you could take it off,” describing her intimate relationship with current boyfriend, actor Joe Alwyn. At least half of the songs also have some sort of reference to drinking alcohol, which may be her way of ‘shedding’ the ‘good girl’ image.
In one song, she even curses. “I Did Something Bad,” supposedly about ex Calvin Harris, has the line, “If a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing.” Although not the worst of the words to use, it’s new for Taylor.
A lot of the songs have 1989-esque vibes, lyrics, and tunes, but they’re all so much better. 1989, Swift’s fifth studio album, was her first pop album, and her best….until Reputation came along, and I was not “Ready For It.”
“This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” makes you dance around in your bedroom, and also makes you feel proud of Taylor for not holding back about telling off the haters. “New Year’s Day” and “King of my Heart” show how in love and happy she is now. They depict her life in the future with the love of her life.
Once again, Taylor duets with long-time best friend, Ed Sheeran, on the second track, “End Game.” Along with the rapper Future, Sheeran and Swift sing “Ooh, you and me, we got big reputations. Ah, and you heard about me. Ooh, I got some big enemies (yeah). Big reputation, big reputation.” Swift has worked with Sheeran before on her album Red. Their previous collaboration, “Everything Has Changed” might be a tiny bit better, but “End Game” is still one of the best songs Swift has ever produced.
Taylor can do no wrong, and Reputation is out-of-this-world amazing. I’m sure it’s going to break records, and win many awards. The LP sold 700,000 copies in its first day.
I only have one complaint: unless you bought the physical copy, or purchased it through iTunes, you can’t listen to it for another week on any streaming service. iHeartRadio has a Reputation Radio station, which mixes her old and new hits, but it’s just not the same.
Swift performed two new songs on Saturday Night Live, “…Ready for It?” and “Call It What You Want,” and embraced her “snake image” by singing into a snake microphone and wearing a snake sweater. While she was in New York City, Swift also made a last-minute appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where she performed “New Year’s Day.”
To promote her new album, Taylor Swift will be travelling on The Reputation Stadium Tour, which will begin in the U.S. in May and conclude in October. I don’t know how she is going to top the last tour, but I know she will.
With Reputation, Swift is letting the songs speak for themselves, and boy, they do. She’s ‘doing better than she ever was,’ as she sings in “Call It What You Want.”
I guess you could say the best revenge is happiness…