Album Review – Taylor Swift’s “Red”
(note: this is a general album review for “Red”. For reviews of the individual songs, check out the “Red” song reviews)
The first thing that needs to be pointed out is the same exact thing I started the review of Taylor Swift’s Speak Now with, that Red is not country. In fact to save some time, I’ll just cut and paste the same verbiage from that review, because it is just as relevant here, if not more.
The first thing you need to know about this album is that it is not country, period. This is not an opinion. There’s no need to spurn a debate about what the term “country” means or not. This is fact.
And for this infraction, which is the mother of all infractions, it deserves two guns down, 0 of 5 stars, and disqualification for even being considered as a legitimate work for review. If you had a restaurant serving the greatest Italian food ever known to man, but your sign out front said “Chinese,” with Chinese names for the entrees that were truly Italian fare, the Chinese food critic would walk into the restaurant, don a confused look, and fail your ass.
But since that conclusion leaves this review a little thin, I will try and rally by donning the “pop critic” cap, and give this album my honest opinion based solely on its merit as music, regardless of genre.
I have individual thoughts on each song of the album, but these are the the biggest, broadest points I want to make about Red:
In this album, Taylor takes another step toward maturity. She takes another step towards more in-depth composition and songwriting. She evokes a remarkable sense of mood in her music, and an uncanny ability to lift you out of your perspective and deliver you to an empathetic place where you feel the very emotions that were the impetus of her songs.
And as Taylor Swift stands right at the precipice of delivering of what could be one of the greatest popular music albums of our generation, rivaling some of the great legacy projects from females dating back to the 70’s, she all of a sudden, out of the blue, delivers some of the most bullshit, idiotic, overt, and reprehensible panderings to pop radio the likes of which I have never seen before from any artist that in any way could be construed as “country.”
Red is really the tale of two albums: A gorgeous evocation of human emotions set to enchanting music and delivered in elevated modes, and awful pop shit that leaves you almost embarrassed for Taylor from the sheer obviousness of the ploy.
To Taylor’s credit, it is the good stuff that makes up the majority of this album. But that’s also one of the frustrating things about Red, that it is right there, that this was such an opportunity for Taylor Swift to lead popular music in a positive direction. And because of fear, she blew it.
There is no bigger artist in all of the music the world right now than Taylor Swift. She must lead, and with Red she does, until she starts listening to others, and lets the fear of being rejected creep into her psyche and fool her into thinking she needs the safety of moronic pop singles to help sell her more heady material. Instead of listening to herself, she listens to others, attempts to mimic what they do instead of giving audience to her own internal inspirations and dialogue.
As an example I give you the first four songs of Red. “State of Grace”, “Red”, and “Treacherous” start where the stellar tracks of Speak Now like “Dear John” and “Enchanted” leave off, setting you on a journey that crosses both visceral and carnal boundaries, wholesale selling you on the mood that Taylor Swift wants to convey. Forget songwriting or chatter on genre styles for a moment, Taylor simply is able to evoke mood like few other artists in our generation can or have. By the end of “Treacherous”, I’m sold. I’ve totally bought into Taylor Swift and her music. Imagine your dirty, filthy Triggerman flying through the air, propelled on ivory wings by the power of Taylor Swift’s enchanting pop music in blind musical ecstasy…
…and then comes the absolutely vomitous, dubstep-inspired “I Knew You Were Trouble” and its blatant submissive posture to the powers who control pop radio, and it’s like slamming into the side of a building, or falling face down on the floor. Boom! Fantasy over. And you wake up once again to the reality that no matter how much you like Taylor Swift as a person, no matter how much you squint and tell yourself she is “the one” to elevate the popular music world, she is just another pop star.
Or is she? Because if you took away the four forays into the radio-pandering world that tarnish Red, and maybe even nixed one or two of the weaker tracks, what you’re left with is some of the most elevated and inspiring pop music we’ve heard in quite some time. Taylor Swift is right there. She climbs 9 rungs up the 10 run ladder, and then gets scared of heights. And though Red as an album leaves you saying “if only…,” it’s because it communicates such promise, in Taylor Swift, and the always-fleeting idea that pop music can actually be good, or get better.
Now excuse me for a moment as I leave all regularly-accepted music reviewer protocols and ethics behind, and just get this one little thing off my chest.
So the Swedish producers Max Martin and “Shellback,” the two guys responsible for producing the three most ridiculous songs on the album, those being “I Knew You Were Trouble”, “22”, and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”? Those guys? Yeah. Fuck them.
What the fuck are they doing on this album, and what the fuck are they doing screwing with Taylor Swift’s cute little pop songs? How dare they take someone’s creative expression, and turn it into passionless drivel to sell to the spoon fed masses? These dudes are worse than Scott Borchetta. They are like belligerent warriors of music homogenization and creative reduction, out there actively looking for good music to fuck up so they can make more money.

Max Martin and Shellback should be the first ones with their backs against the wall when the music revolution hits. They think that you are so stupid as consumers that you won’t listen to Red and hear the blatant discrepancy between their songs and the others, or see their fingerprints all over the crime scene that is the murdering the souls of these 3 Taylor Swift tracks.
In the end, yes, Taylor Swift is responsible. She’s gone out of her way to represent herself as the one writing and helping to produce all of her music and calling the shots. But Max Martin and Shellback are like a music Cancer, and should be cut out, radiated, and never spoken of again. What an absolute abomination their “contribution” to this album is.
