If you have come here because you read the title of this article and are a die hard Taylor Swift fan ready to defend your favorite songs that didn’t make the list, you’ve come to the right place. Let me preface your reading experience by first saying that I have always been one to have a few unpopular opinions and I am subject to bias (who isn’t about something so close to your heart?). I have favorite albums and albums that have been clouded by my sister overplaying two songs from it that have led to its untimely grade in my overall ranking of Taylor Swift albums. Feel free to disagree. Or agree. But first, let me explain why this article has been placed in oh-so-capable hands. My sister and I have been Taylor Swift fans since her debut album (one ‘Taylor Swift’) was released in 2006. We listened to it obsessively on our bubblegum pink Hello Kitty CD player on a continuous loop. Times haven’t changed much; now we just listen to the Tortured Poet’s Society and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on our TV and we’re a little bit older. So here goes:
11. Tortured Poets Society
Best tracks: But Daddy I Love Him!, I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, I Hate it Here
Worst tracks: Anything that I didn’t list above
Look. I have two distinct memories associated with this album:
I listened to this album in its entirety when I was painfully carsick somewhere in Nevada while my sister, her fiancé, and I drove my car home across the left half of the country.
I listened to “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” on repeat while driving to my awful job over the summer where I cleaned spider nests out of plastic bins and painted cerulean-colored ceilings back to white (both painfully true stories).
But, with that being said, the album is as long winded as it is wonderful. Though the speculations of what this album was going to sound like were wholly inaccurate from the end result, I think that this album is powerful. The reason it’s so far down on this list, you ask? Every song (except for the ones listed under best tracks) sounds exactly the same to me. Genuinely, I couldn’t tell the difference between the majority of these songs and I wonder if it’s because of the sheer volume of content that this album saturates us with.
10. Midnights
Best tracks: Sweet Nothing, Labyrinth, You’re on Your Own, Kid
Worst track: Mastermind
You know what? I’ve come around on Midnights. In the grand scheme of albums, this one is strong, but not stronger than its predecessors. After Evermore and Folklore, this album gave me whiplash. We were back at the heavily synthesized Taylor Swift and had to give our sweet, sweet love to the recently and dearly departed synthesized-less Taylor that we had gotten during her previous era. But, as my opening remark said, I ended up doing a one-eighty on this album in the best way. I understood the change in sound, the depth of the content, and the pulse of a good synthesized beat that felt reminiscent of the thud of nocturnal thoughts. Midnights is good. Bold. But when you compare it to her earlier genius, you find yourself at number ten on the ratings list.
9. Evermore
Best tracks: Happiness, Champagne Problems, Ivy
Worst track: Cowboy Like Me
This album gives me hope but I’m not sure why. I think it may be because the subject matter is more about the complexities of the human experience. However, Taylor Swift saw the success of Folklore, raised us 100, then fell just a little bit short of what we knew she could do. I’ve been thinking about why I don’t like Evermore as much as Folklore, and I do believe that it is because the idea of each song being a different story is just compelling. Evermore just doesn’t give us anything that’s much different from its sister album.
8. 1989
Best tracks: Out of the Woods, You Are in Love, Is It Over Now?
Worst track: Bad Blood
I look back on this album and really think: wow, what a time in life this was. And am I wrong? The original release of this album saw the Ice Bucket Challenge and hipster Tumblr phenomena in all of its glory. This album will never be anything but fun for me. Maybe it was the hipster skater skirt and Polaroid film aesthetic that this masterpiece represented but I’m also willing to bet that it was the fact that Taylor Swift’s transition into pop music was fully released with 1989. With the three titles recognized for best track, I can tell you that “Out of the Woods” and “Is it Over Now” are two of the catchiest songs on the album. “You Are In Love” continues to live rent-free in my head as one of Taylor Swift’s best love songs. I’m nervous to say it’s one of her best love songs EVER, but just know that it’s definitely up there.
7. Debut
Best tracks: Stay Beautiful, Invisible, Mary’s Song (Oh My My My)
Worst track: A Place in This World
A killer debut. You’ve already read my connection to this album which probably matches up with many a other original Taylor Swift fans.. This album convinces you that all of the best things in life are blue jeans, Chevy trucks, and Tim McGraw. I would also like to say, when I did my research for this article, I found that more often than not, this album was last in every single Taylor Swift album ranking. None of us would be here without it. All I’m saying is this album deserves justice and a nice cushy spot at seventh. It may not have the technical prowess that we see later in Taylor Swift’s career, but it shows us all that she could be and gave us classics like “Stay Beautiful”.
6. Red
Best tracks: All Too Well (10 Minute Version), Come Back. Be Here., I Bet You Think About Me
Worst track: Girl at Home
Does the phrase “did the twin flame bruise paint you blue / just between us, did the love affair maim you too?” mean anything to you? It seemed fitting that I faced the most grueling heartbreak of my life months after the re-release of this album came out and that it contains the most poignant break up tracks that I think Taylor Swift has ever created and the first song that I listened to as an almost-adult where I thought to myself, she released this just for me. This album is heartbreak and red flags, and somehow manages to capture the plethora of emotions that one experiences in their early twenties.
5. Fearless
Best tracks: Fearless, The Best Day, Change
Worst track: White Horse
I would have put this album higher on my list but my mom bought my sister this CD as soon as it came out and she would come into our rooms and play this album to wake us up in the morning. Fearless doesn’t hit the same after it was your alarm clock sound every single day in second grade. However, Fearless does fully encompass what it feels like to be a freshman in high school and I don’t think that will ever change. Taylor Swift’s sophomore album solidified her ability to grow in the future as an artist and so we were able to grow up with her. For Fearless, I’m so thankful.
4. Reputation
Best tracks: Don’t Blame Me, New Year’s Day, This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
Worst track: So it Goes…
Everyone needs to stop the slander of this album. This is not Taylor Swift’s worst era. It is not trash. I know that everyone either loves this album, or they love to hate it and that just isn’t fair to the great fun and wonderful commentary that it holds. If you were canceled and trying to come back from it, you’d probably do the same thing too.
3. Folklore
Best tracks: Tears Ricochet, Illicit Affairs, Peace
Worst track: mad woman
Folklore is wonderfully made, and masterfully concocted. What an interesting way to share your life experiences without actually having to explicitly disclose information. I’ve never much believed in the idea of your memory being timeless, but the aspects of this album reminded me of a quote from Pericles: “what you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." This piece of art is in fact evergreen and will forever be.
2. Speak Now
Best tracks: Long Live, Innocent, Enchanted
Worst track: Back to December
I love this album even though I was supposed to see Taylor in concert when she was touring this album and she had to cancel the show because she had laryngitis (still not over that). Regardless, Speak Now was Taylor Swift’s period of growth. She still had a small southern twang, but now she has matured vocals and an album she wrote all by herself. With this in mind, it’s impossible to not to be wonderstruck that there is simply no bad track on this album.
1. Lover
Best tracks: Cornelia Street (Live from Paris), Daylight, Death by a Thousand Cuts
Worst track: Soon You’ll Get Better
If you haven’t been convinced yet, Taylor Swift has always been vulnerable in her music. She’s always told exactly how her heart was broken and how it made her feel. However, in Lover, we get to see a different side of her vulnerability. Instead of relentless lamentation, we get an unhurried expression of love, indifference, and just about everything in between. Lover is a masterpiece, and my biggest regret in life is that this album didn’t get the full attention it deserved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I think we could all use a longer Lover era.
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