By: Seth Householder –

There’s no denying that Taylor Swift is talented. She twists her relationships into songs, masterfully hidden by layers of carefully placed lyrics, hinting at events in the relationships that nobody knew. She’s had several hits over the years, starting with her country hits, such as “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me,” in the late 2000s. Transitioning into a new decade, Taylor’s songs became more of a country-pop hybrid with her album, “Red,” and hits “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.”

In 2014, Taylor pulled off one of the riskiest and successful moves of her career – moving from country to pop. Her hit album “1989” spawned hits such as “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” and “Bad Blood.” Two years passed without a peep from Taylor besides the numerous feuds she seemed to get caught up into or caused, from feuds with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian to Katy Perry. Then in late 2016, she resurfaced with “Don’t Wanna Live Forever” aided by former One Direction member Zayn Malik.

Almost six months passed again, silence. Then “Look What You Made Me Do,” came out, igniting a fire of theories and pointing fingers at everyone who has caused her pain, marking the start of a new era. Whereas “1989” advised you to shake off the haters, “reputation” is convincing you to tear them to shreds. It was an odd, unpredicted move, and an artistic choice albeit a good one.

Track One: “…Ready For It?” – An instant bop, this song only get catchier the more you listen to it, and that’s the one thing you will be doing. Taylor semi-raps on this song, and Eminem should watch out. Even with its darker tone compared to the other songs on the album, it’s so good. Grade: A

Track Two: “End Game feat. Ed Sheeran and Future” – One of the weaker songs in the album, I would compare this song to “Bad Blood” seeing it is the one song that features other artists on the album and it is a catchy song but it is sub-par compared to later songs. It combines previous collaborator and guitar crooner Ed Sheeran with the popular, trap heavy rapper, Future, which turned out better than I thought it would, but it seems sloppy compared to its predecessors “Bad Blood” and “Everything Has Changed” with Taylor’s vocals just pasted on there to add it to her album. Grade: B-

Track Three: “I Did Something Bad” – By far one of my favorite songs, this song captures Taylor’s so-called “serial-dater” persona so well, but reveals that she’s in charge of her men, not vice versa. It includes her first explicit lyric ever, but even then it’s nothing compared to anyone of the songs off of rival Katy Perry’s June released album “Witness.” By the end of the song you can easily find yourself singing along and even dancing to the catchy beat and the wonderfully odd sound after each chorus that can only be described as Andy Bernard from the Office performing some scat routine after he discovered autotune. During the bridge, Taylor is hurling the shade directly at Kim and Kanye, whilst making fun of the media’s portrayal of her by saying, “They’re burning all of the witches even if you aren’t one, so light me up, light me up.” This song is definitely going to be a hit when she releases it as a single and if she doesn’t, she really is crazy. Grade: A

Track Four: “Don’t Blame Me” – In this one, which could only be described as “Swift goes gospel”, Taylor confirms that she is the one in charge of her men, saying that they’re just “play things.” She says that her boyfriends are the ones that have given her this “serial-dater” persona, by making her crazy, singing, “Don’t blame me, love made me crazy, if it doesn’t you ain’t doing it right, oh Lord save me, my drug is my baby and I’ll be using for the rest of my life.” It offers a somewhat open picture of Taylor while still having the capability to become a huge hit. Grade: A

Track Five: “Delicate” – A calmer look at Taylor’s relationships, “Delicate” offers a side of a relationship, specifically a celebrity one, that we hardly ever get to see – the social game. She wonders if he really loves her, but then reaffirms that he does because her “reputation has never been worse.” It’s not bad. It’d be nice to just lay down and listen to in the background. Grade: A-

Track Six: “Look What You Made Me Do” – One of Taylor’s most ferocious songs, this one had the workings of a hit song before it even was released to the public. She grills Katy, Kanye, and Kim all in one song, with an assist from Right Said Fred, from whom she sampled the beat to the song. It’s definitely an earworm and is great to jam out to or prepare for war. You choose which one. Grade: A-

Track Seven: “So It Goes…” – Although the use of the vocoder (a nifty little device that breaks up your voice into notes that you could play on the piano) may be getting a little overused by now, Taylor tries to deliver a personal song that fits in with the rest of the synth (electric and technologic) heavy album with all of the makings of a hit and it sort of works, but not quite. With stark contrasts between the choruses and the verses, it seems a little misplaced. One thing great about this song is that she says, “You did a number on me, but honestly babe, who’s counting,” and then immediately starts counting, maybe that’s my weird sense of humor, but I liked it. Grade: B+

Track Eight: “Gorgeous” – A catchy, subtle beat with even catchier lyrics works quite well. This song provides a welcomed break from the synth and vocoder heavy first half, bridging the gap for the slightly more soulful, second half. Sadly, that’s all this song is in the long run. Just a song to make the album not sound as discombobulated. Grade: A-

Track Nine: “Getaway Car” – One of the absolute best songs on this album, by far. It delivers a personal message while being a catchy beat and song. It doesn’t sound as discombobulated between chorus and verses like other songs and perfectly balances personality and bankability. This song is an instant Taylor classic, and it’s a shame that this song hasn’t been released as a single yet. Grade: A+

Track Ten: “King of My Heart” – The synth and vocoder is strong with this one. With a deeply personal meaning to Taylor, this story just sort of feels both improved and ruined by all of the voice effects and snazzy beats. Eventually, it will get stuck in your head, but will quickly be forgotten for another one of the songs on the album. Grade: A-

Track Eleven: “Dancing With Our Hands Tied” – Perplexing and engaging, this song makes you feel something futuristic, like something straight out of Blade Runner or Tron, or it harkens back to the classic vaporwave of the 80s. You can’t help but break out your best running man/robot moves with this one. Grade: A

Track Twelve: “Dress” – One of Taylor’s most sexually charged songs, it definitely isn’t the feminist anthem you’ve been looking forward, with lyrics such as, “I only bought this dress so you could take it off.” This is one of the weaker songs on the album, but it’s more than tolerable. Grade: B+

Track Thirteen: “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” – One of my favorite songs on the album, it harkens back to the first half of the album with the personal touches of the second half. It sounds like something from an adult version of Annie, and it’s definitely a bop. She definitely spills the tea and burns Kanye a few times. It’s a wonderful song to jam out to and just know that Taylor thinks that forgiveness is not a nice thing to do. Grade: A

Track Fourteen: “Call It What You Want ” – This song is definitely catchy and personal, it’s not much like what we heard on the rest of the album, and it shows. It sounds deeply personal while still retaining the possible hit status of the rest of the album. Grade: A-

Track Fifteen: “New Year’s Day” – Compared to the rest of the synth heavy, vocoder heavy, pop heavy fourteen other songs, this song is a welcome change. Just a girl and her piano, this is an amazing song, capturing the personal touch and veering away from the rest of the album. It’s like Taylor recorded the other songs in a few months then waited three or so months to record this one to reflect the current status of her life. Grade: A+

Overview: Although it isn’t as wonderful as “1989,” “reputation” is full of many catchy songs that will be dominating the radio waves for at least another year. Only three tracks stick out as lackluster which is something not many pop artists can claim for their albums. By far, the best songs of the album are “Getaway Car,” “New Year’s Day,” and “Don’t Blame Me” either for their jam-ability or personal messages. Overall Grade: A

Taylor’s album is available now on iTunes and retailers such as Target and Walmart. Prices range from $10.99 to $16.99.