I don’t want anything touched by Max Martin or Shellback to ever be heard by my ears again, to ever come in to the four walls of my home, or infect any of my friends, relatives, or neighbors. Max Martin and Shellback not only need to go back to Sweden, they the to take their N’Sync, Backstreet Boys bullshit and get the fuck off this planet.
So do yourself a favor. Take your copy of Red, and erase the 3 Max Martin/Shelldrake tracks from it. It’s okay, I promise, I’m giving you permission to do so. Just delete them out of your iTunes or wherever you keep your music. Or if you have a physical copy, take a magic marker and just scribble them out with maybe an asterisk beside them and a little warning: “Produced by the Cancers of Max Martin & Shellback. Do not listen.”
And if you do this, what you are left with is a great pop album with some amazing musical moments that really touch you. A lot of folks will laugh this album and Taylor Swift off as a matter of habit. And you know what? The joke is on them. If you’re a true fan of music, you don’t care what anybody else thinks, and you don’t care where it comes from. If it’s good and it’s real, then that’s all that matters, because there’s so much out there that isn’t, thanks to folks like Max Martin, Shellback, and others.
We can only guess at what “I Knew You Were Trouble”, “22”, and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” would have been if some intrusive production team hadn’t done their worst with them, but they are part of this album. That ship has sailed, and they will forever sully what otherwise is an elevated piece of work.
While reactionary Taylor Swift critics can’t seem to pull their focus from the fact that “all she does is write songs about lovers” when this observation pretty much covers nearly every pop star in history, or they go back and harp on the immaturity of her songs like “You Belong With Me” that was released now almost 4 years ago, Taylor Swift has elevated her game to where her musical peers are no longer the Brittney Spears’ and Katy Perry’s of the world, but the great female pop performers of modern music, like Carly Simon, Carole King, and Sarah McLachlan. There is deep substance to this music.
Taylor has handed over her critics four new pieces of indispensable ammo on this album, at the same time announcing her presence as one of the premier popular female songwriters of the modern musical era. And so she is destined to remain an enigma in popular culture. Everyone got what they wanted from Red: critics, apologists, radio, and fans alike. And so we’ll see how time judges Red, but it would be wrong to not recognize that the good on this album outweighs the bad.
As a country album: 2 guns down
As a pop album: 1 3/4 of 2 guns up
October 29, 2012 @ 11:22 am
I was very surprised at how much I liked this album.
I was very surprised at how much I hated this album.
Then I read that there were multiple producers, and it all became clear.
What I especially didn’t care for were the tracks with the razor-thin, trebley vocals, especially when I otherwise liked the song a lot.
As far a the really, really bad Pop, as John Lennon once said long ago, “Even with Elvis there were songs to skip.”
October 29, 2012 @ 11:22 am
Please put nothing else about Taylor Swift on here.
October 29, 2012 @ 11:25 am
Taylor should just go pop. It would stop most of her hate from the country fans. Yes there are many. Go to tasteofcountry facebook page and see how many people are sick of her.
Two why the hell does Scott Borchetta doesn’t promote all his artists like Taylor. I am sick of her promotional gimicks. If you were a true music fan you know rule #1 is “Let the Music sell itself”.
If I was on scott borchetta’s label as an artist I would demand the same “promotion”.
Taylor has proved though if you scorn her she will “write a song about you”.
Making the critics kiss her behind.
I wish Taylor would go pop and get out of country music forever.
October 29, 2012 @ 11:27 am
“So do yourself a favor. Take your copy of Red, and erase the 3 Max Martin/Shelldrake tracks from it. It”™s okay, I promise, I”™m giving you permission to do so. Just delete them out of your iTunes or wherever you keep your music. Or if you have a physical copy, take a magic marker and just scribble them out with maybe an asterisk beside them and a little warning: “Produced by the Cancers of Max Martin & Shellback. Do not listen.””
Exactly what I did. Greetings from Asia.
October 29, 2012 @ 11:38 am
from the start…BIG BOX….POP ….Muppet…..has nothin to do with ground roots country/folk/bluegrass/roots music
October 29, 2012 @ 11:53 am
And the point is?
I consider myself as a Punk & Jazz (and Lounge music) fan. But I enjoy all kind of music. Be it Country, Bluegrass, Rock, Blues, or Pop. As long as it’s good.
Another good point: Had it not for Taylor, I might have never got into C&W music. There are always pos & neg points of everything. And if you want to call a Pop act puppet, it’s the wrong person imo.
October 29, 2012 @ 3:39 pm
What country artist have you discovered through Taylor? Hank 3’s country stuff, Wayne Hancock? James Hand.
October 29, 2012 @ 9:01 pm
Yes @ Dale Watson. Not yet @ the others, may be soon. But the ones I really love are: Hank Sr., Mr. Cash, Kris K., Mr. Nelson, Elizabeth Cook, Alison Krauss, and the always amazing Emmylou Harris.
And I was expecting more from the new Jamey Johnson release. Unpopular opinion I know.
October 29, 2012 @ 3:49 pm
Or how about Dale Watson. Meant to add him but didn’t
October 30, 2012 @ 6:39 am
Great always nice to meet other Dale fans. You’ll love James Hand. He reminds me of Hank Sr.
