By: James Southworth
Rating: 2/5 Stars
It's very popular right now to hate on Taylor Swift. In fact, it's at a real peak. Honestly, in some ways it's easy to understand why. Swift has been involved in a variety of dramas lately, with her most recent ones being where she sued a small blogger as well as a small business with some overall bad reasoning. Still, there is some hate against her I feel is unwarranted, with some people making ridiculous claims that she supports white supremacy and is anti-feminist. I guess that comes from the fact that Swift doesn't talk politics too much, but to me it's stupid to expect a pop star to make statements about subjects like that. Even if she did, no one would be satisfied with her response. Anyhow, even in the midst of a very bad climate against her, Taylor Swift released "Reputation" to immense success. While I will say that this album wasn't quite as bad as I was thinking it could be based on its singles, it still isn't good. "Reputation" shows Taylor latching on to drama/hot topics to keep her fame in tact, not her music. For the most part, this album is full of generic trap/pop trends, petty and cliched lyrics, and lots of hypocrisy.
There are a few songs here that are good. In fact, there is one that I would characterize as great in "Getaway Car", easily the album's best track. This song is a nice, welcome surprise. It has a catchy backing beat to it, and its usage of electronics and synths is effective. I also appreciated that Swift shows some awareness in this song of how her being unreliable in relationships is really wearing her down: "There were sirens in the beat of your heart/I shoulda known I'd be the first to leave/Think about the place where you first met me... No nothing good starts in a getaway car". These aren't really legendary lyrics, but they still have a rare moment of showing that Swift is aware of the damage that she can cause and that she often regrets it. While I was not a big fan of most of the singles, "...Ready for It?" is admittedly a bit of a fun listen for me. It's ultimately not that memorable, but I still can't deny that I like the big, booming electronics which give the song an almost cinematic feel. Swift does a little bit of a rap/singing thing on this song, and it does works surprisingly well. The chorus is also very catchy. The vocoded vocals on "Delicate" create an interesting effect, and help add to the vulnerability of the track. It's another track with some well written lyrics. I also think "King of My Heart" is a fairly solid track, even if it's not really that special when compared to other songs on the top 40 charts.
That's only 4 out of 15 tracks that I can say I enjoy. For the most part the rest of this album is somewhat repetitive in nature. The other songs are made competently enough, but otherwise don't really impress. What really brings this album down for me is that there are a good handful of songs that I absolutely detest. One of the worst contenders is the track "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things". This song has everything in Taylor Swift I can't stand: her pettiness, her ridiculously repetitive choruses, and obnoxious cynicism. This track is dedicated to Kanye West and Kim Kardashian (it attacks the former person more), calling them out for being the cause of so much drama. This song feels very hypocritical, as by making this track Swift herself is just adding more fuel to the fire. Every single line in this song feels like it's begging to be put in an annoying "15 times Taylor Swift ANNIHILATED Her Haters" Buzzfeed article. Lyrically, it's just a cringe compilation, and the production values make the backing dubstep-esque effects sound obnoxiously loud. My least favorite song come in "Look What You Me Do", a song that still makes me shudder every time I hear it. This song is just awful in structure. Its beginning verse has such a dull lifeless trap beat, and it somehow becomes even more lifeless in the "chorus" where Swift simply repeats the title of the song over and over. And the line "Sorry the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now/Why?/Oh, because she's dead" deserves all the critical lambasting that's been thrown at it. This song does NOT usher in a "new" Taylor. This is still the same Taylor, always looking to the next piece of drama to latch on to, still looking to new boys to write break up songs about. Nothing has changed in this track.
If I sound mad in that previous paragraph, it's because I am. There are some other tracks here I don't like as well, although I don't feel quite as passionate about them. "End Game" has Swift rapping again, and this time she does not sound good. Her whole segments sound completely forced and unnatural, and the generic backing trap beat brings the song down further. I can't stand Future's feature (I can't stand him in general). While I usually like Ed Sheeran, he just doesn't sound like he belongs on this track at all. "Gorgeous" has Taylor Swift seemingly reveling in the fact that she wants to cheat on her old boyfriend for this attractive boy she meets at a party. She really wants to justify cheating, saying that she just can't possibly resist this guy's handsome face. It's actually sort of detestable in subject matter, and makes me dislike this song even more. Something about the chorus of the song irks me, as well. "I Did Something Bad", "Dancing With Our Hands Tied", and "Dress" all suffer from Swift trying to make a song about sleeping with a guy sound sexy or edgy, but failing. "New Year's Day", "Don't Blame Me", "So It Goes...", and "Call It What You Want" all have a sense of sameness to them. Even though they're not really bad or offensive in any way, they still leave no lasting impression.
This album is just not good overall. I don't hate it, but I definitely don't like it either. I would legitimately recommend a few of the songs I liked. But still, it just amazes me that this album sold so much in pure copies. What exactly makes Swift work so much for people? It seems like I'm not the only one that has that question. It seems like now more than ever people are calling her out as overrated. Swift wanted to change her image into something more edgy with this album. While I suppose overall the album was a bit darker, what is she really doing that is any different from any other big female pop star? Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato., Taylor Swift... all of them have taken their image and tried to make it more edgy and dark. She's not taking any real risks here. It's a trend that's getting tiresome, and Taylor Swift unsurprisingly follows the trend. With the exception of some songs, I would not recommend "Reputation".
Favorite Songs: "Getaway Car", "Delicate", "...Ready for It?", "King of My Heart"
Least Favorite Songs: "Look What You Made Me Do", "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things", "Gorgeous", "End Game", "I Did Something Bad", "Dress"
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