16. Taylor Swift (2006)

AllMusic wrote “Swift‘s young age may be a major point of interest in bringing listeners in, but by the end of the record she’s succeeded in keeping them.”

Country Weekly wrote “Taylor wrote or co-wrote everything here herself (including the hit “Tim McGraw”), and while the most immediately striking songs are her eviscerations of no-good teenage boys (“Should’ve Said No,” “Picture to Burn”), the more thoughtful material suggests a talent poised to last well past high school.”

Pitchfork wrote “A solid, spunky-yet-reflective country record told squarely from the teenage perspective.”

15. The Life of a Showgirl (2025)

Metascore: 69

Rolling Stone gave it a 5/5, writing: “With her twelfth studio album, the musician shoots into a fresh echelon of superstardom — and hits all her marks.”

The LA Times wrote: “Showgirl feels like a retreat from the vivid bloodletting of Tortured Poets. …. Maybe those songs [“Opalite,” “Ruin the Friendship,” “Father Figure,” & the title track] are Swift’s way of telling us that she knows The Life of a Showgirl isn’t as sharp as it could’ve been. We’ll see if it’s as tidy as it needed to be.”

The New York Times said: “A catchy and substantive but unflashy album, it takes the songwriting intimacy of her Folklore/Evermore era and renders it with more clarity and oomph.”

14. reputation (2017)

Metascore: 71

Guardian wrote that “At the heart of Reputation lies a sequence of songs that chart the rise, fall and fallout of a fleeting relationship and offer a masterclass in pop songwriting along the way.”

Pitchfork declared “It’s full of bulletproof hooks and sticky turns of phrase. But in committing to a more conventional form of superstardom, Swift has deemphasized the skill at the core of her genius.”

Tiny Mix Tapes said “Part rumination on engaging with the pop icon and part deep end even after eating the meal, Reputation keeps the ball in the air, argues for moving forward, even if it’s herky jerky.”

 13. Fearless (2008)

Metascore: 73

Village Voice said that “Swift may not possess the vocal power to fully sell her more lyrically generic material (Underwood‘s great gift), but for the most part, this remarkably self-aware adolescent’s words don’t falter, masterfully avoiding the typical diarist’s pitfalls of trite banality and pseudo-profound bulls–t.”

AllMusic wrote “Swift‘s gentle touch is as enduring as her songcraft, and this musical maturity may not quite jibe with her age but it does help make Fearless one of the best mainstream pop albums of 2008.”

Billboard wrote that “Though they’re written by a teenager, Swift‘s songs have broad appeal, and therein lies the genius and accessibility of her second effort.”

11. The Tortured Poets Department (2024)

Metascore: 76

Rolling Stone declared: “Stunning. …. Tortured Poets has the intimate sound of Folklore and Evermore, but with a coating of Midnights synth-pop gloss.”

Under the Radar wrote: “In Swift’s capable hands, even the deepest moments of despair are transmuted into songs which resonate with emotion and genuine insight.”

The Observer wrote: “Ultimately, this may be Swift’s most Swiftian album: the unhappiness profound, the details generous, the lessons absorbed.”

11. 1989 (2014)

Metascore: 76

Pretty Much Amazing declared “1989 isn’t a ‘crossover’ success. It’s the album every subsequent blockbuster must now reckon with.”

The Line of Best Fit observed that “There’s evolution with purpose in every fibre of 1989, and far from jettisoning her integrity in this drastic lunge, she’s proved in her bold, risky decision that she’s got courage in her convictions to pull it off and faith in her fans to accept the new direction.”

Consequencewrote that “Swift’s songwriting is as consistently razor-sharp as it’s ever been.”

9. Speak Now (2010)

Metascore: 77

The Guardian said: “At times the self-consciousness of an artist forcing herself into new modes shows – but mostly, Speak Now is a triumph.”

BBC Music wrote: “With some judicious – let’s have it then – tailoring, this is a sparky and affecting record, moving Swift on at a stately and assured pace.”

Village Voice noted: “She can still sound strained and thin, and often strays into a pitch that drives some people crazy; but she’s learned how to make words sound like what they mean.”

9. Red (2012)

Metascore: 77

LA Times declared “Red is a big record that reaches for Importance and occasionally touches it, filled with well-constructed pop songs Taylor-made for bedroom duets.”

Drowned in Sound said “For all its manufactured essence, Red remains firmly grounded at the crossroads between innocence and experience.”

Country Weekly raved, writing: “Red may not be a bona fide country album, but it could very well be a pop masterpiece, more in line with P!nk‘s latest, The Truth About Love, than even Red‘s predecessor, Speak Now.”

8. Lover (2019)

Metascore: 79

Consequence wrote that “The maturation through Taylor Swift’s career has also shown her react to personal change in real time. … Maturity for Taylor Swift means shrugging off what isn’t worth a fight, looking inward rather than blaming others, and being able to admit when you were wrong.”

The A.V. Club remarked that “As always, Lover is an album Swift made for her fans. But it also feels like a record she made for herself, unburdened by external expectations and her own past.”

The Quietus declared that “Lover is a fabulous record, full of super-fun standout pop hits that make your heart burst. It oozes with Swift’s much more palatable upbeat sass. She’s in love and also thinking about different kinds of love.”

7. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (2023)

Metascore: 81

Variety said: “The duet with Williams, ‘Castles Crumbling,’ is particularly pungent, as a lament that just about could have been an outtake from the more recent Folklore or Evermore instead of an album that came out a full decade before those. As for the FOB-aided track, it’s the farthest thing from a Swift classic. But — having been written, like the rest of these tracks, when the artist was 18 or 19 — the number does hark back to an era when girls (and Fall Out Boys) could just wanna have fun.”

American Songwriter said: “They [vault songs] offer something completely new, which is what many people expect from an album release, but they aren’t the most interesting thing about Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), in my opinion. …. That matured, time-honed voice coming out of Swift in her latest re-recording is a mirror image of a fan base who has weathered the storm and come out the other end with her.”

Spin wrote: “Fans who pass this latest test of commitment will find another studied and resolute replica of one of Swift’s most compelling and formative albums.”

6. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (2021)

Metascore: 82

Variety said: “The new album just sounds like a terrific remastering of the old — the same notes, and you’d swear the same performances, but sounding brighter and punchier just on a surface level. But on a more philosophical one, it’s not just a case of Swift playing with her back catalog like Andy Warhol played with his soup can. It’s really a triumph of self-knowledge and self-awareness.”

The Guardian noted: “It is tempting to suggest that the lyrics on Fearless might take on a different hue sung by a woman now in her 30s, but the new recordings militate against it. Backed by her touring band, her voice sounding essentially the same as it did in 2008, Swift has resisted any temptation to alter the songs’ pop-country arrangements or lyrics, even when the latter could have used a nip and tuck.”

The Observer added: “She parcels out her tones more cannily now, an anachronism that is no criticism. But spending time with all this juvenilia only points up the quality of Swift’s songwriting. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is both an art project executed serendipitously and a strategic move the industry will be poring over for some time.”

4. evermore (2020)

Metascore: 85

The AV Club wrote “evermore is even better than folklore, thanks to greater sonic cohesion (Antonoff only has one production credit, on the superlative ‘Gold Rush,’ leaving the bulk of the music produced or co-produced by Aaron Dessner) and stronger songwriting.”

Pitchfork noted that “While folklore seemed to materialize from nowhere as a complete, cohesive vision, evermore is structurally akin to something like 2012’s Red, where the breadth of her songwriting is as important as the depth.”

Rolling Stone remarked “Swift touches on so much more – nuanced acts of forgiveness, complex personal histories, the ability to visualize and know how a person can look in different shades of light. No doubt Swift is still the master of writing a spiteful kiss-off, but the songs of Evermore are a welcomed step in a more mature direction.”

 4. Midnights (2022)

Metascore: 85

The Independent said: “The subtle melodies of Midnights take time to sink their claws in. But Swift’s feline vocal stealth and assured lyrical control ensures she keeps your attention.”

The Guardian said: “That confidence is the thing that binds Midnights together. There’s a sure-footedness about Swift’s songwriting, filled with subtle, brilliant touches.”

American Songwriter said: “The result was a rich listening experience, as Swift flew past the mark she set for herself with ease, daring to look further inward than ever before.”

3. Folklore (2020)

Metascore: 88

EW said “Swift explodes the expectations of anyone preparing to call her music ‘diaristic,’ writing songs from different perspectives while putting her already-detailed work under a microscope. … A content smile of an album on which one of the world’s biggest pop stars, charts be damned, forges her own path and dares listeners to come along for the ride.”

The Guardian declared that “This strange summer of arrested development is steadily ending. Folklore will endure long beyond it: as fragmented as Swift is across her eighth album – and much as you hope it doesn’t mark the end of her pop ambitions – her emotional acuity has never been more assured.”

Uncut wrote that “It’s a sharp turn to the left for Swift and a fine reminder that she is more than just a gleaming pop phenomenon, but a remarkable songwriter too.”

2. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023)

Metascore: 90

NME wrote: “‘Now That We Don’t Talk’ is the Vault firecracker. Not only does it fizz with ‘80s influence, but Swift’s versatile, honeyed vocals are stellar. …. The sweeping, evocative storytelling of ‘Suburban Legends’, meanwhile, calls back to the evocative detail of Swift’s previous eras, including mentions of mismatched star signs, class reunions and a ’50s gymnasium. ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ feels more symbolic than her previous re-releases.”

The Guardian said: “These subtle, interesting songs lost out to brasher, more basic tracks – Welcome to New York, Style – on the original 1989 tracklist, but who’s to say whether their inclusion would have affected Swift’s trajectory? Clearly she made a pretty good call on that front. This carbon copy of her blockbuster album doesn’t rewrite history but adds some instantly treasurable footnotes.”

The Telegraph said: “Swift’s remake is astonishing in its exactitude, another reminder that she is a star of a different magnitude with a mastery of her own talents and a bold business acumen. …. All of the new songs are satisfyingly deft and clever, replete with sinuous melodies, burbling synths and agitated percussion that correspond with the updated eighties stylings of the original. …. The one new song that really punches its weight with Swift’s original 1989 singles is the razor sharp Is It Over Now?”

1. Red (Taylor’s Version) (2021)

Metascore: 91

The Independent declared that “This re-recording is a better, brighter version of a terrific pop album. Red is dead. Long live Red (Taylor’s Version).”

Rolling Stone wrote that “The new Red is even bigger, glossier, deeper, casually crueler. It’s the ultimate version of her most gloriously ambitious mega-pop manifesto.”

The Line of Best Fit said “In anyone else’s hands, 30 tracks might feel bloated and indulgent, but Swift tempers length with careful curation, sequencing and a respect for what made the original Red such a superb pop record.”