Album review: Taylor Swift, 'Red'

I have no shame in admitting I know the words to every Taylor Swift song. Her CDs never left my car throughout high school, and I have seen her in concert twice (yes, actually). I related to the young, blonde songstress as she made the most trivial struggles into heartbreaking songs.

But Ive since learned that my life isnt as dramatic as I thought, and I have better things to do than dwell on scarcely existent heartbreaks. Unfortunately, it seems the six years since the release of her first album havent been enough time for Swift to reach the same simple conclusion.

Swifts fourth album, RED, is a testament to the fact that Swift and her music havent matured with time. We know what to expect from Swift, and she has no problem meeting those expectations, but this denies her music progress and depth. Her once-heartfelt confessional ballads have simply become trite and cheesy.

Half of the album is comprised of classic-sounding Swift songs that are indistinguishable from any of her past albums. The other half of the songs seem like bad attempts to expand her fan base with radio-friendliness. Typically Swiftian, slow, sad songs like Almost Do, Begin Again, and Sad Beautiful Tragic come as a relief from horrifically poppy messes like the albums first single, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, but neither song type offers any real progress.

The few times Swift veers away from her stagnant aesthetic drown in insincerity. In its simple, sunshiney repetitiveness, Stay Stay Stay could easily be a jingle for a laundry detergent commercial: Your whites, whites, whites will stay, stay, stay bright, bright, bright. I Knew You Were Trouble inexplicably takes cues from dubstep with a surprising beat drop during its chorus. These songs diverge from Swifts usual material, but they find their uniqueness in what is otherwise commercialized and trendy. The songs that sound the most different are also the most annoying.

The two songs featuring male singers fail to spice the album up m! uch, despite this being a drastic move for Swift. The Last Time, featuring Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, falls flat, sounding like every other male-female back-and-forth love ballad. Everything Has Changed with Ed Sheeran is upbeat and cute, but those are hardly qualifications for good music.

Swift flaunts her immaturity in the sleepover, dance-party theme song 22. Its obviously about being 22 years old, but its sentiments sound closer to those of a 15-year-old. The song begins with the lyrics, It feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters / And make fun of our exes, and then the chorus comes to the conclusion that being 22 is happy free confused and lonely in the best way / Its miserable and magical, oh yeah. If thats what being 22 is like, Im scared for my next birthday.

With RED as her fourth album, and Swift now 22 years old, the singer-songwriter should have grown up and progressed a bit by now. The few changes marking this album as different than Swifts past work are instead regressions into cheesiness and artificiality. RED ultimately gives off an impression of immaturity.

It breaks my nostalgic heart to say this, but Taylor, Im not 15 anymore and neither are you. Im sorry, but we are never ever getting back together.

The verdict: RED diverges from Taylor Swifts past albums only enough to get more airtime on Radio Disney.