I’ll come right out and say it, I’m not the biggest Taylor Swift fan. I have a lot of respect for her as an artist, her music just isn’t really my style. Still, music is music and it warrants listening to in am unbiased manner even if your preferences are more classic and alternative rock. It’s undeniable that Taylor Swift is a dominating force in music for a reason, however, that reason doesn’t shine quite as brightly on her latest record, Lover, as it has in the past.
The biggest songs on the album are, of course, the two we’ve heard on Top 40 radio — “You Need to Calm Down” and “ME!” which features Brendon Urie from Panic! at the Disco. Neither of those were the “best” songs on the album though. Sure, they’re plenty catchy and perfect for our stereotypical Top 40 line-up, but, like much of Lover, it’s just more of the same from Taylor Swift that we’ve heard before. I’m not faulting her for that, if it works, it works, but one thing this album shows is that she can do better. She can do more.
Even if you hate her, you have to admit, the woman is talented. She has a wide vocal range, she’s talented in several instruments, and she understands beats and rhythm. The majority of this album was unimpressive but there were a couple songs that really stood out to. Songs that made me think, “do this more, experiment with this more”. The first song on the album, “I Forgot That You Existed” – I genuinely liked and related to that song. “The Man”? What a powerful statement. If only the rest of the album made me feel what those songs did.
OVERALL SCORE: 6 / 10
To sum it up, this album is more of the same with sprinkles of experimentation and a dash of making a statement. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either.
I started lukewarm on Lover, but I warmed up to it quickly.
I don’t think there’s a single bonafide hit on the record — especially not “Me!,” which was clearly pushed as the lead single because of the Brendon Urie feature — and sometimes its metaphors can be sorely immature. It seems like the mission statement here is to drop the heavy hooks and pick up detailed storytelling again – the exact opposite of what we heard on Reputation, which ultimately steered away from her personal narrative and gave us some uncharacteristic bangers.
Unlike many in the current ‘stan wars,’ I don’t necessarily see Lover’s shift as a bad thing. The record listens much more like a personal rejuvenation than a blockbuster record. And maybe that’s where a lot of people are getting disgruntled, because we’ve never been presented a Taylor Swift record that isn’t dead set on worldwide domination.
I dunno… I think we see Taylor just chill out on Lover, not quite as focused on total takeover of the musical landscape. Personally, I enjoy it.