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Taylor Swift’s ‘Red’ impresses

photo+courtesy+of+taylorswift.com
photo courtesy of taylorswift.com

In her most recent album, “Red”, Taylor Swift steps away from her country roots to find her footing in the world of mature music. Along the journey, Swift impresses both her diehard fans as well as a broader audience with more diverse tunes.

The record begins with “State of Grace”, which sounds much like some of Swift’s earlier work, setting the tone for the largely optimistic album.

The album’s title song, “Red” makes me wish I could carry a tune well enough to sing the song aloud. The song is upbeat, but not overly peppy. The chorus is clearly auto-tuned (“Re-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-ed”), but it works well, trapping the lyrics in your head. Even the heavy guitar solo remains upbeat while banjo strums to country-fy the raw riffing.

In Swift’s first duet of the album, featuring Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, neither artist overshadows the other. Both voices work together to carry the slow, darkly romantic chorus. At nearly five minutes long, “The Last Time” is the longest song of the album, but never feels tedious.

To be honest, I fell in love with the duet “Everything Has Changed” the moment I heard featured artist Ed Sheeran’s voice. However, Swift’s high, loud voice overshadows Sheeran’s quiet tenor voice; especially because he has only one solo line.

The album also has its fair share of slower, country in the songs. “All Too Well” and “Treacherous” share a similar tempo and lyrics in which Swift vents about her past failed relationships.

Swift shifts from country to pop in “22” and her popular single “We Are Never Getting Back Together.” Both are clearly an appeal to Swift’s typical younger demographic. They are much more upbeat than the other songs on her album, and are equally as catchy. Swift continues this trend in “Holy Ground,” Swift succeeds in creating a catchy song that makes listeners bob their heads and sing along.

Some of Swift’s songs are not as successful, such as “Stay, Stay, Stay.” Swift fails to stray from the lyrics “stay, stay, stay” in the upbeat and overly peppy indie rock song. Furthermore, it incorporates bells and banjoes in all the wrong ways, ultimately sounding like a very loud county fair.

Expect to listen to “Red” several times, as each song improves with each play, leaving you listening hours on end.

Rating: A-

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