In honor of Taylor Swift re-recording her first five albums so she owns them, I have ranked her top 5 of the nine albums she has produced. . But first, why is she rerecording her albums in the first place? Swift has to re-record her albums to own them because of her original record deal with Big Machine Records. It states that BMR owns her discography rather than Swift owning her own lyrics and sounds from her work. She announced in an Instagram post in November of 2018, explaining why she was leaving Big Machine records, and why she would be rerecording her albums. From the lyrics, the sound, production, and what it means to people here are Taylor Swift’s top 5 albums:

Number 5: Speak Now

Of her nine albums, this makes a top five spot because it was entirely self-written, meaning it had no co-writers. At the age of 19, Swift released her third album.. With the lead singles of Speak Now, Mean, Sparks Fly and Ours (off of the deluxe album), Speak Now won the American Music Award for favorite country album and the Billboard Music Award for Top Country Album. Speak Now is an album about sparkling magical love, and the unnerving fall from grace of heart break. 

Number 4: 1989

1989, being one of Taylor’s most widely-known albums and her official intro to Pop music, takes spot four on the list. This album has an 80s vibe with six lead singles from the album plus one from the deluxe version. 1989 took the pop culture world by storm with its release date in 2014. With jumpy songs like “Shake it Off” and “Blank Space,” 1989 soared to the top of the charts. The album won the Grammy for Album of the year and best pop vocal album. Along with two Grammys, 1989 also snagged a Billboard Music Award, an American Music Award and an iHeartradio music award after the release of the album. 1989 is ranked number four on this list because of it’s upbeat songs,  heartbreaking lyrics, the boundaries it pushed and because it is an icon album in pop music. 

Number Three: folklore

Released at the peak of the pandemic, folklore is an amazing album of summer, secrets and love. Not only does the album whisk one away into the hot summer that is “august” but the album gives you an “epiphany” that good things can happen even in dark times. Not only was folklore the third genre switch for Swift, it also made history. The album won Swift her third Grammy for Album of the year, something only Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra have done. Even with only one single “cardigan”, the album makes this list for three reasons: The first being how wonderfully and lyrically beautiful it is. The second being it gave people a spot of light in a dark time. The third and final reason is simple — it is a calming, upbeat album that you can spend a summer listening to. It is a timeless masterpiece that snags spot number three on this list. 

Number Two: reputation

Everyone loves a good comeback story. Taylor Swift’s reputation was a hard hitting one. With lead single “Look What You Made Me Do” coming out after Taylor Swift was not seen or photographed in public for nearly a year, the pop culture world went crazy. Lead singles of “…ready for it?” and “Look What You Made Me Do”  had fans ready for a trash-talking, name-dropping album. It was with the release of the other two lead singles “Gourgous” and “Call it what you want” that the true meaning of the album was discovered. Finding love, happiness and calamity in the darkest of times. It was perseverance through the dark, to reach the light. That is what positions it as Number Two in this ranking, it is a story about finding peace, in a crazy world, and letting go of your past to focus on what you have. 

Number One: Fearless

With tough competition, Fearless snags the position of number one on this list. Released in 2008, Swift’s second album won seven awards, two of which were Grammys, for Album of the Year, and Best Country Album. The album truly kicked off her journey toward stardom. Soaring to the top of charts with lead singles of “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story,” it was every teenage girl’s fantasy of young love and happiness. It also includes the  sadness and hope of teen heartache in “White Horse” and “Fifteen.”Fearless is number one for two reasons: The first being it pushed her into fame and gave a platform of loyal fans, and the second is it is the perfect coming of age album. There is a song on the album for every type of emotion, the head over heels feeling of love, to the heartache of a mistake. Fearless is an iconic, memorable, well-written, emotional album about all those high strung, crazy emotions, put into words. Most of all, it’s an album about change, love and loss, about how to grow past that and “find who you’re supposed to be” even if you don’t know that at 15.