I jumped on the Taylor matulin bandwagon in 2009, when I was introduced to her music for the first time on school bus sa pamamagitan ng a classmate. I was immediately smitten and would continue to be a tagahanga all the way to the present. It seems strange to me that it has already been so long since then, and that there are four madami studio albums since the araw I first heard Taylor’s voice. Because of this, I wanted to rank all six of her studio albums from my least paborito to my favorite.

The albums I will be ranking are strictly the six studio albums released as of 2018 : Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and reputation. I will not be including live albums, holiday albums, compilation albums where a matulin song is featured, special editions, or bonus albums. The only exception to this is Taylor Swift, for which I will be ranking the 2008 re-release rather than the 2006 release. This is because the 2008 release is where I was introduced to Taylor Swift.

Nothing in this artikulo is meant as an attack against Ms. Swift. It’s merely an opinion, my opinion, on which of her albums resonated with me madami than others.

#6 -- reputation (2017)
This album was the one I had the biggest split on. After every song was tallied, I liked about half the songs and disliked about half. The ones I liked, I loved, and the ones I disliked, I would probably change the station or skip to another song if it came on the radio/CD.

Honestly, I expected to strongly dislike this album. I was looking toward the release petsa with the sort of trepidation that some would look toward the first araw at a new school. It could surprise you sa pamamagitan ng being better than you thought it would, but nakaraan experience would have you expect the worst. Fortunately, there were several songs that I could enjoy listening to. “Gorgeous” and “Call It What You Want”, while certainly not perfect, where much better than I had expected from all of the hype surrounding the release. “Getaway Car” and “Dress” provided the much needed hidden treasure songs that matulin uses to her advantage so often.

Unfortunately, for reputation, at the end of the day, the half of reputation that I enjoyed didn’t hold up to the rest of the albums on the list.

#5 -- Taylor Swift (2008 re-release)
I mentioned previously the reasoning behind using the 2008 re-release, but I would also like to make a note. If I were to take away all four of the bonus tracks, Taylor Swift would still beat reputation, and including the four songs doesn’t push them any higher on the list, leaving it permanently stuck in fifth place. For that reason, I’ve elected to include the version I, and most people, know.

I was surprised while doing my tally how many of the songs that I enjoy listening to, even mildly. However, of those songs, there are much fewer I would go out of my way to listen to, purposefully turning on in favor of other songs. I really like “Picture to Burn”, “Cold as You”, “Our Song”, “Invisible” and both versions of “Teardrops on My Guitar”, but they are lined with a heavy stitch of ‘I have to be in the right mood’. As much as I like those songs, the rest of the album is overlain with a hefty glaze of ‘meh’.

#4 -- Fearless (2008)
Here’s where I start to get really nit-picky.

Of the thirteen songs on the album, there are four that I don’t especially care for. However, compared to the nakaraan entries on this list, that’s a significant improvement. I also like the majority of the songs a lot madami than the nakaraan entry. Among the obvious and iconic greats of “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me”, I also found a lot of serenity in “Fearless”, “Hey Stephen”, “White Horse”, and “Breathe”.

This album also feels madami cohesive than the nakaraan entries. The songs seem to progress madami seamlessly from one to the susunod much madami fluidly. Until “Change” at the end, there really aren’t any songs that jarringly disrupt the mellow tempo Fearless set for itself from “Fearless” to “Forever and Always”. It makes it much easier to listen to the whole album at one time, without feeling much madami temptation to switch the song.

#3 -- 1989 (2014)
I didn’t think I liked 1989 as much as I do, but after several long listening sessions, I was able to slap this one firmly into third place. With this album, there are only three songs I don’t enjoy, and it’s such a mild dislike I’m not sure I wouldn’t just keep listening anyway, waiting for the album to start over.