October 30, 2012 @ 7:35 am
Here’s a James hand song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZrb_76g5K4&noredirect=1
October 29, 2012 @ 11:29 am
My wife loves Taylor Swift and is really enjoying this album. However, as she noted, the album is in no way a country album. For her, and many others, I assume, catchy pop crap that girls like to sing and dance to can be separated from serious song-writing. I really don’t think of it as music per se, just mildly-entertaining, mindless drivel. Kind of like how McDonald’s isn’t really actual food. You go to a real restaurant to eat a meal and have an enjoyable experience. You go to McDonald’s to be momentarily sated and make your stomach stop growling for an hour.
October 29, 2012 @ 8:46 pm
This might be the best analogy I’ve ever heard about what Taylor and those like her are to music. Well put.
October 29, 2012 @ 12:51 pm
“The first thing that needs to be pointed out is the same exact thing I started the review of Taylor Swift”™s Speak Now with, that Red is not country.”
That is where I stopped reading, and you should have stopped writing.
This got your ear more than Hank Cochran’s tribute, eh? You do remember the name of your site, right?
October 29, 2012 @ 2:37 pm
Well put.
October 29, 2012 @ 3:12 pm
Well Jamey Johnson’s Hank Cochran tribute got 1 gun up, and 1 gun down, or a mixed review for country, while this one got 2 guns down. So though your little assertion may sound sexy, it’s untrue.
The reason I posted two articles on one album is because that was the best way to get out all the opinions I wanted to about it. It should in no way be construed as some double endorsement, or in any way mean that I like it more than any other album released this year or ever.
I assume an intelligent reader, and assume people will actually read the reviews I write instead of taking symbolic notions of what they may be inferring by the number of articles I publish.
I learned in Kindergarten that dimes are worth more than nickels.
Like it or not, Taylor Swift is the biggest name not only in “country” music (and as I have been pointing out for 5 years, she’s not really country), but in music overall, and so I felt it was important to talk about it in an in-depth manner.
If you don’t want to read about it, nobody is forcing you to. At no point did I make a comparison between Taylor Swift and Jamey Johnson, nor should one be inferred.
October 29, 2012 @ 4:08 pm
Who mentioned Jamey Johnson? I mentioned the tribute album he put out, but didn’t mention him. I just found it odd that you would find music written by Hank Cochran, and performed by legends, and the project spearheaded by a current 30-ish year old male singer, worth a bit more than “its boring” and then dedicating two blogs, and how much time to Taylor Swift?
I don’t care that she is a big name in music. She isn’t country. So why take the time?
Christ, you haven’t touched Ronnie Dunn’s solo album. You know little about Jackson Taylor (who is from your back yard of TX), you blast Shooter Jennings for what he does yet this has become a hot spot for Taylor Swift information. WTF?
You have fallen into the trap of it all. Rather than ignore it, you try to take it on or figure it out somehow. It is young woman, teeny bop, bubble gum music. “Taylor, get back to us when you are 25, let’s see if you make country music, and we will listen.”
Let Taylor be Taylor. This is Saving Country Music. Get to covering guys/gals that matter, not Taylor or some strung out band that is barely hanging on or just broke up cause they couldn’t hang on.
October 29, 2012 @ 6:21 pm
“Who mentioned Jamey Johnson? I mentioned the tribute album he put out, but didn”™t mention him.”
Come on man.
So who’s album did I not cover that I should have because I covered this one? Can you tell me specifically? Because a lot of times I hear a good album, but I don’t know what to say about it. You think this is easy? I write what I am passionate about. Sometimes it’s popular, sometimes it’s not, but I always try to be honest about my opinions. I am always listening to music and working on reviews. Just because I haven’t written about something doesn’t mean it is not on my radar, and just because I write about one artist, doesn’t mean I’m taking time away from writing about another.
“you haven”™t touched Ronnie Dunn”™s solo album. You know little about Jackson Taylor (who is from your back yard of TX)”
See, this is part of the problem. A lot of folks that bitch every time I talk about Taylor Swift or some other mainstream artist or subject, they navigate here and tell me I need to cover artists they already know about. And when I post articles trying to promote artists they DON’T know about, they ignore them like the ugly girl at the dance. Yet it’s funny, even though they don’t want to read about artists they don’t know about, I never hear people bitch on those articles.
I have no desire to preach to a choir. Clearly you already know about Ronnie Dunn’s album, and Jackson Taylor & The Sinners. So what do you want from me? And for your information, I have covered Jackson Taylor & The Sinners (https://savingcountrymusic.com/album-review-jackson-taylor-the-sinners-bad-juju). As for the Ronnie Dunn, I had an article all ready to go about him and his new album and how he was collaborating with an old Texas music great on new songs, and I was asked by numerous parties not to publish it. I probably spent two hours writing this story up, and never was able to publish it out of respect for the artists involved. Maybe I will be able to in the future, maybe I’ll put up and album review for his last album. Many things have to be right before I feel comfortable pulling the trigger on any article. This is a lot more difficult than it may look.
But listen Tim, I understand that you and others may be frustrated by the amount of Taylor Swift articles on Saving Country Music right now. Trust me, I know there’s folks grumbling out there, and swearing they’ll never be back to this site. But from the beginning, I’ve followed the news cycle. Taylor just put out an album and happens to be involved in some other high priority news stories happening in country music right now, like the Billboard chart controversy, and the CMA’s that are happening in 72 hours. Taylor is big in the news right now. In a few weeks, she probably won’t be, and guess what, you probably won’t see any more articles about her. But until then, I feel I have an obligation to cover the biggest stories in country music from an independent viewpoint, and I’m not going to show any bias towards tstories just because some specific name is involved and that makes it not cool in certain circles. When Hank III released 4 albums, there was a bunch of articles about him. Around the Muddy Roots festival, there was a bunch of articles about that. That’s just the way it goes man, but I think I have shown over many years now my commitment to always cover traditional, independent, and underground country as best as I can. That never has, and never will change.
You have my word.
October 29, 2012 @ 1:19 pm
Good review. Agree wholeheartedly. The talent that is on display with songs like ‘All Too Well’ is staggering. Taylor just needs to go independent and pour her heart out without all the big label pressures. I remember reading that it was Scott who pressured her to co-write with M. Martin because the last era failed to produce big radio hits.
October 29, 2012 @ 1:41 pm
No matter much she dominates the current music scene, I’ve always figured Taylor, as an artist who writes or co-writes her own stuff, would either grow up with her fans or else they would outgrow her.
The latter case is more likely if she resorts to more material like the Max Martin / Shellback collaborations; but judging from this piece as well as your track-by-track review, it sounds like she has a lot more potential for staying power as a pop singer-songwriter.
October 29, 2012 @ 4:56 pm
I agree with everything you said about Max Martin except that Martin has had a small number of good songs, generally when the artist has more input than him – “It’s My Life” and “Complicated” by Bon Jovi come to mind, and I don’t mind “Since U Been Gone” and “Behind These Hazel Eyes” by Kelly Clarkson either (hate me for that but my opinion on Kelly Clarkson is more or less identical to yours of Jamey Johnson – she is a good person and I appreciate her efforts to get artistic control, but most of her stuff is crap) . The problem is Max Martin has one good song for every 100 shitty generic dance-pop songs he makes, and the shitty songs are always top-ten, omnipresent radio hits. This makes him useless and worth every bit of criticism you gave him.
October 29, 2012 @ 6:01 pm
I don’t like Taylor Swift in her music, nor in the personality she displays. She reminds me too much of a couple of girls in High School how broke my heart, and of another group of girls that I would never date.
October 30, 2012 @ 1:40 pm
I think she still writes from an immature point of view because her base is 15-year old girls. She started her career with their support and will have it until she stops making infantile crap like WANEGBT or IKYWT. I’m more offended by how she uses her incredible power in the music industry to tear down the people she claims to have loved at some point.
October 30, 2012 @ 2:37 pm
the only country acts ive heard her praise are twain,hill,mcgraw and rhimes. if those are the people shes tearing down i like her even more now lol. i really like her but she seems to have terrible taste in music for the most part.
October 30, 2012 @ 3:10 pm
I think Eric C. is referring to Taylor criticizing some of her ex-boyfriends in some of her songs.
October 30, 2012 @ 4:29 pm
Yep, particularly when she does it by name or is very clear who it is about. Musicians should respect the privacy of their partners and I find it a tad offensive she doesn’t seem to care about what they think – I haven’t seen anyone write a nasty song about her.
October 30, 2012 @ 4:50 pm
I find that a bit uncomfortable too, but they can’t say they weren’t warned. When you date Taylor, you effectively sign an waiver stipulating that you may be the subject of one of her songs in the future. At least she does not name the subject of her negative songs, except in two songs where she only gave the first name (a very common first name in both cases).
As for songs about her: Joe Jonas actually did write a song called “Superstar” that indirectly criticized Taylor and compared her negatively to his then current girlfriend.
October 29, 2012 @ 6:40 pm
Taylor Swift well never be taken serious as an artist until she ramps up the ladies to at least a c-cup. also…Bob Log III is god.
October 29, 2012 @ 9:02 pm
… and shoots whipped cream outta them.
Because I sincerely hope the “c-cup” remark was a sarcastic reference to Katy Perry (& Max Martin) and not just a standard sexist dig.
To Triggerman, thanks for an insightful review. After WANEGBT, I avoided listening to additional tracks & only did so as I read your analysis. Swift is a polarizing figure in a number of conversations; music, feminism, popular culture …you name it. Your input is much appreciated.
Question: Do SCM reviews get included in the Metacritic aggregate? Or would you have to enter separately? (Apologies if this has been asked/answered – I’m new here)
October 29, 2012 @ 9:51 pm
I do not believe they are considered in Metacritic at the moment.
October 30, 2012 @ 5:01 am
it was goddamn joke,lighten up…jesus christ. if i wanted to be a sexist i would of recommened double d’s and to start packing some weight on that flat ass of her’s. i could care less that this women or her music exists.
…i’m dead serious about Bob Log III being god though.
October 30, 2012 @ 6:51 am
Good Lord, dial it down… I thought it might be a joke, but there’s no sarcasm font on the internet And the joke would have been stronger if you had added the Katy Perry reference. As written, it could have been interpreted either way, hence my comment.
You’d be surprised how many people take a shot at Swifts figure to support their (low) opinion of her music. That you “could care less” about her music or “her flat ass” does make your comment suspect though.
October 30, 2012 @ 9:33 am
why do you keep bringing up Katy Perry? my original comment was an excuse to poke a little fun and mention Bob Log III..just like in all the other Taylor Swift posts Triggerman makes. as for my “suspect” comments..keep diggin detective,i’m not that deep.
October 30, 2012 @ 9:47 am
Indeed Lunchbox, you are quite shallow…
October 30, 2012 @ 9:57 am
Did not realize you and Triggerman shared some insider joke on T-Swift posts. But to the uninitiated visitor, your original joke could be left open to interpretation. And if it is indeed “not that deep”, it could be interpreted as “shallow”. There are far better examples of humor on SCM:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/the-6-pop-country-archetypes
October 30, 2012 @ 9:51 am
Alright folks, let’s move on! Feel free to share your thoughts on the album or respectfully disagree with someone elses, but nobody wants to see the back and forths. Please and thank you!
January 3, 2013 @ 12:18 am
It’s not ‘would of’, it’s ‘would have’……and ‘woman’, not ‘women’, seeing as you are only referring to one woman.
October 29, 2012 @ 7:41 pm
“I have no desire to preach to a choir. Clearly you already know about Ronnie Dunn”™s album, and Jackson Taylor & The Sinners. So what do you want from me?”
Why are you writing so much about Taylor Swift? I think it”™s pretty clear we all know who she is and what kind of music she is putting out. At least one preset on my radio has a T Swift song at any given time, so I think I have had my fill. I originally came to this site to find out about new artists who don”™t get much attention. Looks like I will have to find somewhere else to go. If you are going to blog or write about pop artists frequently, maybe you should consider changing the name of your website.
October 29, 2012 @ 10:11 pm
” I think it”™s pretty clear we all know who she is and what kind of music she is putting out.”
No, I don’t think we do, and that was one of the major themes of this review.
“I originally came to this site to find out about new artists who don”™t get much attention. Looks like I will have to find somewhere else to go.”
Then it’s funny why the first comment you would ever leave here would be on a Taylor Swift article. Why didn’t you leave a comment on the article about Willy “Tea” Taylor? Or on the announcement about the Muddy Roots Festivals, or on the Apolitical blog that featured Leroy Virgil, Chris Knight, and Lee Bains III? Or the review of Reverend Peyton or the .357 String Band or Aaron Watson? These are all on the front page man, you don’t have to dig to find them. But it was Taylor Swift’s name that made you click and comment. NOW who’s the one paying too much attention to Taylor?
Look, I understand if you or others are tired of seeing Taylor Swift’s name around here, and trust me, I’m listening. But telling me or anyone else that Saving Country Music has gone away from giving attention to names that don’t get it much is bullshit. You have choices, as do all the other readers, and almost 10 to 1, they decide to read about Taylor, regardless of what people may say in the comments.
You want to read about names that don’t get much attention? Then read about them. They’re right here. And avoid these blogs, I won’t be offended.
October 30, 2012 @ 5:46 am
Not that you need me to jump to your defense, but I understand fully why you write about Taylor Swift. I also started coming here to get exposure to artists and music otherwise overlooked by “country” radio,CMT, and the rest of the crap shoved down our throats they call country. That being said, most of the goings on and noteworthy happenings in the “country” music world happen without me knowing about it because I dont listen to the radio, and I wouldn’t watch CMT if I was bound and gagged. I agree that like her or not, Taylor Swift is a force to be reckoned with, and certainly will have a lasting effect on how the uninformed masses veiw “country” music, no matter how sad, or angry it makes the rest of us. I have learned of MANY artists I wouldn’t have stumbled across otherwise from your site, and learned the atrocities commited against an institution that I hold very dear here on SCM. Like I said, you don’t need me to come running to your defense, you seem to hold your own pretty good, but I for one think you are doing a stellar job of keeping me up to date, so I dont have to pay attention to “country” radio. That is all.
October 30, 2012 @ 8:18 am
You can’t save country music by writing a gigantic article about Taylor swift every couple weeks. There are plenty of other online publications and communities that devote enough time and energy into mainstream artists. We come here for information and reviews about underground musicians who we may not otherwise hear of.
I propose that you create another site devoted to your hate for the mainstream. You can talk about country music anti-christs, how much you hate Shooter, preach the gospel about how bad Taylor Swift sucks.
As for this site, most of the information is invaluable. It’s a resource for true fans to get real information, and for that, we are grateful. Please just stop the pop culture banter and internet fist fights.
October 30, 2012 @ 11:30 am
The idea behind posting two massive articles about Taylor Swift’s new album simultaneously was in anticipation of backlash and out of respect for those people that were complaining that Taylor Swift is getting too much coverage here. My idea was to instead of putting out a bunch articles over a longer period of time, putting out two articles where all the info I felt needed to get out there was crammed in, including song reviews for each song so hopefully individual reviews won’t be necessary. Now maybe that idea was dumb and it’s now blowing up in my face. And if that’s the case, I take full responsibility. But make no mistake, the reason I posted these articles like I did was to attempt to limit that amount of articles on this site with Taylor Swift in the title.
I understand Taylor gets coverage in other places. The point of my coverage is to offer a dissenting, realistic and independent viewpoint. As pointed out by Yoggy and other commenters in this very article, believe it or not, there are people who come to this site to read about Taylor and others, and then are turned on to the good stuff. Believe it or not, this happens every day. 2/3’rds of the people that come to SCM on any given day have never been here before. That is the underlying recipe that SCM is built on to not preach to a choir, but to increase the flock.
