As a lifelong Taylor Swift fan, a new album is always exciting news to hear. However, after sitting on this album for a month, some of the songs have aged like wine, while others have aged like milk.
The first three tracks are a catchy run of songs that give the album a strong start. “The Fate Of Ophelia” is currently the only song with a music video, and I think it’s a great visual representation of the song that Swift is trying to convey, and it encapsulates the vibe extremely well. Probably the most showgirl-esque song on the whole album.
“Elizabeth Taylor” gives the “Reputation” vibe that fans were hoping for, and it does it significantly better than the other song on the album that was trying to do the same. While a better track, it’s still not great in my opinion. Swift is always highly regarded for her bridge writing, and I fear this is a track where that writing gets lost in translation. Frankly, this song is okay, but the chorus is catchy, so you can bob your head along to it.
My personal second favorite is “Opalite.” This was one of the songs I liked upon first listen, and that’s still good. A fun-loving song about having to make your own happiness, and it feels that way throughout the whole song, especially with the “Oh oh oh oh oh’s” in the bridge and chorus, which really accentuates that feeling. This song has been a banger from the start and still remains a banger.
“Father Figure” is one I had extremely high hopes for, but was significantly let down upon first listen. When you’re sampling the iconic “Father Figure” by George Michael, expectations to be just as good are very high. I feel like this song missed the mark. Objectively, it’s catchy and tells an interesting story, but knowing the “You’ll be sleeping with the fishes before you know you’re drowning” is highly likely to be about Olivia Rodrigo, who Swift demanded writing credits from on her song “Deja Vu” because Rodrigo vaguely sampled from a chord progression from “Cruel Summer” makes this lyric flat out icky in my opinion. At the time of release, Rodrigo was barely 18, Swift was 31, enough said.
Up next, the absolute worst song on the album, “Eldest Daughter.” This song is just plain cringe with trying to incorporate slang into a track five. This truly was an embarrassment to every other track five that is known for its heartbreaking lyrics. I’m sorry, I can’t take a song that says “trolling and memes” and “this isn’t savage” seriously. Genuinely, whatwas this song?
Now, the last memorable track that doesn’t get lost with the second half of the album is “Ruin The Friendship,” which is a track I was unsure about prior to first listen. Just based on the title alone, I felt like there were multiple directions this track could’ve taken, and Swift chose the best route.
Arguably, this is the best song on the album. While it does have a slow start, it picks up as the song progresses. The bridge moved me to tears on first listen just because of how devastatingly relatable it is. While track five is lackluster to say the least, track six makes up for it.
After track six, the rest of the album kind of blends together, with dashes of shade thrown at people throughout, in songs like “Actually Romantic” and “CANCELLED.” As “Actually Romantic” is rumored to be a response to Charli XCX’s “Sympathy is a Knife,” when XCX was truly highlighting her own insecurities and not trying to put anyone else down.
“CANCELLED” has also been highly regarded as a wannabe “Reputation” track because of once again, cringy lyrics, and is rumored to be about Swift standing by her controversial friend, Blake Lively.
However, one song saves the second half a little bit, which is “Wood.” I think the actual knocking on wood sound during the pre-chorus adds some more fun to the song. This is a steamy love song, likely rumored to be about her current partner, Travis Kelce.
I think this track takes some inspiration from Sabrina Carpenter’s most recent album, “Man’s Best Friend,” which has several steamy tracks, such as “Tears” and “House Tour.” While I think Carpenter does it better, I find the track catchy and an exciting highlight to a rather lackluster second half.
The closing song also shows how much of a lackluster album this is, too, because it’s also dull. However, the addition of Sabrina Carpenter to the song gives it a more showgirl-esque vibe than the title track is trying to accomplish. Without Carpenter to save the song, I fear it would be significantly more forgettable.
Overall, I had very high expectations for this album upon its release because of the return of Max Martin and Shellback, but I was left disappointed, except for a few tracks. It’s the cheap rip-off of “Reputation” and “1989,” beats an already dead horse that’s been dead for years, and lacks depth, aside from “Ruin The Friendship.” Overall, I would rate this album a 5.5/10.
