1989
Taylor Swift\'s \'80s-inspired fifth studio effort is her first \"official pop album,\" with heavyweights like Max Martin, Shellback, Ryan Tedder, and Jack Antonoff helping construct a sleeker, glitzier sound. \"Shake It Off\" mimics \"Hey Ya,\" OutKast\'s own pledge of allegiance to populism, and echoes of Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and Belinda Carlisle can be heard throughout. *1989* is a juggernaut, as brash and brilliant as the lights of Times Square.
On her fifth album, Swift loses her naïveté. It’s her full turn into pop, a savvy move from a superstar thrust into the spotlight.
Much has been made about Taylor Swift’s gradual transition from country songbird to pop star, and make no mistake, 1989 is a straight-up pop record. But even on her earliest and most countrified tracks, like 2006’s “Tim McGraw,” Swift still seemed more like a pop star than a tractor-drivin’, boot-wearin’ backwoods…
The Pennsylvania-born country icon has shed her skin for new '80s influenced gear shift.
‘1989’ is Taylor Swift’s radical reinvention: one to finally alienate her country audience and plant her flag firmly in pop soil.
When Taylor Swift decides to do something, the girl really knows how to overdo it.
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Album review: Taylor Swift - 1989. Its ambition is commendable, but its execution boldly flawed…
It’s a caseload of doomed love for Taylor Swift, but she spins some pop gold along the way, writes <strong>Kitty Empire<br></strong>
1989 displays Swift’s willingness to venture outside her comfort zone without much of a safety net.
Why do people take Taylor Swift so much more seriously than her peers? Great songs, smart turns of phrase and a noticeable lack of the usual hollow pop platitudes all help, writes <strong>Alexis Petridis</strong>
But beyond all that, the question really is whether 1989 makes for a good pop album?
Taylor Swift - 1989 review: Taylor Swift finally embraces what she was meant to do.
Scratch beneath the shiny surface and you'll find Swift hasn’t moved so far from her country roots, says Neil McCormick
Former Nashvile starlet shakes it off on a classy pop album. New music CD review by Lisa-Marie Ferla