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Taylor Swift's 'Reputation' Is Pure Brilliance

This is the first time I've ever done a review blog, but I can't keep my thoughts to myself; Taylor's latest album is straight fire!

As a self-proclaimed Certified Swiftie, you may be thinking, "oh, well this is going to be an incredibly biased review." On the contrary! I'll be trying my best to be objective, (although I can't guarantee there won't be any fan-boy moments!) So buckle up and get...ready for it!
Oh, but before reading, make sure to purchase and give Reputation a listen first in order to form your own opinions of the tracks! Reputation is available on Amazon by clicking here.

(Please note that the author of this blog may receive some profit through the sales of Reputation via the link provided.)

"...Ready For It?"
The second single release before the album drop, this song is bumping! Taylor dips her toes into the rap genre just enough so that it works without taking away from the brilliant lyricist we know she is. With quick and grammatically scrappy quips like, "Some boys are trying too hard, he don't try at all though, younger than my exes, but he act like such a man so," it's hard to not become entranced in the magic of it all. It's fun to sing along to and it's fairly easy to learn the lyrics, as I'm someone who tends to fall in love with music based on beat first, lyrics second.

"End Game"
First and foremost, there isn't a single "bad song" on this album. With that being said, "End Game" isn't one of my favorites. Featuring verses from best friend Ed Sheeran and rapper Future, the song flows quite nicely. The lyrics, however, leave a lot to be desired. Cleverly, though, she incorporates her lucky number '13' in the song with how many times "reputation" is mentioned in the track. Unfortunately, as adorable as she is with this, it comes off as a bit repetitive. Future's presence also felt out of place in the same way that Kendrick Lemar's rapping in the "Bad Blood" remix felt out of place. I would have personally preferred it just sung by Taylor and Ed, who both nailed their respective rap verses. Taylor's rapping skills are brought to the next level when compared to "...Ready For It?" The pre-chorus is definitely the best part of the song with lines like, "I don't wanna touch you, I don't wanna be, just another ex love, you don't wanna see," so it's definitely a great bop with incredible flow! It's just not a full home run, in my opinion.

"I Did Something Bad"
This track is by far one of my all time favorites from Tay! Like, holy shit! It's SOOOOOOO banging! The lyrics are brilliant, the beat drop is fire, and it's just sexy as hell! The best part of the entire album, let alone the song, is when she stretches one single letter out over a three chord drop into the following word. "And I'd do it over and over and over again if  IIIIiiii could" is just sung SO masterfully. This track is full of incredible lyrics, but some of my favorite are, "I never trust a playboy, but they love me, so I fly them all around the world, and I let them think they saved me." All around brilliant track!


"Don't Blame Me"
Following "I Did Something Bad" is another brilliant, and beautiful, track in "Don't Blame Me." Dubbed by some "a sexier 'Take Me to Church' by Hozier," this track shows Taylor taking on the soul genre. Right off the back, very first listen, I fell absolutely in love with the opening lyrics, "don't blame me, love made me crazy, if it doesn't you ain't doing it right, lord save me, my drug is my baby, I'll be using for the rest of my life." Further along in the song, her "I was once poison ivy, but now I'm your daisy," is another brilliantly sung line where she, again, stretches a chord change over a single word with "baby." This one ends up right up at the top of my favs!

"Delicate"
A little soul, a little electronic, a little sadness...this track is like a subdued anthem about navigating a new relationship. "Is it cool that I said all that? Is it chill that your in my head?" sounds to me like she's trying not to go too fast in her new relationship with Joe Alwyn. Of course this is all just speculation, but the whole them of the song is that the relationship is new and delicate, especially surrounding the fact that her reputation has "never been worse," as she says. Despite being repetitive at times, this one is still beautiful.

"Look What You Made Me Do"
I won't spend too long on this one as there are copious amounts of speculative articles out there regarding LWYMMD. Instead, all I will say is when I first heard this, I was "I want to listen to Taylor say old Taylor is dead repeatedly until my ears bleed," (and I did!) This track was on straight repeat on my way to and from work until "...Ready For It?" was dropped! It's just a banging track that is so addictive that it's hard not to sing and dance when you hear it. The new Taylor gripped my interest right away with this one being that the sound is unlike anything old Taylor ever did!

"So It Goes..."
With the first obvious references to sex on the album, you can definitely tell that the old Taylor really may be dead. Having previously strayed away from sexual references in past songs, this song is both sexy and romantic. With odes to pieces falling into place and love being simple, (despite its ups and downs,) this song describes what sounds to me like quite the healthy relationship. So, congrats, Taylor! Us Swifties are so happy that you're finally happy! A great tune overall, and if you look at the track list, there's an interesting correlation between "...Ready For It?" and "So It Goes..." Notice it?

