6. Lover
I remember the excitement and anticipation of waiting for a new album to be released. Make plans to go to the record store or one of the box stores, hoping they'd carry it. It's not so much of an activity these days with all the preorders, the streaming, and all that, but this one was.
Lover was the first Taylor Swift album I got my daughter. I had to plan to go to Target and get the limited edition, the one with the book. That little piece of memory I hold relating to this album makes it a little more special for me.
Aside from that, this record still competes highly with the others. It is unskippable. "ME", "Paper Rings", "Lover", "Cruel Summer", and "The Archer" are all great songs that are some of the best songs Taylor has, but what makes this one special is that it includes the songs "The Man" and "You Need to Calm Down". "The Man", it's all true, and I love the message it sends to girls everywhere. Same with "You Need to Calm Down". I love the message behind these. This was a step into new territory and a new type of writing, taking a stance, and I love that about this album.
5. Taylor Swift
The first album she put out is perfectly placed right in the middle. Taylor launched into the scene with her Self-Titled album, and the world would never be the same. This year, the album turns 18 years old, even older than Taylor was when it was released.
Every high schooler with a breakup could relate to this album. The song "Tim McGraw" tells the tale of summer love. "Teardrops on My Guitar" gives us the longing for a crush that doesn't even know us. "Our Song", the young love anthem. "Picture to Burn" shows Taylor's angst and anger when those loves fell by the wayside, and "Should've Said No" tells a story of someone who messed up, and she's not happy. There are so many elements, and this is just the beginning of what we'd love about her and what issues she would have to deal with for writing breakup songs.