In this first edition of The Discography Download, we will be taking a look at the albums of pop star Taylor Swift and ranking them from worst to best. With her immensely successful Eras Tour coming to an end this upcoming weekend, let’s take an in-depth look into each of Swift’s albums and rank them from “worst” to best. Swift has a total of 11 studio albums. For this ranking, we will be looking at her re-recorded (Taylor’s Version) albums, except for the albums she has yet to re-record, in which we will look at her original versions of those albums.
- Taylor Swift (Debut)
Taylor Swift’s debut album Taylor Swift is the first studio album she released. While the album is nostalgic for many as their first look into Swift’s talent as a singer, songwriter, and performer, it falls short of the number of memorable and successful songs. Some of the notable songs from the album include “Tim McGraw,” “Our Song,” and “Teardrops on My Guitar.”
- Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is the re-recording of Swift’s second studio album Fearless. It features songs like “Love Story,” “You Belong With Me,” and “Fearless.” While the album has a stronger ensemble of songs, it resembles her debut album in the sense that many of the songs are not as popular or successful as songs from her other albums.
- Evermore
Evermore is the second album Swift released in 2020, and her ninth studio album. The album had a substantially lower number of sales compared to Swift’s other albums, this likely being due to some overshadowing it experienced after being released so shortly after her eighth studio album, Folklore. Featuring songs like “Willow,” “Champagne Problems,” and “Tolerate It,” it has more popular and successful songs compared to her debut album and Fearless, yet still lacks enough overall popularity to be higher on this list.
- Red (Taylor’s Version)
Red (Taylor’s Version) is the re-record of Swift’s fourth studio album Red. The album is considered Swift’s first major switch to the pop genre from country. The album has many popular songs, such as “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “I Knew You Were Trouble,” “22,” and “All Too Well,” however, it has not had long-term popularity and success as a whole.
- Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is the re-recording of Swift’s third studio album, Speak Now. This album includes songs such as “Mine,” “Mean,” and “Dear John.” Like Swift’s other albums, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) has many good songs, but still lacks in the cultural impact and overall success and popularity that her other albums have had. However, the album has some of the best vault songs out of all of Swift’s rerecorded albums, with songs like “I Can See You” and “Electric Touch.”
- Folklore
Swift’s eighth studio album and first of two albums from 2020 is Folklore. The cottage-core aesthetic, along with folk and indie-inspired songs set this album apart from Swift’s previous albums. With songs like “Cardigan,” “August,” and “Exile,” Folklore established itself as the beginning of a genre adjustment to Swift’s music that was led by thought-provoking and mysterious lyrics. While an overall pivotal album for Swift, it still lacks the kind of mainstream popularity that some of her other albums were able to achieve.
- The Tortured Poets Department
The Tortured Poets Department is the eleventh and most recent original studio album from Taylor Swift. The album continued Swift’s trend of using thought-provoking and mysterious lyrics that Folklore and Evermore did but also infused some of her old pop charm into it as well. The album as a whole is good, with songs like “Fortnight” ft. Post Malone, “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart,” “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” and “Florida!!!” ft. Florence + The Machine, but some of its songs walk the line of music and poetry a little too closely, leading to some lyrics that to many Swifties might make sense, but to the ordinary listener might come off as confusing and too poetically charged.
- Lover
Lover is Swift’s seventh studio album. The album includes songs like “Me!” ft. Brandon Urie, “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince,” “Lover,” and “You Need To Calm Down.” It is one of Swift’s most pop-influenced albums, and was the first album she released after parting ways with her record label at the time, Big Machine Records. The album could be considered one of her “happiest.” It features catchy pop lyrics, and it also features Swift’s most recent smash hit “Cruel Summer,” which has garnered over 2.6 billion streams on Spotify alone. The album has cemented itself as one of Taylor Swift’s most iconic eras, with it even being the leading set on her worldwide Era’s Tour.
- Midnights
Taylor Swift’s tenth studio album is Midnights. The album is the second most recent original album in Swift’s discography. Featuring songs like “Anti-Hero,” “Karma,” “Lavender Haze,” and “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” Midnights mixes Swift’s iconic pop sound with her thought-provoking and mysterious lyrics from her other recent albums. The album marked one of the many reinventions of Swift’s music. Prior to Midnights, her albums Folklore and Evermore portrayed Swift as an alternative/indie artist, which was starkly different from her old pop music in 1989 and Reputation. Midnights combined those different eras into a new, attention-demanding sound that was all her own, marking a new direction for Swift to take her music in.
- Reputation
Swift’s iconic sixth studio album Reputation takes second place on this list. The album was released following a three-year period where Swift didn’t release a new album. Reputation was a very unexpected and rather shocking reinvention for Swift, going from the immense success of the pop masterpiece 1989 to a rather dark and shocking aesthetic. The album featured powerful and foreboding lyrics and visuals in the music videos for songs like “…Ready for It?” and “Look What You Made Me Do.” Reputation marked a massive and defining switch in Swift’s style and image as an artist. Her ‘don’t mess with me’ attitude and successful execution of the ‘bad girl’ persona have become iconic among Swifties and pop music fans alike, with many saying this is one of, if not the best of Swift’s albums.
- 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
The number one album on this list and arguably the best Taylor Swift album is 1989 (Taylor’s Version). The album is the rerecording of Swift’s fifth studio album, 1989. It features a multitude of hit songs such as “Shake It Off,” “Style,” “Wildest Dreams,” “Welcome To New York,” “Blank Space,” “Bad Blood,” and “Out Of The Woods.” 1989 is considered the biggest pop album of Swift’s career and was her breakout album into mainstream pop, with this era being the one that many people know her from. 1989 is, in the opinion of this writer, Taylor Swift’s best album.