I don’t want to diminish the criticisms that there’s too much Taylor Swift coverage here, because I think those concerns are real and not necessarily unfounded, but it presents a great dilemma for me. You say that I can’t save country music by talking about Taylor, but from my perspective, saying I can’t talk about Taylor is taking a tool out of my toolbox, a weapon out of my arsenal, tying one arm behind my back. Especially since she’s smack dab in the middle of the Billboard chart controversy, and the CMA’s are coming up in 48 hours. This is going to be a trying week for SCM, but long-term, there won’t be as much Taylor Swift coverage because she won’t be releasing another album for two years, and it won’t be the heart of the award show season.
Last Friday I was interviewed by The New York Times about the Billboard chart situation, and the way the Times reporter found this website was from the article I posted about why Swift’s song “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” not country. The way Fox News found me last Spring was from my coverage of the ACM Awards. The way my subversive message about the plight of country music found its way onto the largest news network in the world, and the largest newspaper in the world is by covering pop country. I’m taking this fight to THEIR house, I’m getting up in THEIR kitchen, holding their feet to the fire.
I don’t expect anyone to read about stuff they don’t want to. By all means, avoid these articles. But don’t fool yourself for a second into thinking I will ever stop covering the good stuff, or that covering pop country from a critical, independent viewpoint isn’t important in the grand scheme.
Respects.
October 30, 2012 @ 7:22 pm
I have never commented because I would read your reviews and then look up that artist. Never felt the need to comment. I commented this time because I am sick of hearing about Taylor Swift everywhere I turn. I thought this may be the one place I could avoid her teenage crap, but I was wrong. You”™re right, people don”™t have to read these reviews, but it”™s hard to miss them when there are so many. It”™s just a little concerning to see so many articles and reviews that have been devoted to her recently.
October 30, 2012 @ 9:36 pm
This is a good point, and something I’ve been thinking about of why the backlash has been so great around Taylor Swift coverage, and something honestly I didn’t anticipate. It’s not just here, everywhere people turn they see her name and it feels incessant. This is going to happen when you put out an album that has had the best opening week for an album in a decade. This isn’t just a problem for me, it’s a problem for Swift. I think she’s overexposed.
October 29, 2012 @ 9:44 pm
Obviously a lot of people here are going to instantly hate this just because it’s pop. But as a pop album, it’s actually pretty good and I have no hesitation saying I enjoy it.
November 1, 2012 @ 6:04 am
BARF!
October 30, 2012 @ 2:11 am
I don’t give a fuck about Taylor Swift, or the music she makes, i didn’t even read the review, i did enjoy reading the comments though, and i would like to say thank you Triggerman for not censoring/removing any of the comments
October 30, 2012 @ 10:40 am
Triggerman…my bad dude,keep up the good work.
October 30, 2012 @ 5:03 am
Certainly not country to my ears. I caught about 20 minutes of Ms Swift’s performance in Nashville a couple of years agao and think she does what she does really well, but it’s definitely more soft rock/MOR in a Stevie Nicks kind of way than country.
October 30, 2012 @ 9:20 am
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October 30, 2012 @ 10:21 am
ian2167 October 30, 2012 at 2:11 am
I don”™t give a fuck about Taylor Swift, or the music she makes, i didn”™t even read the review, i did enjoy reading the comments though, and i would like to say thank you Triggerman for not censoring/removing any of the comments
Unless you make a joke that Triggerman doesn’t like. Triggerman, you’re an asshat.
October 30, 2012 @ 11:34 am
You mean the comment you left that got stuck in the spam filter because you put a link to The Food Network?
For someone that hates this site, you sure do spend a lot of time here.
We probably have more in common than you’re willing to admit.
October 30, 2012 @ 11:06 am
“I don”™t want anything touched by Max Martin or Shellback to ever be heard by my ears again, to ever come in to the four walls of my home, or infect any of my friends, relatives, or neighbors. Max Martin and Shellback not only need to go back to Sweden, they the to take their N”™Sync, Backstreet Boys bullshit and get the fuck off this planet.”
Ha, this is the Triggerman I wanna hear! Great call on the Carole King, Sarah McLachlin comparison too. Pop has it’s place.
October 30, 2012 @ 11:11 am
Taylor can’t hold a candle to Stevie Nicks. Stevie at least can carry a tune and has some range and depth in her voice. Bless the woman for at least trying to harmonize with Taylor’s off key performance. I have never had to walk out of a store or restaurant to avoid being assaulted by Stevie’s music either.
October 30, 2012 @ 11:14 am
Carly Simon, Carole King, and Sarah McLachlan CAN sing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carole King has written some of the all time great classical pop songs that will live on forever and she can play her ass off on the piano.
October 30, 2012 @ 7:07 pm
Great review.
October 30, 2012 @ 9:30 pm
Excellent review. I agree that the Max Martin songs are trash. Listening to those songs should make one realize why even pop country is far better than today’s mainstream pop.
Overall, this is definitely Taylor’s best album from a lyrical perspective. Nobody in pop music, and even almost nobody in mainstream country, can tell a story with such vividness and relatability that Taylor can, and she keeps on getting better at that front. The lyrics on this album reach a new height with “All Too Well”, which in my opinion is Taylor’s best lyric ever. If she and her label manage to get radio to play this song despite its length, I think it will be a solid contender for Grammy Song of the Year.
Setting mood through music has always been Taylor’s key strength, since her first album, and she has definitely taken that to a new level here. However, I feel slightly let down by the musical style of the songs in general. The music sometimes seems a bit too loud and flat here, compared to her previous albums which had a significant number of acoustic songs with beautiful varying melodies. For the upbeat category, Taylor should have avoided Max Martin and instead done what she does best: taking a progressive, innovative approach to her authentic, wistful-yet-cheerful sound (which worked so well in Enchanted and Ours, for example, and works well in this album with Stay, Stay, Stay). Overall, though, the music in this album is still far better than the vast majority of modern pop music. “Sad Beautiful Tragic”, in particular, may be Taylor’s best song of all time from a musical perspective (rivaled only by Dear John, Never Grow Up, and Come in with the Rain). The mandolin that plays throughout that song shoots right through your heart and gives you a strong sense of abstract nostalgia that is impossible to shake off for up to an hour.
So overall, this album constitutes a new milestone in Taylor’s trend toward maturation in her songwriting, and further confirms that she is truly the best singer-songwriter in pop music today, and today’s top singer-songwriter, period, when combining her songwriting skill with her influence in society.
I just have one quick question for you. In this review, you call “Enchanted” a “stellar track”. However, in your Speak Now review, you criticized the song. What made you change your mind?
October 30, 2012 @ 9:45 pm
Funny you ask. I still contend that I don’t “like” any of Taylor Swift’s songs, though I have grown to appreciate certain things that she does. Caitlin Rose, who as you may or may not know, is a Nashville singer/songwriter and daughter of Swift songwriting collaborator Liz Rose. At one point shortly after “Speak Now” came out, I saw Caitlin post somewhere that “Enchanted” was her favorite song off “Speak Now”. After the comment, I went back and listened to the song and found an new appreciation for the dynamics and mood Taylor evokes in it. “Dear John” was the song that made me realize Taylor was not just another pop star, and “Enchanted” was the one that made me appreciate her use of mood.
November 10, 2012 @ 5:57 pm
Hey man. first of all, I am all about Triggerman doing reviews on Taylor Swift. I think he is right in that she could be the one to transform the music industry into what it should be. Now, I dont believe she has anywhere close to the power needed to move the country music to where most folks that view this site would like for it to be. but, she is involved none the less..
I listened to Dear John after reading this post. listen, taylor has got it goin on…
let me be clear. i am not a huge fan of taylor but i do have respect for her. she is one of if not the best selling artist in nashville and she writes her own tunes. for the most part. when you listen to taylor, you can tell its taylor. i can see her in every picture she paints on her albums. unlike jason alden and eric church and those of the like.
Trig is only trying to bring us his opinions on whats going on in the music we all have an interest in. OPINION being the main word.
October 31, 2012 @ 7:27 am
“Last Friday I was interviewed by The New York Times about the Billboard chart situation, and the way the Times reporter found this website was from the article I posted about why Swift”™s song “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” not country. The way Fox News found me last Spring was from my coverage of the ACM Awards. The way my subversive message about the plight of country music found its way onto the largest news network in the world, and the largest newspaper in the world is by covering pop country. I”™m taking this fight to THEIR house, I”™m getting up in THEIR kitchen, holding their feet to the fire.”
huh?
Interesting, your taking the fight to them in their kitchen? Isn’t that what some artists do, they go to Nashville, get in the mix and try to fight in their kitchen. But you always call those artists fake.
Maybe you are starting to play in the kitchen so you can get some exposure…I.E. NY Times and Fox. So are you compromising things? Are you really saving country music by giving these pop artists more exposure? Because you are not telling us anything we don’t know. Your preaching to the choir, and I think you made it clear you don’t bother writing about things that have so much exposure.
October 31, 2012 @ 7:32 am
And as for your claim that some of us only pick on you in these type of blogs and never comment on other blogs about underground artists/issues….I’ve tried to comment on several other blogs that have nothing to do with polarizing figures, and my comments are deleted.
I think when you fly the flage of “Saving Country Music” you should understand what that statement means and if it is to big for one guy to handle, then simply change your sites name. You did before, maybe time to re-evaluate it again.
October 31, 2012 @ 4:33 pm
Nobody is deleting comments, and I think this comment section is evidence of that. Every once in a while, a comment will get stuck in the spam filter. If this happens, try reposting it, or get in touch with me and I will handle it.
I’m not changing the name of the website.
October 31, 2012 @ 8:07 am
Trig – these people are gonna keep runnin you around in circles about this “why keep talking about swift?!” shit … I see it gets worse with every article. I understand the reasons behind your doing these articles. As far as I’m concerned we should all be calling in and contacting local radio country radio stations until they give up on playing her music ad start playing something maybe even just a hint more country. We can all spread the word to our friends about truer music but that has its limits.
As far as this album goes… There isn’t a chance in hell I’m paying hard earned money for it. Never cared for her music since the beginning and would be hard pressed to say I ever will. She can be the best songwriter in the world for all it matters, she’ll still only get my respect but not my money or my ears!
October 31, 2012 @ 11:11 am
At my local Walgreens there was an entire shelf decorated and dedicated to selling this album … right in front of an aisle full of glittery and pink shit. That’s how mainstream, pop, and geared towards teenage girls Taylor Swift’s music is.
November 1, 2012 @ 1:49 am
A first week sales comparison: Justin Bieber sold 370,000 units of Believe, while Swift sold 1.2 million units of Red. She reaches a much broader demographic than just teenage girls. She appeals to tweens and teenagers, but also to college kids and middle-aged men and women.
Since when is “mainstream” or “pop” music inherently bad? That’s mindless music snobbery as far as I’m concerned.
November 1, 2012 @ 5:41 am
Sure I’ll plead guilty to “snobbery” but understand it’s in respect to the honor of country music, which many label Taylor Swift as when she clearly is not.
I have no clue what a “tween” is and am especially oblivious to anything in regards to Justin Beaver. Mainstream music will give your ears an STD and the worst symptom is knowing exactly how many “units” Beaver sold. It is curable though … simply apply a heaping dosage of the following each day: Ernest Tubb, Jerry Reed, Hellbound Glory, Charley Pride, Jimmie Rogers, and of course any Hank available. (For good measure apply a soothing dose of Robert Johnson and Charley Patton.)
November 1, 2012 @ 5:56 am
Look, teenage girls are the only people that buy full albums anymore. That’s why Bieber had a relatively high debut and One Direction did so well. What Swift does is unite these teenage girls in a way not dissimilar to what the boybands of the 90s did – she makes bubblegum pop music that relates to them. Sure, other people buy her music (young adult or middle-aged females, certain heterosexual men, and gay men), but her core demographic is and always has been teenage girls. If it wasn’t, she wouldn’t be writing garbage like IKYWT or WANEGBT.
November 1, 2012 @ 12:21 pm
“What Swift does is unite these teenage girls”
Correct.
“in a way not dissimilar to what the boybands of the 90s did”
Incorrect. Taylor’s appeal to teenage girls is far deeper than any boy band’s appeal. Boy bands have generally been fads, with fleeting fan bases. Taylor Swift, on the other hand, has the most durable fan base in pop music today. You can see the evidence of that in her album sales in the middle of a recession.
November 1, 2012 @ 1:08 pm
I worded that badly – what she is doing is an improvement on that old formula. Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC both had consecutive million-selling albums (N*SYNC even sold a million copies in one day), and she is following in that. The difference is she is targeting them all and acting like ‘one of them’, writing songs they feel relate to them. Boybands faded because the next boyband would steal the show, but Taylor manages to stay at the front by being omnipresent on social media.
October 31, 2012 @ 2:37 pm
Look people, stop complaining about Triggerman covering Swift. I hate her music as much as anyone can and Trig does no harm covering it – it brings attention to his blog and the idea that Taylor Swift is not country in any sense of the word. Further, it brings attention to the coverage of indie or underground country, which mainstream blogs don’t cover. I certainly don’t agree with Triggerman giving the album high scores as a pop album (I wouldn’t grade her high because she is talentless vocally, her songwriting style is immature in its orientation and very overrated, and she is lying about being country in any way), but his opinion is very honest in his review, noting which ones he thinks are appreciable and bashing the most poppy songs on the album, and it certainly beats the MSM’s uniformly positive reviews.
November 1, 2012 @ 1:54 am
You have listened to Red in full, I assume?
November 1, 2012 @ 5:53 am
No. I have no intention of buying the album and adding to her sales total and I don’t pirate music. I’ve read the lyrics and I listened to a karaoke sample of “State of Grace” (to see just how U2-ish it is without having to hear her voice), but I was thoroughly unimpressed and underwhelmed with both (not that I expected different). God knows I’ve heard WANEGBT enough.
November 2, 2012 @ 12:43 am
If you want to listen to a karaoke version, I suggest you listen to “Sad Beautiful Tragic”. I think you might like the instrumentation there. It may even change your mind about Taylor!
November 2, 2012 @ 7:47 am
I have liked some of her melodies before… the instrumental version of “Teardrops on my Guitar” is actually pretty good (and pretty country) and a (very) guilty pleasure, and I liked Weird Al’s parody of “You Belong With Me”. I just can’t stand her lyrics or her voice.
As for the karaoke of “Sad Beautiful Tragic”, there isn’t a karaoke version up yet. There is an instrumental cover and it sounded pretty good, but I don’t think it is exactly the same. I’ll check it out when someone makes one, because the instrumental sounded good enough.
November 2, 2012 @ 10:40 am
Triggerman, we enjoy your honest and hilarious assessments of the current state of country music. The fact that you are willing to cover the full spectrum of country music, not just what you or your readers may like the most, shows that you run an independent and clear-minded website. As a pastor/theology teacher once told us, “People like to have their ears tickled, not their toes stomped”; to have a fair and balanced website, you’ve got to have some of both! So, we encourage you to continue what you are doing, don’t let the backlash get to you, and write what you feel led to write. God bless!!
April 6, 2015 @ 6:33 pm
Anybody else heard the We Came As Romans “I Knew You Were Trouble” cover?
Punk Goes Pop can make even the worst song instantly good!
Example: The Issues cover of Boyfriend (I J gay B and screamo do mix)
April 6, 2015 @ 6:34 pm
I guess