Taylor made the rather predictable choice to keep this album off of streaming services for at least a week, in order to boost sales. That effect definitely happened; about 700,000 sales on the first day of its release. It could've been worse, of course; the rest of Taylor's catalog was only recently added to streaming services, after over a year as purchase exclusive.
Thematically, I never really had high hopes for the concept that she was trying to push with this album. When I heard "the old Taylor is dead" lyric from the lead single, I knew that there were two possible options for the sound of this album. One: Taylor can actually recreate herself with a new, darker and more raw image. Two: Taylor can act like she's totally reinvented with a few darker tracks, but for the most part, stick to her normal, safer sound. Of course, she went with option two.
When the lead single, "Look What You Made Me Do", came out, I actually had hope for the album to be something different. The sinister piano, downtempo chorus, and deeper bass made the song feel a lot darker than Tay's previous work. It brought some new innovations and sounds that I didn't expect to hear from Taylor; for example, the very dissonant but captivating "the world moves on, another day another drama drama..." segment. Not to mention how the video was a totally new aesthetic, of a more dark, fierce Taylor, as Taylor made a VERY bold move with the lyric "I'm sorry, the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now / Why? / Oh, 'cause she's dead!". Shortly after, she dropped the album artwork, featuring Taylor looking absolutely grungy. It seems more like a hip-hop album cover than a pop album cover, and certainly sets a precedent for the album.
Max Martin, Shellback, and Jack Antonoff handle the production on this album. Max Martin is no stranger to working with pop superstars such as Taylor Swift, but Jack Antonoff was a choice that raised a few eyebrows. The star of Bleachers and ex-member of the band Fun, he had already produced the Lorde album from earlier this year, which was decidedly alternative. I've never been a huge fan of Antonoff production, but it does seem like he's quickly becoming a go-to for a more alternative sound. With the exception of "Look What You Made Me Do", Antonoff handles most of the slower, more downtempo songs, and Martin and Shellback produced the faster songs.
On the other hand, the second single, "...Ready for it?" is actually quite great, despite the unwieldy name. The droning synths that form the majority of the production are definitely not mainstream at all, and the many tonal shifts work far better than they should. Who would've thought that a song that Taylor Swift raps on actually sounds pretty good? It's very cinematic and a far better single choice than LWMMD, at least in my opinion.
Taylor employs three tactics to appear to make more mature, alternative music on this album. (more mature themes, production tricks, and talking about real events).
The first is by using more "mature" lyrics. This is actually probably her most effective method; she can tackle more mature themes and it actually sounds natural, for the most part. She's not too explicit, and she's not going down the route of Tove Lo anytime soon, but it works.
My favorite track by far is "Don't Blame Me." It actually has soul and folk influences, mixed with a towering sawtooth synth chorus that rules the electropop world these days. The lyrics are nothing like Taylor has ever done before: she wails "Lord save me, my drug is my baby / I'll be using for the rest of my life." I can't help but compare the gospel, folk, and loud synth drops to the work of Bishop Briggs, an up and coming artist that's been doing this sound in the most amazing way for the past few years (check out her EP if you like this track!). There's nothing that I can find fault with on this track: great lyrics, great production, great vocals... I wish that Taylor used this theme more throughout this album, and I would surely like it far more.
"Dress" is a more sexual track. The chorus is one of the highlights of the entire album. It's breathy and almost a falsetto, and it sounds so very intimate. The steamy signature line of "only bought this dress so you can take it off" is totally on brand with Taylor's image, without going too far. It's the most sensual song on the album, but it's still pretty vanilla as far as modern music can go.
Of course, for every reaction is an equal and opposite reaction. That's why "Gorgeous" has lyrics that are so bad that they make up for both of the previous songs. The chorus of "I can't say anything to your face / cuz look at your face" is immature, and the bridge with "I guess I'll just stumble home to my cats" totally ruins the "old taylor is dead!" image she's trying to push.
As for production, Taylor tries, rather unsuccessfully, to take some of the trademarks of the alternative pop sound and make it her own. "Delicate", which seems to be a fan favorite for some reason, features a more airy production, and a vocoder. "King of My Heart" utilizes vocal cuts and audible autotune that just sounds unnatural.
Of course, like everything else on this album, there are exceptions to the norm. "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" is a very solid electropop track; it incorporates a lot of EDM elements with the thundering chorus; it's a classic Max Martin track.
Finally, Taylor tries to sound like she's above everyone else by "stealthily" talking about the real events that killed the "old Taylor". "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" is one of the worst, most petty songs released all year. It's a straight up attack against Kanye West, as she makes thinly veiled remarks about him and Jay-Z falling out, his song "Real Friends", and the phone call receipts. The bridge is so totally immature and just makes Taylor look obnoxious.
"I Did Something Bad" is a culmination of all of these themes. It contains first real swearword in a Taylor song; it's actually not too bad of a look. I didn't even notice her saying it the first time, and it fits pretty naturally. The production is very good; the gunshot samples are unexpected, and the piano and swinging synths work well to form a more mature soundscape. The more downtempo outro is a very welcome change. The lyrics and the shoehorned in pop drop are the worst parts. As usual, Taylor plays the victim; she admits that she "did something bad", but she doesn't take any responsibility for her past screw-ups, and blames everyone else for her issues. Not to mention that the line "They're burning all the witches, even if you aren't one" is extremely weak even with all of its potential.
Of course, there a few more songs in this album. The radio bait "End Game" is actually pretty good; the "big reputation" part is such an earworm. Future doesn't add much to the song and was a kind of weird choice for a feature, but Ed Sheeran does extremely well with his signature rap-singing style.
"Getaway Car", "New Year's Day", "Call It What You Want", and "So it Goes..." all sound like they'd fit more on 1989 than with the rest of the songs on reputation. They're all either very poppy or fairly standard ballads. Unsurprisingly, for the most part, these songs appear to be fan favorites among Taylor stans.
Overall, reputation is just a disappointment. I expected this album to be one of Taylor's best albums, and I'm left feeling like it's one of her worst. My favorite track, "Don't Blame Me", is sonically different than the rest of the songs on the album; herein lies one of Taylor Swift's biggest issues on this record. It's just disjointed, a messy combination of a bunch of styles that just don't work with each other. More than anything, this album shows that Taylor still has a lot of room to grow, and hopefully she can fulfill my high hopes for her.
Final Verdict:
43/100
Favorite Songs: Don't Blame Me, Dress, ...Ready For It?
Least Favorite Songs: This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Gorgeous
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