Review Summary: Never go out of style.
It’s the big ones today, everyone. Ladies first. This is “1989” by Taylor Swift.
Now, I may have spent the first 7 years of Taylor Swift’s rather, hmm, swift rise to the top of the pop charts criticizing her for playing icky country music and singing about boys who were mean to her. But that was before I burned my friend’s CDs of all of her studio albums and fell in love, hard, with Ms. Swift. While her first album was eh (“Picture to Burn” is a great little song, but that’s about it), “Fearless” and “Speak Now” are stellar pop albums that show lots of teen insecurity, young love, and heartfelt songwriting with great pop country production. While “Red” might not be my favorite, there are some heart-wrenching tracks near the end, especially the duets with Gary Lightbody and Ed Sheeran. And then that brings us to “1989,” a record whose “concept” (if you want to call it that) is a throwback to the synthpop of Ms. Swift’s birth year, but what it really does is show Taylor emulating some of her contemporaries and making these vintage, new wave synths and 808 drum beats her own, and the bottom line is that Taylor has crafted not only her best album yet, no only the best mainstream pop album of the year (actually the last two years) but maybe even the best pop album of the decade. “*GASP* But what about “21” by Adele?” I hear you exclaim. I mean, “21” is strong, but when I heard it, I thought it was very inconsistent, the singles far outshined the deep cuts of the record, and the instrumentation while very nice, moody, and soulful, was kind of forgettable for me. Yes, Adele is a much better singer than Taylor, but as a complete package, “1989” is so much better well-rounded. I wish there was more bad for me to say about this album so I could roast it, but I love it so much it’s hard for me to find anything really bad to say about it. But I’m gonna try my darndest.
Or maybe I’ll just gush about my favorite songs on the album. He he he.
The album is bookended by the strongest tracks. At the beginning (okay they’re after “Welcome to New York,” which is still a fun song and solid opener, but the following two songs are just SO much stronger) we have “Blank Space” and “Style.” I have no reservations when I say that they are Taylor Swift’s best songs to date. “Blank Space” is spacious, it makes me feel like I’m hearing the song from inside Taylor’s brain. The instrumental is very echoey and ethereal, the only organic thing being the acoustic guitar, but it’s so far back in the mix, all it does is add texture, kind of showing Taylor letting go of her country roots and fully embracing the world of pop music. The percussion builds throughout the song, kind of like “State of Grace” on “Red” but still keeping that slinky feeling throughout the song. But the real star of the show is Taylor. Obviously. She has never sounded better. The multitracked vocals add so many little mood changes to the song, the little shouts and oh-oh’s around the choruses give them nice flavor. The little choir of Taylors at the end of the bridge is heavenly, and also a little devious and a little sexy, giving more depth to the character she’s portraying on the song, who is the persona the tabloids have created around her over the years, a man-eating, egomaniacal, sociopath who dates boys just so she can write damning songs about them, kind of like The Weeknd, but likable and fun and seductive, and not wallowing her own self-pity. The whole song is catchy little zingers about how beautiful and crazy Taylor is. Which isn’t unique to her. I mean, all girls are like that.
Oh!!! Joke. Sorry. Moving on. Please don’t hate me.
And “Style” is even better. I didn’t think Taylor had it in her to write such a sexy song with such implication and nuance to it. The song is like a night sky. Not black necessarily. But with hints of blue and beautiful stars throughout it. The guitar adds so much character to it, and Taylor Swift sounds like an adult. Like she’s twenty-five now, It’s about time she starts sounding like one. It’s at this point in the album where Taylor starts becoming self-aware and realizing what happens in her relationships, that they all seem destined to fail, and she just says “*** it” and rolls with this boy. She is wholly aware that it’s going to end eventually, and it ends all the time, but because they look good together, they stay together, which makes it seem hopeless, but then in the second verse, she gives that glimmer of hope that he might be the one, even though their relationship is so volatile, there might still be a chance of real romance and love there, but until that actually she happens, she’s fine being nothing more than red lipstick and a tight little skirt. And the beat is hypnotic, even as I’m writing this, I’m bobbing back and forth to the four on the floor beat and it just courses through my body.
Let’s skip ahead to the end and talk about “Clean.” If “Style” was the midnight, then “Clean” is the long-awaited sunrise. The song has this fragile feeling, with the blippy synth, mbira, and boomwhackers of all things. I remember boomwhacker from 5th grade. They’re pitched plastic tubes that you hit on the floor, and that makes this song even better. These three instruments give the song this child-like quality, or maybe it shows how easily broken Taylor can be, but she is still staying strong. Equating love to drug addiction is no new lyrical breakthrough, but this song is from the perspective of beating that addiction, and is very affirming not just for Taylor, but for anyone who is thinking of getting back with a destructive ex. A very somber but very, should I say, sobering song that cuts away any cutesy pop pretension.
If this album did anything for me, it gave me hope for pop music. It can be smart, it can be diverse, every song on the album has its own unique instrumental flavor. “All You Had to Do Was Stay” uses lots of vocal snippets and hand percussion and a great vocal from Taylor, who sounds confident and she just soars over the beat. “Out of the Woods” has great percussion too, but the chorus is a little repetitive but the bridge saves the song, lyrically.”How You Get the Girl” is a great send-off to Taylor’s country roots, being driven by guitar and has some nice detail in the story, instructions on how to get the girl. “I Know Places” is a great song about hiding from the paparazzi, and sounds like a spy movie, also a superb song. “Wildest Dreams” is the sexiest song I’ve heard from this whole review series. Sorry, Weeknd. I didn’t know she had it in her, and she hit it out of the park.
Whatever you do, never write an artist off. I mean, except like Nickelback. They can always surprise you. While most of the jokes surrounding Ms. Swift hold water, but that really doesn’t matter. “1989” shows Taylor through many different lenses and is an exciting, concise ride. She reinvented herself in the best way and is made a stellar, fun, pop album.
Best Songs: “Style,” “Blank Space,” Clean,” “How You Get the Girl.”
Worst Song: “I Wish You Would.”
Beauty Behind the Madness: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/69626/The-Weeknd-Beauty-Behind-the-Madness/
Traveller: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/69715/Chris-Stapleton-Traveller/
Sound and Color: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/69738/Alabama-Shakes-Sound--Color/
To Pimp a Butterfly:
