As you can probably guess I picked up Taylor Swift's new CD, 1989, the other day and it's been happily living in my car's CD player ever since. It's dance-y, it's catchy, and it's got more understated Harry Styles references than ever. But more importantly, it's Tay-Tay's official departure from country music to pop - her sort of declaration of independence from the country scene (which to be honest wasn't much of a departure because I never completely considered her music "country").
But anyway, I've been seeing a lot of reviews of Ms. Swift's latest playlist on the internet and I even read a few of them, but I didn't find any of them to be relatable or even accurate. I kind of felt like they were trying to sell the album more than give an fair assessment of the music. So while I was jamming to the CD on the way home, an idea came to me - why don't I just review the album myself? I've been a Tay-Tay fan from the beginning and I'm a normal person, so why not give the world wide web a normal person's evaluation of an album that's slowly taking over the music world?
So here goes: my personal review of Taylor Swift's "1989" album . . .
Nellie's Song Rating Scale
5 stars *****Love It
4 stars ****Like It
3 stars ***OK
2 stars **Eh
1 atar *Turn It Off
1. "Welcome to New York"****
Ok, so as the first song this is the introduction to the album and Tay-Tay's new life in the Big Apple. Like the city it's named after, it's fast-paced and rhythmic, sort of like a quick ode to New York City and all its inhabitants. I thought it captured the speed and liveliness of the city well.
Best lyric: "Like any great love it keeps you guessing, like any real love it's ever changing"
2. "Blank Space"****
This was Taylor's tongue-in-cheek song about how the media sees her. She said in an interview that she wrote it as kind of a joke at first but her producers - Max Martin & Shellbeck - insisted that it be on the album. It starts out sort of laidback but progresses as it builds to the chorus. Also, it has a weird pen-clicking sound at the end of the each chorus which actually sounds more like Taylor just clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. But if you think the clicking noise is weird check out the music video - it's even weirder.
Best lyric: "New Money, Suit and tie, I can read you like a magazine"
3. "Style"*****
This was my favorite song on the album. I loved it the first time I heard a snatch of it on the Target commercial for the CD and I love it even more now that I can listen to it to my heart's content. I think I've had it on repeat for a week now. For me, it captured a moment of carefreeness and fun. The lyrics were very visual and the beat reminded me a little of Phil Collins in his Genesis days with the drums and synths in the background. Basically, Taylor did what she does best with this one: transports you to a moment or feeling through song.
Best lyric: "I say I heard that you been out and about with some other girl, some other girl, he says what you've heard is true but I can't stop thinking about you and I, I said I've been there too a few times"
4. "Out of the Woods"*****
Taylor has more or less stated that this song's about Harry Styles, which tells me two things: 1. Taylor & Harry's relationship was so shaky at times that she had to come with a metaphor to get through it and 2. Harry is not a good driver. I mean, he crashed a snowmobile for crying out loud. But regardless of who it's about, it's a pretty good song. The verses are kind of personal but the chorus is really catchy because it repeats itself.
Best lyric: "The rest of the world was in black and white but we were in screaming color"
5. "All You Had to Do Was Stay" ***
I found this song to be basically what every girl has wanted to tell every guy who's ever dumped her without telling her why. It was catchy and it had it's moments, but it got kind of lost in the shuffle for me.
Best lyric: "I've been picking up the pieces of the mess you made"
6. "Shake It Off"*****
This song was totally Tay-Tay's anthem of empowerment. She told the haters and the fakers to go and spread their negativity somewhere else. This was really the world's real intro to the new and improved Taylor - or Tay-Tay 2.0 as I call her. The lesson I learned while singing this song at the top of my lungs in the car was this: when people try to tear you down take Tay-Tay's advice and shake it off. :)
Best lyric: "I go on too many dates but I can't make them stay at least that's people say"
7. "I Wish You Would"***
Over the years of being a T-Swift fan I've learned that she loves referencing 2am and midnight, see "Mine". and about a dozen other songs. She must be kind of a night owl. But every once in a while the 2am reference fits the song perfectly like it does with this one. It's about wishing you could turn back time (no pun intended) and get a second chance in a relationship. The beat reminds me of driving really fast in a car with the windows rolled down.
Best lyric: "I wish you knew that I'll never forget you as long as I live"
8. "Bad Blood"****
I have to admit it, this songs gets stuck in my head. I find myself singing it out loud more than I'd like. It's got the 808s blaring and a lot of bass.
Best lyric: "Band aids don't fix bullet holes"
9. "Wildest Dreams"***
This song kind of made me blush. The lyrics got a tad personal and I felt like Tay-Tay was walking a line. Listening to it, I imagined her on a ferry ride on the Hudson River with some tall, handsome guy with the wind blowing through her hair.
Best lyric: "Red lips and rosy cheeks, say you'll see me again"
10. "How You Get the Girl"*****
I love this song. It's Taylor's How-To song and every line was absolutely spot-on. Every bit of advice she gave was true and believe it or not most girls will go weak-in-the-knees when someone's fighting to be with them.
Best lyric: "I want you for worse or for better, I would wait forever and ever"
11. "This Love"**
This song reminded me of something from Taylor's "Speak Now" album and for some strange reason it made me think of water - like a clear, flowing stream in the forest. It's the only song Taylor wrote on the album by herself. Honestly, I figure she wanted it to be slow and moving, but I only found it slow and sad.
Best lyric: "These hands had to let it go free and this love came back to me"
12. "I Know Places"*****
This was probably the weirdest sounding song on the album, but I still found myself liking it. The lyrics are pretty self-explanatory - Taylor gets a boyfriend, media finds out, paparazzi swarm them, Taylor's relationship turns into a fish tank. She tells the "metaphorical" guy that she knows places they can go to hide from the prying eyes but for some reason I kind of doubt that. Anyhoo, the song is super catchy and Ryan Tedder co-wrote/produced it so you know it's got plenty of bass and backbeats. Still, a solid song.
Best lyric: "They are the hunters, we are the foxes, and we run"
13. "Clean"***
I don't know if it's the slowed down beat or that the name makes me think of cleaning products, but every time I hear this song I think of water - well, actually water trickling over a rock or a flowing stream. Weird, huh? I think it's because she references water a lot in the lyrics - rain, drowning, flood, down pours etc. As far as songs go it's sweet and sincere.
Best lyric: "10 months sober I must admit, just because you're clean don't mean you don't miss it"
As you probably saw from the first picture on this post I bought the deluxe edition of the CD so I got 3 additional songs and to me they were better than some of the ones that actually made the album. Here's my review of each one in ten words or less:
1."Wonderland"***** - Whimsical, Fun, Catchy
2. "You Are In Love"***** - Romantic, Sweet, Slow
3. "New Romantics"*****-Made me think of flappers in the 1920s
The deluxe edition also came with three songwriting memos from Taylor, which I thought was interesting. It was a little behind-the-scenes sneak into Taylor's songwriting methods.
All in all the album was pretty good. I wouldn't say it was Taylor's best but it had it's strong points as well it's weak ones. The album artwork was original and Tay-Tay even included 13 color Polaroid pictures with choice song lyrics from each song.
As a whole I'd give Taylor Swift's 1989 album 4 stars****.
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