Taylor Swift’s new album, “Reputation” has thrown her back into the spotlight. The album, released on November 10th, quickly sold more than 1.05 million copies in the first few days alone. The top single of the album, “Look What You Made Me Do”, also tops the charts as the most streamed song by a woman, with 84.4 million U.S. streams.

I believe that these numbers show the quality of her new music and how she has changed. “Reputation” is a great album that really speaks the truth about Taylor Swift and how the media has affected her over the years.

Though her previous albums were amazing, I can’t help but notice how much more personal “Reputation” is and how Taylor really opens up more in this album than I think she has in any of her previous albums. In “Reputation” she talks about her home life as well as the media’s reputation of her, revealing how news coverage affects her emotions and her relationships with people around her.

This can be seen prominently in “End Game”, the 2nd song on her album. Taylor says, “Ooh, you and me, we got big reputations… and you heard about me… I got some big enemies”. This song really gives her a voice and shows her self-awareness in everything that has been happening to her. It shows how she feels about her problems, while still maintaining an upbeat and fun song.

This album also exposes her opinion on what has been happening to her, including her drama with other artists like Kanye West and Katy Perry. In the song “This is why we can’t have nice things”, Taylor states that “Friends don’t try to trick you get you on the phone and mind-twist you”. In these lyrics, she’s clearly talking about the drama Kanye West and Kim Kardashian stirred up with a phone call they recorded talking to Taylor. She uses her platform to talk about her personal experiences, and celebrity drama is no exception in “Reputation”.

Another difference between “Reputation” and any of her other albums is the development of her music style. Taylor has changed her sound many times, most notably in her evolution from country to pop. However in this new era, she has a more heavy sound, contrasting with “1989” and her other albums. This style is clearly shown in many of the songs but most obviously in “Ready For It”. For some people, this sound might be seen as not being an authentic version of Taylor, but I believe that it goes amazingly with the lyrics and really helps tell the story of what she has been going through while on her three year break between “1989” and “Reputation”.

The popularity of “Reputation” proves people’s positive opinion of her new sound and the album overall. However, one problem I have with “Reputation” is that all the songs are very fast paced and loud, leaving only one slow song, unlike “1989”, which has many slow paced songs.

Throughout all of her albums, you can see the growth of Taylor as an artist and as a person. “Reputation” is no different. It shows the public side of her, but it also reveals the personal side that no one else normally sees. The album radiates confidence, as Taylor freely experiments with new sounds and shocking changes.

Overall rating:

9/10

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What do you think of “Reputation”? Do you like Taylor’s new sound, or do you prefer her old music?