"Gorgeous"
The third pre-release single to appear before the album drop, "Gorgeous" is the bop about not being able to get what you want. We've all be there, right? With fairly interesting lyrics that sound like they may be referring to her time with ex-beau, Calvin Harris, this song will definitely get stuck in your head...which isn't a bad thing! Starting off with an adorable spoken "gorgeous" by Ryan Reynold's and Blake Lively's daughter, James, the song goes into a funky electric bounce that captured me immediately. And, if you listed to the song, I'm sure you can agree that the best lyrics are, "guess I'll just stumble on home to my cats," which I'm sure we can all relate to.

"Getaway Car"
In her most Antonoff-influenced track to date, "Getaway Car" sounds like Jack could have easily written this song for Bleachers! With a mild '80's flair and some eerie similarities to Bleacher's "Rollercoaster," (and her 1989 hit "Out Of The Woods,") this is definitely an album favorite of mine! She hits a bit of repetitiveness, similar to previous tracks, but it's compensated by the beautiful melodies and an unusual chord shift mid-song which works well. For me, it's just simply a beautifully upbeat jam.



"King Of My Heart"
Like "Delicate," "King Of My Heart" isn't one of my favorites tracks, but it's still pretty good! Taylor described that she wrote this song like each section was a different part of a relationship, which describes why there are so many different sounds happening. I'm not exactly sure what it is that makes me attracted to this song less than others, but one thought is that it could be the chorus. They lyrics aren't bad, but as mentioned before, I tend to listen to the beats of music before the actual lyrics. The beginning of the chorus just doesn't do it for me, I dunno. But, like I said, there isn't a single bad track on this album, so keep that in mind!

"Dancing With Our Hands Tied"
Great rhythm here! At some points it almost sounds like if you took the vocals away, this song could easily be placed in a free course racing game, like Burnout: Paradise or something. It just sounds really cool! The lyrics haven't quite caught on with me yet, but in due time my brain will have the entire album memorized. Can't say much more yet until I've really gotten a handle on the lyrics.

"Dress"
This song was obviously written as an ode to my wife and I circa 2011. Taylor really does stalk her fans! In all seriousness though, this is easily the sexiest song Taylor has ever written! In a much more obvious way, Taylor really wants us to know that she is a grown woman who has definitely had sex - much like people said about Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You." There is no denying it in this song. The old "don't mention sex" Taylor is definitely dead and a new, thirstier Tay has emerged! Another track that's definitely one of my all time favorites of hers! IT'S JUST SO FUCKING GOOOOOOD, AND I CAN'T DEAL!!!! I can't lie and say I'm not absolutely loving this new, sultry T-Swizz! Not to mention that pause in the final chorus!? Adds a little anticipation that is so well done! "Only bought this dress so you could take it off." GURRRRRRLLLL!!

"This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things"
The hilarity of this song is incredible. It's funny, I actually fell in love with the lyrics before the beat! At one point, I couldn't stop laughing because the first half of the chorus sounds like something you'd say to a child. "This is why we can't have nice things, darling, because you break them, I had to take them away." I won't lie...I definitely told my wife she should just sing that part of the song to her preschool students when they get something taken away. Seriously though, this song is so salty and I LOVE IT! The speculation is that it's about Kanye, and if that's true, it's just 100% brilliance on her part! Oh, and that laugh? LOVE!!

"Call It What You Want"
The fourth and final pre-released track, "Call It What You Want," is definitely about Joe. Through these lyrics, you can tell she's definitely happy in her relationship. As a co-writer, Jack said this song should be listened to though headphones while taking a walk at night. I'll have to remember to do that sometime...maybe when it's not below freezing outside, though!

"New Year's Day"
The final track of Reputation is a beautifully simple track that makes me want to get married all over again so we can use it as our first dance song! It's just incredibly sweet, and I am in love! In one of her secret sessions, she described is as being about the person who's still there with you on New Years Day, not just the one you share a kiss with at midnight...and that's just so adorable! A solid way to end the album!


When 1989 came out, I was so in love, but now that Reputation is here, I can say with full confidence that it blows 1989 out of the water! The three-year gap between albums was well worth the wait, although I already can't wait for her next one! Here's to hoping she'll get back on the two year stretches and we'll see another album in 2019! But, for now I'll be listening to Reputation on repeat until I get to see her live again! If only my second CD credit would hit my Tickemaster Verified Fan account...



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