By Anne Steele, News Correspondent
Taylor Swift’s newest album, which dropped Monday, offers strong flavors of both bitter and sweet. The highly-anticipated album hit instant success with tween and young adult superfans. Following Taylor’s traditional style, the album is a diary of the last few years of the small-town country girl’s now-fabulous life.
As always, Swift calls out those who have hurt her, getting in the last word, edge-wise. However, for the first time in her career, she forgives and even, though hardly humbled, apologizes. “Innocent,” which Swift performed at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, lets Kanye West know that “It’s okay, life is a tough crowd… [you’re] still growin’ up.”
Then, Swift softly apologizes to former beau Taylor Lautner in “Back to December.” Her bitterness comes out and Swift turns fierce in “Better Than Revenge,” where she shreds Camilla Belle, Joe Jonas’ flame, for stealing him away from her.
“She’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress,” she sings.
Likewise, in “Dear John,” Swift challenges yet another former love interest, John Mayer, singing, “Don’t you think I was too young to be messed with?”
While most of the songs sound like classic Taylor Swift, filled with sweet and subtle harmonies like in “Never Grow Up,” and fairytale lyrics, like in “Sparks Fly,” many of the tracks are more solemn and serious.
There are also detectable nuances of other pop artists: “Sparks Fly,” with its heavy guitar and rock feel, hints at a Regina Spektor influence, and “Haunted” is a blast from the past with a very Avril Lavigne-like tonality. Even the casual-catchy guitar riffs in “Dear John” are reminiscent of the song’s own subject’s style. In the album’s lead single, “Mean,” Swift centers back on her country roots, arguably to the likes of the Dixie Chicks.
Though the album does have a few new elements, and is undoubtedly fiercer than any Swift release yet, it is hardly surprising. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as her followers continue to devour the country twang-ridden pop sound and triumphant girl lyrics. It more than suffices for any die-hard Swift fan.
