‘I Think I’ve Seen This List Before…’

When an artist like Taylor Swift has ten record-breaking albums, it is hard to rank all of them, especially when she is my favorite artist. 

As a huge Taylor Swift fan, I have spent hours creating my album ranking, which is not easy. So here is the first half of my ranking of every Taylor Swift album. 

At the bottom of my ranking, at number ten, would have to be Taylor Swift, also known as Debut. Don’t get me wrong, I love this album, and it has virtually no skips, in my opinion, but when you put it in comparison to the other nine albums, it loses some strength.

It was also Swift’s first album, so it is not necessarily her best work. My favorite song from this album would have to be “Picture to Burn” due to its iconic lyrics and music video. My least favorite, however, would be “Cold as You.” I simply do not have the same love for it as I do the other songs on the album.

The next album, at number nine, would be Fearless (Taylor’s Version). I do not think I have ever heard an album that encapsulates being a young teenager in high school quite as well as Fearless. This album goes from being in a new school to falling in love and feeling ditched by your friends. A lot also happened in Swift’s career during the era of this album, and it influenced her music greatly.

Some of Swift’s biggest hits and notable music videos came from this album, with singles like “You Belong with Me” and “Love Story.” One of my favorite songs from this album is “Hey Stephen,” and my least favorite is “We Were Happy” for similar reasons as my Debut least favorite. I just do not prefer it to the other tracks.

As much as it pains me to say it, number eight on this list is Evermore. For me, this album is on repeat the moment there is a chill in the air up until all the snow finally melts away. I believe Evermore has incredible storytelling, and it keeps me captivated the whole time with the western undertones and warm music. Evermore is the sister album to Folklore, and Swift has said she made Evermore because she simply couldn’t stop writing songs, and I think that is evident but not at all in a bad way.

My favorite song from this album is by far “Cowboy Like Me,” with its gorgeous sound and essentially perfect bridge. My least favorite song on this album would have to be the title track, “Evermore,” featuring Bon Iver. I am not a huge fan of Bon Iver, and I believe the song would have been better with just Swift’s vocals.

My seventh favorite album is Midnights. I simply adore the sound of this album and its variety. I think the concept for the album, being songs about sleepless nights throughout Swift’s life, is an incredibly unique idea, and I love how many different meanings can be found in the layers of each song.

I think Swift also uses amazing metaphors and cryptic lyricism in this album, in my opinion best shown in the song “The Great War.” I also think she has such a skill for transitions in songs, such as “Maroon,” where she spends the time going through the relationship and seemingly splashes the horrible parts of it in the lyrics.

It is so hard to pick a favorite song from this album, but for the sole reason of it being a great song to scream in the car, I am going to have to go with “Hits Different.” My least favorite from this album, though, is “Bigger than the Whole Sky,” I understand it is a very sad and important song, but I cannot seem to get over get over my strong dislike for how it sounds.