As an avid Taylor Swift listener, I’ve had the opportunity to listen to all of her albums and really get an understanding of her and her music. She has 10 original albums and 3 rerecordings that have gotten progressively more popular with audiences even since their original release. In this article, I’ll be discussing my personal rankings of Taylor Swift’s albums and why. I hope I don’t offend any Swifties with my strong beliefs. 

 

10. Taylor Swift 

Although there are a lot of songs on this album that I enjoy such as “Picture to Burn” and “Should’ve Said No,” I’m still going to have to place it as my least favorite album by Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift has a lot of phenomenal albums — some I even classify as “no skip” — thus this album is ranked low for me solely because it has a high volume of songs I wouldn’t personally choose to listen to. Understandably so, considering this was the first album in her musical career. 

 

9. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) 

Next on my list is Fearless (Taylor’s Version). After her debut album, it’s actually incredibly difficult for me to rank the rest of her albums. However I have to put Fearless (Taylor’s Version) next due to the fact that the songs are definitely still pretty juvenile for Taylor Swift. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the surprise songs on this album. I did, however, love “Mr. Perfectly Fine,” but the other songs really just weren’t able to take this album higher up in the rankings for me. 

 

8. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) 

Speak Now was Taylor’s third album and I enjoyed songs like “Enchanted” and “Long Live.” This album showcased Swift’s talent for songwriting and creating elegant and magical music. She wrote every song on this album herself without any co-writers, which is a pretty impressive accomplishment. Similarly to Fearless, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the surprise songs on this album and feel that they were overhyped, but I still think this album is a great listen.

 

7. Reputation  

When I first heard this album I really wasn’t a fan of it. The songs are very different from anything else on Swift’s discography and it turned me off right away. However, a couple months later, I attended her Reputation tour, where I found a new appreciation for the album. After the concert, I started shuffling this album on repeat and enjoyed all the songs, especially “Getaway Car” and “New Years Day.” It’s not one of my favorite albums by Swift, but that’s only because she has so many amazing ones to choose from. 

 

6. Lover 

For the sixth spot on my ranking, Taylor’s seventh studio album Lover takes the spot. Upon release, I was a pretty big fan of this album because of songs like “Cornelia Street,” “Paper Rings” and “Cruel Summer.” I liked the upbeat and happy feel of this album and found myself resonating with a lot of the songs. In my opinion, the singles of this album are both skips, but that doesn’t change how much I enjoyed it once the entirety was released. 

 

5. Red (Taylor’s Version) 

This album has my favorite Taylor Swift song of all time — the “All Too Well” ten minute version. I love this song and this album as a whole. Her other surprise songs are also incredibly well written and produced. When the rerecording for this album came out, I still remember how magical and nostalgic it was to be able to listen to everything like it was the first time ever and fall in love with her writing yet again.  

 

4. Midnights 

Midnights, Taylor Swift’s most recent album, impressed me. The first time I listened I was disappointed, however when she dropped her “3am Edition,” I was immediately hooked. I’ve definitely been replaying this album ever since, and it now truly is the soundtrack of my freshman year. There are songs I love and songs I hate, but nothing seems to fall in between on this record for me. The songs I love such as “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” “Anti-Hero” and “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” resonate with me and make this one of my favorite albums by Taylor Swift. 

 

3. 1989 

For the longest time, 1989 was actually my favorite Taylor Swift album. However since the release of this album, two others have taken its place. I still love this album and the upbeat energy it encapsulates. I think this era was such a fun time for Taylor Swift and it is brilliantly showcased in the way this album was written and produced. This record would be a no skip for me if it weren’t for the sheer amount of times I’ve heard certain songs overplayed on the radio. I especially love songs like “I Wish You Would” and “Clean,” which both really make 1989 magical for me. I still listen to this album all the time and I found it incredibly difficult to choose anything over it on this ranking. 

 

2. Evermore 

The second part in her Folklore series, Evermore is a beautiful album with haunting energy that truly captivates anyone listening. It’s really hard for me to choose between Folklore and Evermore, but Evermore has a couple of songs that I like a little less than the tracks on Folklore. I still love songs like “Long Story Short” and “Champagne Problems,” hence this ranking. Swift did an amazing job with this record and made me fall in love with this haunting era. 

 

1. Folklore 

My top album by Taylor Swift is Folklore. From the way this record was released in surprise during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to the huge shift in energy that this album contains, it was a phenomenal listen for me. I really feel that this album helped get me through quarantine, and the “August,” “Betty” and “Cardigan” love triangle was interesting and fun to hear about and unpack. I love every song on this album and couldn’t recommend it enough to anyone who loves music, and especially artists like Swift. I truly believe Taylor Swift created a generation of songwriters and musicians with this album.