Review: Taylor Swift Changes Her Sound With New Album 'reputation'

Taylor Swift has now released her newest album called 'reputation' this week.

Much like the previous album '1989', this new album further strays Swift from her more humble country music roots. This album further shows there's a new Taylor Swift in town.

It's not uncommon for music artists to change their sound midway through their careers. We've seen this from Metallica, Linkin Park, Miley Cyrus and lots of others.

If you thought '1989' was different, 'reputation' is an even bigger departure from her older material. Her voice is still relatively the same, but this new album does follow popular trends.

I'll first talk about the song that sounds like an obvious outlier. The song 'End Game' features rapper Future along with Ed Sheeran.

Swift mainly sings the chorus which is fine, but Future uses too much autotune in my opinion. As for Ed Sheeran, I was not a fan of him trying to rap. His voice does not suit trying to sing fast...

Another song that sounds different from her previous material is 'Dress'.

For some reason, I think this song sounds similar to her collaboration with Zayn Malik for the song 'I Don't Want To Live Forever'. It has the same high pitch vocals, though Swift is singing in lieu of Zayn.

As for the majority of the album, I think Swift took a lot of advice from her best friend Lorde.

Many of the songs have a techno dance beat feel to them. This is evident with the songs called 'I Did Something Bad' and 'Don't Blame Me' and 'King of my Heart'.

She kind of uses some autotune in some parts of the aforementioned songs.

It's not heavily used, but I can tell her voice has been altered in order to put a more electronic sound to the songs.

It will be interesting to hear how she will perform these songs when she sings them live in the near future.

Many of the songs though sound like the 'Eurobeat' genre.

I liked the groovy tunes of songs such as 'Delicate', 'So it Goes' and 'Dancing With Our Hands Tied'.

These songs would fit nicely in a video game like the Forza Horizon series as you are driving in a fancy car alongside some beautiful scenery.

In terms of my personal favorite songs on the album, it would have to be both 'Gorgeous' and 'Ready For It'.

The latter shows Swift's new side while 'Gorgeous' is a nice pop song that is similar to the stuff she put out in the album '1989'. Both songs are catchy and easy to listen to multiple times.

In terms of lyrics, 'reputation' is actually pretty good. Many of the songs call out Swift's dislike of her image being tarnished by the celebrity gossip media.

It also has subtle digs at some celebrities that she has a feud with too. This album is more than just her being salty about past boyfriends like her previous albums.

Even though I liked listening to this album. long time fans of the singer may have to accept this new Taylor Swift.

This album sounds nothing like 'Fearless', 'Speak Now' and 'Red'. Her country music roots are gone as she has adopted a modern pop sound. Whether or not you like the change is up to you.

I have to admit though, I didn't like listening to 'reputation' the first time I heard it.

It actually took multiple hearings in order for me to appreciate the songs in this album. Multiple hearings will allow you to notice the choruses are bit more and listen to the meanings behind the lyrics.

Overall, 'reputation' from Taylor Swift is a decent follow up to '1989'. Some fans may never embrace the new pop sound, but that's okay. As for me, I'm slowly starting to appreciate the variation in her musical style.

The lyrics are also a highlight. The only song that's still bad for me is 'End Game'. Both Future and Ed Sheeran should have been left out...

Verdict: 4/5 stars

Wanna read more on this? Check these out: Taylor Swift Announces New Album Along With A Second Single (more); Taylor Swift Donates To March For Our Lives Campaign (more); Taylor Swift Debuts New Music Video For 'Delicate' (more); Taylor Swift To Release 'Delicate' Music Video At The iHeart Radio Music Awards (more).

And here are some more related articles: Taylor Swift Announces The Two Opening Acts For Her Reputation Stadium Tour (more); New Taylor Swift Music Video Released For 'End Game' Featuring Future And Ed Sheeran (more); Taylor Swift Announces New 'Reputation' Concert Tour Dates For North America (more).

A few more: Taylor Swift's 'Reputation' Live Tour Could Earn Her Close To $500 Million (more); Taylor Swift, Ashley Judd And More Named As TIME's 2017 'Person of the Year' (more).