To disclaimer from the beginning, I’ve never been a fan of Taylor Swift, but I cannot deny that her songs have been quite catchy. My issue stems from the fact that I really think she created the fame monster she hates. I think she is the most fake celebrity on the planet, trying to still play the “poor me” card instead of owning what she is. She’s always the victim, and likes to blame the media for reporting her public drama, and as the media, well, I take a bit of offense to that.
Another disclaimer is the fact that I won’t buy this album. Especially after reading about the “verified fan” program she wants to use for fans to buy tickets. I understand that scalpers are a real problem, but your solution is to make even MORE money off the people who are truly your fans? By buying the album several times over (to inflate record sales), buying extra merch, and ions of other ways that inflate her “highest paid” status. I don’t think the mark of a true fan is in how much money they spend, but that’s just me.
I digress.
Since I didn’t buy the album (and it’s not released for streaming on iTunes Music which is what I subscribe to), my reviews are only on the minute and a half of each song I could preview on iTunes, but I honestly think that’s enough to get the feel of a song.
1….Ready For It?
This was the second single release, first song on the album, and honestly for good reason. Despite all the hating I just wrote above, I dance along to this one in the Peoria’s 92.3 studio DAILY! It’s got a hell of a beat and the rhythm of the lyrics gets stuck in my head easily! This is my FAVORITE of the songs she’s released from this album so far, possibly top of my list of ALL Taylor Swift songs (Blank Space and Bad Blood-Kendrick Lamar version are in this grouping too).
2. End Game (featuring Ed Sheeran & Future)
While my 90 second preview on iTunes didn’t showcase any of Ed Sheeran’s part (and I’m a big Ed fan, so that was sad), this was not bad beat-wise, but I enjoyed it much the same as I enjoyed Bad Blood off her 1989 album… I liked the rap part more than her part in it. Also, this song is reportedly about…. herself. She swears that she doesn’t love the drama, that drama loves her (not taking any responsibility for her part in the drama, of course.)
3. I Did Something Bad
Nope, this one does nothing for me. She’s starting to show her songwriting template for this album and it has a lot of repetitive aspects to it. Hooks may make a pop song, but you need more than that to make a rockstar hit. (Of course the “more than that” in Taylor Swift’s case is that she’s Taylor Swift, so it’ll be fan-acclaimed regardless). This one is apparently about Calvin Harris, and having zero remorse about how all that shade went down. In other news look for this one every hour today, because we play new music first, and just because it doesn’t work for me doesn’t mean it won’t work for others.
4. Don’t Blame Me
There’s a lot of songs on this album that sound very un-Taylor Swift… so she’s DEFINITELY updated her sound. I like this one, but it feels kind of meh, too… on the other hand, the title seems to be Taylor Swift’s Tagline in life. Don’t Blame HER for anything. The WORLD is out to get her. Yawn.
5. Delicate
I know that I have no experience in putting an album together, but as someone who understands the musicality of our radio playlists and also DJs on the side, this song coming after Don’t Blame Me of almost the same energy is not the order I would have put these in… but, like I said, putting albums together is not my area of expertise. I think I’d probably get Delicate and Don’t Blame Me confused if you asked me about either one, though.
6. Look What You Made Me Do
While some people thought this was insanely awesome and that the “old Taylor is DEAD!” I wonder, “if the old Taylor is dead, why are you still pulling the same song antics?” But then again, we all know this was the Kim and Kanye attack song, and while there is NO ONE in that trio of drama that I am a fan of, I fell on the side of Kim and Kanye. Sure, when it first unfolded that Kanye put the line in his song about maybe sleeping with Taylor one day because he “made that B**** famous” it was like “come on now…” and, yet it didn’t surprise me because Taylor wasn’t the only attack he’s ever done at an award show. I don’t love revenge songs, so I don’t like a lot of Kanye’s antics either. But when Taylor took to the stage to BLAST Kanye, and then Kanye made his statement that she gave permission, she flat out denied it to save face. Then the Snapchat video was released of the phone conversation on speaker and Taylor’s “poor me” image was shattered. She created this drama herself. So the revenge track is kind of just another eye-roll for me. You lost. Be a bigger person and just walk away.
7. So It Goes
An ode to her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, I like this one MORE than Gorgeous, and better than the last few songs on the album. So far, I do like the overall sound of the album, and it IS a LOT different than 1989. This one kind of sounds Halsey-esque, which may be why I like it.
8. Gorgeous
Her third single release (wait didn’t we only get the first one like 2 months ago? Is she going for a record of the MOST singles released in the shortest amount of time? It’s reportedly (and unsurprisingly) about her British Beau, actor Joe Alwyn. This one is kind of “blah” to me. It sounds like a throwaway pop song you’d throw deep down into your album, not the second track and third single release.
9. Getaway Car
Well she admits in this one that her relationship with Tom Hiddleston was a complete rebound from Calvin Harris, a very public and quick-moving relationship. At least she’s admitting SOMETHING was kind of on her. Random side note, the first time I heard Ready for It, I thought the opening lyrics were “Loki was a killer, first time that I saw him” and was like “wait a minute, is that a reference to Tom Hiddleston?” (he played Loki in the Thor movies, who was, in fact, a killer). That’s not what she says, FYI.
10. King of My Heart
I really like this one. It’s not revengy, it’s a love song, again, presumably about Joe. And if this is how she feels about him… well, this may just be THE guy. It has a delightfully pop-py beat, and lyrics a lot of people can relate to. This gets a star from me.
11. Dancing with Our Hands Tied
“I loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would divide us.” Possibly another song about Joe? They kept their relationship secret for a very long time before going public… This one is okay, too… doesn’t make my “Hate” list but doesn’t make my “love” list either.
12. Dress
I read another article that fans said in the secret listening session that this song was “so sexy, her mom had to leave the room when she played it.” Woah. That really is different from her super good-girl persona of the past. And I can see why “I only bought this dress so you could take it off.” This one is pretty sultry, and I kind of like it. It reminds me of one of her “squad” friend, Selena Gomez’s song “Good For You.”
13. This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
Another Kanye revenge track, especially in the line of “friends don’t try to trick you, get you on the phone and mind twist you.” Which to me is really rewriting the story of what happened to fit her narrative. Honestly, I think this one is as poorly written as Look What You Made Me Do. Poppy, but forgettable. LWYMMD hit the top of the charts quickly, but fell off JUST as quickly. If she releases this one, I see the same future for it.
14. Call it What You Want
Her FOURTH single release (same question as above), but I like this one almost as much as I like Ready for It? Also about boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. Boy, I hope for her sake this guy actually likes her, because he has exactly six acting credits on IMDB, only two of which have been released, and he’s now got several songs on a Taylor Swift album that’s likely to explode his reputation (pun intended) bigger than his acting skills ever could.
15. New Year’s Day
I like this one because it’s simple. I love the sick pop beats of the earlier songs in the album, but it’s a piano track behind her. New Year’s Day kind of symbolizes fresh starts in this song, and I like it to end the album. Is it one of my favorites? Nah. Is it one i think will even be released as a single? No. But it’s simple and goes back to her songwriter roots.
Overall, I honestly am surprised. I thought The whole thing would be a huge F*** YOU to Kim, Kanye, Tom, Calvin, Katy, the Media, any haters, and anything, and while it’s still half an album of revenge, there’s still a lot of love on it, too. Still not my favorite album, still not even my favorite album of hers but not as bad as I thought it was going to be!
Swifties, do you hate me for saying it? Let me know your thoughts on Facebook!
