“Treacherous” Taylor Takes

Since 2006, Taylor Swift has put out ten albums, two re-recordings, a holiday collection, and a Walmart exclusive EP.  (Grace Tucceri)

Since 2006, Taylor Swift has put out ten albums, two re-recordings, a holiday collection, and a Walmart exclusive EP. (Grace Tucceri)

Grace Tucceri, Writer

To commemorate the beginning of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, notable entertainment website Insider released a ranking of Ms. Swift’s 10 albums using a so-called “unique (and foolproof) scoring method”. Although their approach gave her magnum opus, Speak Now, some respect, it ultimately fumbles as a whole. Why is the list a nightmare dressed like a daydream? Even though I may not be known for having the best takes on Ms. Swift, I had to analyze this horrific list. Let’s take a look at the five biggest travesties. 

#5. No skips on Fearless (Taylor’s Version)

Fearless packs a punch. Love Story, You Belong With Me, The Way I Loved You, the list goes on and on. However, calling it a no-skip album can be considered a stretch. The vault tracks bring little to the table, the final tracks on the first disk (The Best Day and Change) fall flat, and Hey Stephen can be described with one word: mid.

#4. Skipping Sad Beautiful Tragic on Red (Taylor’s Version)

Insider listed only two tracks from Taylor’s second re-recorded album as “skips”: Girl at Home and Sad Beautiful Tragic. As Taylor sings in ME!, “one of these things is not like the other”. The former drags for 3:41 painful minutes, making it a definitive skip for many Swifties. But Sad Beautiful Tragic? It’s a tear jerking MASTERPIECE. I mean, just look at this bridge:

Distance, timingBreakdown, fightingSilence, the train runs off its tracksKiss me, try to fix itCould you just try to listen?Hang up, give upFor the life of us we can’t get back

*chef’s kiss*

#3: Reputation in dead last

The Reputation Stadium tour shattered records and attracted Swifties far and wide. (Grace Tucceri)

Rep was a cultural reset back in 2017. Taylor’s new snake filled aesthetic marked a dramatic departure from her 1989 persona. Do I only know two people off the top of my head who have Rep as their top Taylor album? Yes. But do I know anyone who has it in dead last besides the Insider team? Nope. Reputation cannot be placed anywhere near the bottom half of Swift’s discography thanks in part to bangers like Don’t Blame Me, Dancing With Our Hands Tied, and the near perfect So It Goes. And the Reputation Stadium Tour alone elevates the entire album to a five star experience, not an 8.3/10. Unacceptable!

#2. Skipping the last great american dynasty on folklore

Taylor is not only a singer; she’s a masterful storyteller. TLGAD beautifully narrates the story of early 20th century socialite Rebekah Harkness, who previously owned Swift’s Holiday House in Rhode Island. Not only does considering the song a skip discredit her lyricism skills, but it also undermines her ingenuity as well, for the song intertwines Swift’s personal life with Harkness’s story towards the end. 

#1: So It Goes on Reputation considered “background music”

Words cannot explain my frustration. The end.