1989 by Taylor Swift

Album Review

In our modern age of pop music, blandness is inevitable. The made-for-radio production can at times oversaturate the music, leaving listeners with something repetitive to remember, but nothing musically interesting, which is fine for some. Some people enjoy that kind of commercial music. With Taylor Swift’s 1989 it’s more interesting than that.

Working with pop production and songwriting masterminds Max Martin and Jason Shellback, this could have easily become a bland product. You have this country pop singer/songwriter mega star making her transition into more commercial territory without crossing over genres. Max Martin has co-written and produced countless pop hits; however, these days, his output can tend to do one of two things: remove the true authenticity of the artist, or suck the life out of what is otherwise a good or great song.

Max Martin has sucked the life out of Adele’s “Send My Lover (To Your New Lover)”, and has nearly destroyed any artist authenticity that resided in Tori Kelly. Now, maybe you’re thinking, I’m reading into this too much. My answer is, perhaps, but this is simply one of the ways I listen to and analyze pop music.

Anyways, the real question is, has Taylor Swift succumbed to ‘Sell Out’ Martin? And my answer is: well no. Not really. Granted, yes the songs sound very radio poppy, but it seems that Taylor Swift approached this in a way where it is intentionally ironic but serious at the same time. The album as a whole is, dare I say it, a great pop album. But what is it that makes this a true Taylor Swift album and not a Max Martin/Jason Shellback product? And the answer is simply one word:

PERSONALITY

Amidst all the synth pads and effects, you still hear Taylor Swift. She may not be Adele or Beyonce, but she makes you smile, laugh, and cry with the voice she has. You can hear that she is having the time of her life. She sings with joy, sass and energy. ENERGY! That’s another key word: Energy. Blandness can sometimes derive from a voice that shows very little or no commitment to the performance. Here, Swift is committed 120%.

In comparison, the problem with Tori Kelly’s Unbreakable Smile was the Max Martin production had watered down the music to a soggy newspaper, and the lyrics for the most part were so self-important it distracted me from getting any real three-dimensional personality from the performer. To be fair though, in my opinion, there are two or 3 very good songs, but those are the tracks where it’s Tori Kelly just playing acoustic guitar and singing, a near bare bones performance, with very little production, like on her previous EPs. And for the record, my favorite song on that record is “I Was Made For Loving You” with Ed Sheeran. Maybe I’ll do a full review on that record in another blog post. Anyways, back to 1989

I would like to list my favorite stand-out tracks:

Style
All You Had To Do Was Stay
Shake It Off
Bad Blood
How You Get The Girl
This Love
Clean (with Imogen Heap)

The lyrics are also good, very well-thought out, for the most part. Again, I reiterate, the performances are strong, enthusiastic, and the production is not too terribly distracting. I would definitely vouch for this album as a contender for Album of the Year at the Grammys; but, Kendrick Lamar still comes out on top. But that’s an aside. Bottom line-up, I like this album, I was surprised I liked it. Check it out. Maybe you’ll get something out of it too.

Cheers!