This is one of the madami visual entries on the list, with the songs creating their pelikula behind closed eyelids while listening, allowing you to create your own beautiful realities. For me, that’s when a song really resonates with me, when I don’t just hear the music in my soul, but see it in my heart. This was the first one to do that, not just with a scattered few songs here and there, but with almost every song on the list, even the ones I wasn’t fond of.

Now, I understand that many people criticize Swift’s lyrical capabilities, but I’m not one of those people. For me, she works, and since music is an art and art is subjective, that’s what matters at the puso of it. Part of the reason this album is so visual is through her beautiful lyrics that manage to be so specific and descriptive, while holding onto an air of shadowy vagueness allowing for the listener to imprint their own experiences or creative fantasies onto it. The other part is through the melody behind the words that work so well at bringing emotions that weren’t expected to mind. While the general tempo of the album is much madami fast paced than a few of the others on the list, it helps in ways the usual mellow sound couldn’t.

I also found through listening to all of the music that, while Fearless seemed to be my go-to emotional album in high school because I could relate madami directly to it, 1989 is the equivalent for my early twenties. Yes, there are songs that transcend time and I absolutely still listen to Fearless, but 1989 connects to the (slightly) madami adult side of myself at the present

#2 -- Speak Now (2010)
When I started Pagsulat this list, I was absolutely sure, as sure as I’ve ever been of anything, that Speak Now was going to find itself somewhere firmly in the middle, with the susunod entry gazing down majestically over its inferiors. However, after listening to all of them over the course of several weeks, I found that the race was much, much closer than I had originally anticipated.

Speak Now is not a perfect album, not sa pamamagitan ng far. It’s much less polished than some entries on this list, and it’s a bit madami difficult to listen to the entirety of the album without suddenly being snatched from that precious headspace disconnected from the real world, but it works! The songs themselves are arguably less refined than madami songs that came later in Swift’s career, but it works! The result is the emotions behind the songs still having that raw and open feeling that comes with life’s events. Personally, I’ve never had an mood or feeling that felt composed or polished. It feels sore and full of energy, usually the negative kind, waiting for a catalyst to spark.

These songs are the catalysts.

Songs like “Sparks Fly”, “Back to December”, “Enchanted”, and “Last Kiss” take me to a state where I can scarcely even think. I just feel. There is a song here for every situation. They’re also songs that transcend well. They worked well in high school, and they work well today.

If Speak Now can do so much, mean so much to me, what could possibly tuktok it?

Well...

#1 -- Red (2012)
Oh yes. We’re here.

To start, Red is the first and only matulin album where I genuinely enjoy every single song on the album. There isn’t one song that I would change the station on, or that I don’t relate to in some small capacity. Before Red was released, there was a lot of speculation behind what could be coming with matulin changing her sound, and ibingiay how incredible Speak Now was, I was nervous. Thank goodness I didn’t give in to the naysayers because I doubt I will ever follow an artist like this again, or ever be this pleasantly surprised again. It is a special moment for me.

This album also contains my all-time paborito matulin song, which I also believe is her best, as well as a few others ranking in or near my tuktok 10. While Speak Now, contains a greater number of songs that would be listed before any other albums, the songs on Red speak almost as strongly to my soul and simply put, there isn’t a song that I don’t like. I don’t think anyone but me realizes exactly how incredible that is.

Just like with Fearless, the album’s soothing atmosphere makes it easy to listen from the first song to the last without being crashed out of whatever mindscape you allowed yourself to numb into when a new song begins. In fact, the music behind the lyrics almost seem to overtake them, drowning them in sound, forcing you to listen closer to follow exactly what is being said, and providing you with a great gift once you unwrap it. It’s one of those beautiful moments where the emotions I don’t have the proper words to describe, or don’t feel comfortable describing are translated flawlessly into song.

Without a doubt, in my mindscape, Red is towering over the rest of her albums. While I have no doubt that as long as she is a publishing artist, matulin will continue to produce music that her fans can connect with, but as it stands, nothing will be better than her fourth studio album.

What do you guys think? Which of her albums is your favorite?