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Taylor Swift - Red

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What we thought:

Her love life may be more publicised than her music, but when Taylor Swift writes a song about her many broken hearts, you know it's going to be a good one.

On Red, Taylor is back to slam all of her exes with chart topping hits, but this time we see her also moving to the dark side: Pop.

It might be a myth that needs to be debunked by the Mytbusters-team, but it's been known that when an artist moves over to pop, they are doomed.

We all know Taylor as "that gal who sings country", but on her latest album, she is starting to experiment with more and more pop and a bit of electronic. From the first track "State of Grace", you can start to realise that Taylor is shedding off some of her country roots with a mixture of pop sounds in between.

One can argue and say she has been doing that a bit more lately, but Red is surely filled with more contemporary pop songs.

I am however afraid that Taylor might lose her originality by moving into other territories, but here is to hoping her new found love for pop, electronic and a bit of dubstep is just a phase.

Not that this bothers me: Taylor still remains a wunderkind.

With most of the songs on the album written by her - some of them are collaborations with other artists and writers - she proves that music can be original. I may have an obsession with originality, but I believe an album should tell a story based on original lyrics. And this album sure does tell a story (if you are willing to read behind the lines), even so, a juicy story if I may add.

In the prologue of her album cover, Taylor writes: "There's something to be proud of about moving on and realising that real love shines golden like starlight, and doesn't fade or spontaneously combusts. So I thought, maybe I’ll write a whole album about that kind of love if I ever find it. But this album is about the other kinds of love I’ve recently fallen out of."

And this kind of love, which she says reminds her of the colour red, is the inspiration behind this album.

Cue all the recent breakups and you’ll secretly find yourself plotting which song is dedicated to which old flame.

But not only does this game pop up in your head, Taylor is able to have you relate to her emotions. If you've ever been through a breakup, you’ll know what Taylor is talking about when she sings about how dangerous love can be at times.

Best track:

Undoubtedly the title track "Red". Of all the songs on the album, this one contains the rawest emotion. It towers out above the rest and reminds me of the music that made Taylor Swift  famous.

Worst track:

Taylor goes dubstep on "I Knew You Were Trouble" – listening to the song, I wanted to whack Taylor over the head with a wet fish. What was she thinking going over to uncharted waters with music that does not fit her?!

Sounds like:

Red doesn’t sound like anything you've ever heard before. Original all the way!

Listen to snippets of Taylor's album here:



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