Ranking Taylor Swift's "Lover" Against Previous Albums

I spent a lot of my teen years pretending that I didn't like Taylor Swift because I was "too cool" for that sort of music (I have never once been cool in my entire life and as an adult pretty much only listen to musicals). Secretly, my iPod was loaded with all her albums and I'd blast them at home and sing along to all the angsty lyrics with gusto.

Nowadays, I can be heard singing along to Taylor Swift (very badly) in public because honestly, who cares what other people think? So now that Lover has been released, I thought it would be interesting to rank all of Taylor's albums to date and decide where Lover fits in among my favourites.

So, going from worst to best, we have:

7) Taylor Swift - Taylor's debut. Super country, and not really my thing (I must admit, I have really enjoyed her transition to pop). Even teen Liz probably listened to this album the least, despite the multitude of angsty songs on it. I'd never been a huge fan of country music so I wasn't that into Taylor Swift yet - little did I know how that would change... Highlights: Should've Said No, Teardrops on My Guitar (also I'd Lie which was an unreleased song, but not sure which album it was related to? If someone remembers, let me know).

6) Fearless - teen Liz loooved Fearless. Even though it was still pretty country and internally I thought most of the songs on this album were cheesy as heck, I loved them anyway. As an adult, Love Story and You Belong With Me kind of make me cringe but there's no denying that teen Liz watched the YBWM music video about 100 times. Fearless, however, even now, has a bit more energy than the first album, and there are a few songs which I occasionally still listen to. Highlights: Fearless, That's the Way I Loved You, The Other Side of the Door.

5) Reputation - yeah, I didn't love this album. By this point, I was a grown woman and really over the whole angst thing, and it seemed like Taylor wanted to bring it back and I just wasn't feeling it. That's not to say there weren't some gems on this album (I constantly get Getaway Car stuck in my head) but the overall vibe wasn't for me. Plus I found the snakes kind of creepy, please tell me I'm not the only one. Despite all of this though, I probably listen to the songs on this album that I do like more often than I listen to any on Speak Now which is up next, so in terms of individual songs, the ranking would probably be very different... Highlights: Getaway Car, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, New Year's Day, Dress.

4) Speak Now - the first hints of moving to a more pop-y style, the last album where Taylor was rocking the curly hair. This was my favourite album for a long time, and still gets some regular plays. I distinctly remember watching the Back to December music video a bunch of times, and having rewatched it recently, I can confirm it's a 100% because of the actor who played Taylor' boyfriend/ex (remember back when the emo fringe was in fashion? What a time). Highlights: Sparks Fly, Long Live, Enchanted, Haunted. 

3) 1989 - moving more fully over to pop, this was also a favourite album of mine from a while. I loved the whole aesthetic that went with it, and I liked almost every song, including all the bonus songs. And while some of the lyrics were still like, revenge/sass-esque, it wasn't Reputation levels of angst. This was also when Taylor started to really go all out with her music videos - Blank Space is still a classic, I used to watch it a uni instead of writing essays! Highlights: New Romantics, Style, Wildest Dreams, Blank Space. 

2) Lover - so close to being number 1. In fact, I'm still not entirely sure. It's really only All Too Well that's holding me back. In any case, I love this album. Such a breath of fresh air, so different to Reputation, and it just generally makes me smile. The song Lover is so cute, I want to cry and the bridge to Cruel Summer... I can't stop singing it. I DON'T WANNA KEEP SECRETS JUST TO KEEP YOU and I love the whole pastel aesthetic (way more me than all the snakes). So many great songs, and only two (two!) that I don't like (The Archer & Cornelia Street if you want to know, which I realise other people absolutely love, don't hate me). Highlights: Lover, Cruel Summer, The Man, Paper Rings.

1) Red - I actually didn't like Red that much for a long time. I think it's because We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together had been overplayed on the radio and it put me off listening to album all the way through. I rediscovered it when I was older and it overtook 1989 as my favourite and has stayed there ever since. All Too Well is an absolute masterpiece and I don't know if anything will ever beat it for me. And I like pretty much every song on the album. Plus I had the chance to listen to 22 when I turned 22 and it was still relevant so that was fun. I'm so torn between this and Lover for the top spot; Red does still have a lot of the country vibe in some of the songs but then there are so many songs on this album that I absolutely love. We'll see if I change my mind! Highlights: All Too Well, Holy Ground, State of Grace, Red, Stay Stay Stay.

And that's it! Are you a Taylor fan? Do you agree with me on any of these? Let me know!