It only took a week or two for me to become very familiar with the differences between Taylor's style between albums. However, I think I made the same mistake that most do when looking at her music, and that was focusing on genre. It's easy to say that Taylor transitioned from country to pop to whatever the hell she's doing now, but that is glosses over so many important details. Her first two albums, Taylor Swift and Fearless are both widely considered to be "country", but still have distinct musical elements that makes telling their songs apart very easy if you know how.
On top of the sound, there is also the issue of theme. Most Taylor Swift albums have a central theme; a guiding compass that points each song in vaguely the same direction. This is a hugely important factor in characterizing what each album tries to accomplish. With that out of the way, let's begin!
Taylor Swift
Tone: Generally optimistic
Music: Acoustic guitar, banjo, low volume male background accompaniment
Taylor Swift released her first, self-titled, album way back in 2006. Best known for it's hit singles including Teardrops on My Guitar, Picture To Burn, Tim McGraw, Our Song, and Should've Said No, this album really shaped Taylor's early image as well as setting the groundwork for her entire career. You may be somewhat confused at me saying the theme is "isolation", after all doesn't that conflict with an optimistic tone? Well they sometimes do get in each other's way, especially in songs like The Outside, but they aren't inherently contradictory. In fact, almost every song has something to say about what it's like to be on your own, or at least feeling that way. There are a few exceptions, like Mary's Song and Our Song, but there's a surprising amount of cohesion for such an early album.
If you're wondering why you never noticed, well that's one of Taylor Swift's biggest problems. My guess is that there wasn't explicit intent behind the theme of this album, but the songs that featured this theme ended up being the strongest. After all, Taylor was a teenager when she wrote this album and that can be a very isolating time, so it makes sense that songs drawing from these feelings would be the best written.
Fearless
Tone: Resolute, headstrong
Music: Strings and percussion, higher vocals
Whereas Taylor Swift mostly presented problems as an album, Fearless has come around giving out solutions left and right two years later. You probably remembers hits like Love Story and You Belong With Me, but there are a lot of great songs here. You may think that the theme is obvious: being fearless. In my view, this is only half the story. Sure that's a perfect descriptor for songs like Hey Stephen and Fearless (no kidding), but it doesn't paint the whole picture for less positive songs like The Way I Loves You and You're Not Sorry. The one element nearly every song has in common is that Taylor follows what her heart tells her. Some songs paint that as an advantage, like Love Story where love overcomes all, but others show that following your heart without looking for warning sign can lead to ruination, like Forever & Always. I list the tone as headstrong because every interaction is framed by Taylor with complete confidence. After all, the song isn't called "I Belong With You", Taylor knows what's up.
Speak Now
Tone: Retrospective, dramatic
Music: Electric guitar
2010's Speak Now is one of Taylor Swift's best albums, but it's also one of the hardest to label. There isn't nearly as much of a theme to this album as most others. The one I have above pretty much works, but it also would basically work for any of her albums if you don't pay too much attention. Instead of being strong through consistency in theme, Speak Now goes for a strong, distinct tone. I wish I had the musical proficiency to fully describe this album's "sound" with more detail than just saying "electric guitar", because there really is so much more to it. In reality, this album has a very distinct combination of vocals, electric guitar, and acoustic guitar that you never really see in other Taylor Swift songs. This led to an album full of very big sounding songs, brimming with drama. The narratives that Taylor paints have their stakes raised twofold by the music alone, and it makes for an amazing album.
Red
Tone: Sad, Beautiful, Tragic
Music: Breathy vocals, acoustic guitar for days
2012 gave us Red, one of Taylor's most popular albums. Many claim that Red is her best written album, which I'm not completely on board with. It's certainly her most written album, but the tragic, poetic tone doesn't always work out in her favor. Regardless, there's no denying that the consistency in both tone and theme is remarkable. And remark on it I will! Some songs, like All Too Well, really benefit from being surrounded by other songs that can be seen as additional context, while others, like Sad Beautiful Tragic fall flat at get swept underwater by the tides of the more impactful songs. Anyways, I know it's somewhat of a copout to use acoustic guitar as a musical style, so I'll go one step further. Many of these songs use their guitars in the exact same way. Just listen to the first three seconds of Red, Treacherous, All Too Well, 22, I Almost Do, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Holy Ground, Everything Has Changed, and Begin Again. Need I say any more?
1989
Tone: Confident
Music: Echoes, heavy clapping beats
In the same vein as Speak Now, 2014's 1989 is somewhat difficult to characterize. One of it's biggest strengths is it's range, but this does lead to a less cohesive theme, especially compared to albums like Red and Reputation. Sure, if you look at just a few songs you can find something that fits pretty well but it's difficult to find one line that can describe ten songs or more. The theme I wrote above ended up being just vague enough to describe nearly the whole album. That said, the individual songs typically have very strong themes, they just don't always connect well. It's like the inverse of Red, where songs sacrifice themselves to the whole. Each song on 1989 does what it takes to stand out from the pack, but the whole never feels too bloated. One way that I like thinking of this albums is the same fraught relationship was split into a few possible outcomes, and each of these songs inform us of the status of the relationship in a given timeline. It's a pretty stupid theory but it makes me happy and isn't that what matters?
Reputation
Tone: Cynical, Intoxicated
Music: Synth, vocal focused
In terms of construction, this album is actually pretty similar to Red. They both have very strong, well defined themes that nearly every song comments on. Each album is also relatively homogeneous, with each being commonly criticized for sounding the same across every song. This is certainly a fair criticism, but in my opinion the songs on Reputation have more nuanced takes on the theme they contribute to, as well as having more complex and interesting music. It's definitely not for everyone, but there is a lot going on here to love if you take the time to warm up to it. And boy did I give this album time (and every other album for that matter).
So which album is best? Well again, there are multiple answers depending on what you value. There are a hundred ways to evaluate quality, and none of them are without bias. For instance, Here's a quick plot I made showing my opinion on the strength of theme and nuance each album has on two axes.
This plot would make you think that Speak Now is a bad album when it, in fact, really isn't. It just so happens that it doesn't shine in these regards, but it still has tons to offer. Keep that in mind for what I have to say tomorrow!
See you tomorrow,
-C
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