#also i just noticed the algorithm pulled this out on the 13th lmao. tell me that's not intentional!

[1001albumslist]

Day 13

Album: 1989 by Taylor Swift

Have I listened before? this album release was a CULTURAL EVENT in 2014....Taylor Swift's first pop album!! so yes ofc i have

Familiarity with the artist: I did go to the Eras Tour so take from that what you will...and I have listened to her entire discography at one point or another. I will say though I am generally not the biggest fan of Taylor's pop albums but this one tends to be the main exception.

Background Knowledge:

the fifth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 27th, 2014

executive-produced by Swift and Swedish producer Max Martin, it was Swift's effort to recalibrate her artistic identity from country to pop

Jack Antonoff and Imogen Heap were also notable contributors to the album

1989 spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200 and was certified nine-times platinum. It also won Album of the Year at the 2016 Grammys

Interesting Info:

the album was titled after Swift's birth year as a symbolic rebirth

Inspired by 1980s synth-pop, the production incorporates dense synthesizers, programmed drum machines, and processed electronic backing vocals

Swift and Big Machine withheld the album from free streaming services for nearly three years, which prompted an industry discourse on the relationship between streaming and record sales

Listened on: Apple Music

Listening Notes:

“Welcome to New York” might be her most boring opener lol

production is so CRISP

in contrast “Style” is PERFECT pop perfection….and the guitar is soooo good

the build-up on “Out of the Woods” and the layered vocals/harmonies on the final chorus are genuinely just so so good

“All You Had To Do Was Stay” is fine- nothing special. probably one of my least favorite track 5s

say what you will about “Shake It Off” being corny and overplayed..it is! But it’s still fun and catchy as hell

I am a “Bad Blood” hater though

“This Love” and “I Know Places” are quite underrated, at least in mainstream non-fandom spaces- “This Love” is gorgeous and I was super happy it was one of my surprise songs :) and “I Know Places” is quite dark and suspenseful I love it

Favorite Tracks: “Style”, “Out of the Woods”, “Wildest Dreams”, “This Love”, “I Know Places”, “Clean”

Final Review: whew so much that I could say about this one...the production is crisp as hell, the songs are catchy, this is basically the textbook example of how to write a great pop album in the 21st century. HOWEVER, i think this album tends to get a similar treatment to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, in that it is generally seen by mainstream music criticism to be her best work even though I don't think the entire album as a unit is her strongest work. still, it's impossible to deny its lasting cultural impact, and this was the album that brought Swift into a whole new level of stardom. people may gripe about my comparison of Swift to the Beatles, but when you speak about cultural impact and influence on pop music and culture at large...there really is no one else on that same level. Taylor Swift is the millennial Paul McCartney. that's not me speaking as a fan of either Taylor or Paul, that's just an observable fact. it's also interesting to remember things like the whole streaming debate and to compare that to the Beatles also not being on streaming services for many years. of course, it's irrelevant at this point in time (money wins out always sadly) but it also shows you how much has changed in the music industry and landscape over the past 10 years.