On October 27, 2014 “1989” was released by artist Taylor Swift. It features thirteen songs written and performed by Taylor Swift herself. The playlist includes “Welcome to New York”, “Blank Space”, “Out of the Woods”, “Style”, “Clean”, and “Shake it off”.  Swift began writing her new album shortly after her last album, Red, was released in 2013. 1989 reached the top of the charts on the US Billboard 200 as number one. “Shake it off” and “Blank Space” were both number one singles, and “Out of the Woods” reached the top 20 on the singles chart. The album sold 1,287,000 copies, making Taylor Swift the first artist to have three albums sell a million or more copies in a week; 1989 also became the best-selling album of 2014. Taylor wrote all of her songs, however, she did have some help from a few songwriters, including Ryan Tedder, Max Martin, Shellback, and Jack Antonoff. Not only was 1989 number one in America, but it reached the top of the charts across the world in places such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. Taylor Swift also became the only artist to ever have her music removed from Spotify, an app that gives users access to all music with just a monthly fee. This requires fans to purchase the album as the only method of hearing her music. Taylor did this so that the album draws in more money because of the fact that she is donating one hundred percent of the profit to public school systems in the country.

1989 differs drastically from any of Taylor Swift’s other albums. Her genre of music began as country and slowly transitioned into the pop sensation she has become. Her passionate lyrics about love and relationships, however, has remained the same over the years of her music career. Her new album is rumored to be based on the relationship with her ex boyfriend, Harry Styles, (member of UK band One Direction). Fans of the two music sensations have followed the couple from the start; this allows listeners to get an insight on the relationship of the two young adults and what went wrong between them. The lyrics also give teens something to relate to within their own relationships.

The best aspects of the album was Taylor Swifts emerging as a new type of artist with a unique sound that she has not presented before. Her songs “Shake it Off”, “Blank Space”, and “Out of the Woods” have reached the top of the charts and are currently extremely favored by many teenagers today. Taylor Swift’s music video of “Blank Space” reached up to 152, 742, 887 views on Youtube. She matched the lyrics in the video by portraying a crazy and overly attached maneater in her. Many saw this to be entertaining and questioned if it portrayed her in her relationships. Her performance of “Blank Space” at the American Music Awards and at Jingle Ball 2014 by KIIS FM were adored by fans that tuned in just to watch her on stage.

Taylor Swift’s catchy songs lead to millions of copies sold of her album. However, even though her songs are quite catchy, they are also very repetitive. This leads to listeners initially falling in love with her music, but quickly growing tired of the repetitive lyrics. There were also a few songs in the album that many criticized as being “fillers” to take up some empty spaces and complete the album; “Welcome to New York” was labeled as the main example of a “filler.”

As a whole, Taylor Swift’s album, 1989, is one of the best albums of this year and should not be missed out on. The songs mostly appeal to a younger, pop cultured crowd, however, the lyrics can relate to anyone and are very fun and up beat; the album has fans of all ages and around the world. Taylor Swift has been nominated for three Grammy’s including one for her song “Shake it Off.” The rest of her album was not eligible to be nominated for the 2015 Grammys due to its late release, but may be nominated for the following year; One of the nominations is known as one of the highest honors at the Grammy’s, known as the Record of the Year. She was also nominated for both Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. Taylor Swift is successful at such a young age and her latest album is definitely not one to miss.