Red

Taylor Swift | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 22, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Big Machine Records
• ASIN: B008XNZMOU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (717 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #5 in Music > Country > Today's Country
  • #57 in Music > Pop

Editorial Reviews

Hi, I'm Taylor. I love the number 13. I was born in December on a Christmas tree farm. I like imagining what life was like hundreds of years ago. I have blurry eyesight. My favorite thing in life is writing about life, specifically the parts of life concerning love. Because, as far as I'm concerned, love is absolutely everything.
I'm easily excited, thrilled, scared, and shocked. I'm 22 now, but I never stopped jumping up and down when something wonderful happens. My biggest fear is getting bad news. Or, letting someone down. I really love showing people what I meant when I wrote a song, so my shows are very theatrical. I knock on wood constantly. I have a cat named Meredith. She's named after my favorite character on Grey's Anatomy, and she's fantastic. I live in Nashville, a magical land where 99% of the people are friendly and courteous drivers who let you in and don't honk at you.
I go into a trance when I'm in an antique store. I don't like it when something or someone turns out to be different than what you originally thought. Like when you're shopping and you find a really cute dress, only to realize it s actually a strange jumpsuit situation. But I mostly don't like it when it happens with people. I love my friends and I'm always making new ones. I don't really think you can ever stop making new friends or learning about as many new things as possible. I also don't think you should ever take life so seriously that you forget to play.
Music has taken me all over the world, but the fans are the reason it's been so magical. I'm so blown away by how nice they are to me. It's strange to feel so understood by such a large group of people, but I love it. For the last two years, I've been working on an album called Red. I called it that because of the tumultuous, crazy adventures in love and loss that it chronicles. In my mind, when you experience love that's fast paced and out of control and mixes infatuation, jealousy, frustration, miscommunication, and all of those lovely emotions... In retrospect, it all looks red.
I can't wait for so many things. But mostly I can't wait to see you, whether it's in a crowd or a coffee shop. Thank you for listening, showing up, reading, and taking such good care of me.
--Taylor

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

328 of 348 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Taylor Sets The Standard - A 42 Year Old Man's Point Of View October 22, 2012

By Darren O'Neill

Format:Audio CD

There are going to be hundreds of reviews of this album out there (and yes, I'm old, I still call them albums) and I know I'm not in Taylor's main demographic audience. First off, I'm a guy. Second off I'm 42 years old and normally listen to things like Irish punk, The Beatles, Springsteen or some hard core country like Chris Knight. I love big band music whether it's Frank Sinatra or Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. With all of that said, I adore Taylor and this new album "Red."

Taylor's songwriting is still in fine form here. The thing that always amazes me about her writing is that she's able to tell stories in her songs, she keeps it simple and more often than not finds one heck of a hook in the chorus. There is passion, there's energy and there is joy. Sure, there are so sad songs, but it seems to my that Taylor takes so much joy in making music that it's hard as a listener not to get caught up in that with her.

After listening to the 16 tracks and the 6 bonus tracks available on some packages I have to say that Taylor's bonus tracks alone are better than what most artists are putting out as albums these days. The "demo" recordings of "Treacherous," "Red" and "State of Grace" are excellent and polished works that are just a bit more stripped down than the versions that appear on the album. It's not really fair to call them demos, as when I hear that word I'm expecting below-par sound and performance. I think it's the mark of a good song if it can be done solo-acoustic (or at least very stripped down) and these three songs certainly hold up well.

For me the whole album is very solid, there are no songs on this disc that I'd skip when listening to it. There is a nice mix of slower ballads and hard hitting rock numbers.... Make no mistake about it, Taylor Swift is a rock and roll star. She's setting the bar for what pop music is and doing a fine job of it. It's funny, while listening to "Red" and the big anthmatic numbers I couldn't help but think this is the modern day version of Phil Spector's wall of sound. Sure, there are a lot of synthesizers here, but Taylor has an uncanny ability to create a big sound that just envelops you, especially if you like to play your music as loud as I do.

I think it's the fact that Taylor is such a good songwriter and maybe more importantly storyteller that makes her so accessible across so many different lines. It doesn't matter how old you are or what gender you are, Taylor's songs resonate. Even a song like "22" which is an anthem for the young "let's go out and party" crowd it still hits home with me at 42, because believe it or not kids I was 22 at one point. And, I'm guessing the 10 year olds that hear the song will relate to it because they know it's exactly what they're going to want to do when they're 22.

Red is a little bit country, a lot of pop and a heavy dose of rock and roll. Like some big artists before her, Taylor Swift is not a follower, but instead she is creating the standard for what is popular music. And maybe this is the old man in me coming out, but where most of popular music is fairly brainless and devoid of substance that's the opposite of what Taylor Swift brings to the table. She brings some great story songs, most of which (if not all) I'm pretty sure are very auto-biographical. Taylor is simply telling us her story, she's just making it rhyme and adding some killer hooks and melodies for good measure. Read more ›

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive! October 29, 2012

By Jeannie

Format:Audio CD

Being 35, I feel that I am a little out of the demographic age range for Taylor's "expected" audience. I feel that her songwriting allows women of different age brackets to relate to her experiences; it is surprisingly comforting to know that someone else has had the same things happen while in romantic relationships.

My favorite album prior to this one was "Fearless." It was a mix of happy-go-lucky to mysterious, to sad tunes and I feel that "Red" mimics that tone, but with an angry twist! Her passion is evident and I greatly admire how she wears her heart on her sleeve with no apparent hesitation.

Although some of the high notes are a little sharp, her songwriting is what brings me back to her albums time and time again. Over the years, I have listened to many artists and tracks but I find that hers are the only ones that I can listen to, over and over again.

Definitely recommended, no matter what age you are! :)

45 of 56 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Paint the Town in Red October 22, 2012

By Raychel G. Terschluse

Format:Audio CD

Well...she had done it again. I love Taylor Swift. Theres just something about her voice that makes my day a little better. Her songs grow on me. Every album just kind of grows on you until you find that you know every lyric of every song. After first listen I was like..."Huh?" And then another listen. And another. And now I'm thinking out loud "YES!". She does take some leaps on this album. Experimenting with different beats, different instruments, and pushes super close to bubblegum pop, maybe even too far for some fans. But, this is Taylor Swift after all and Swifties will love her efforts and style. Some songs stand tall and others fall short. Among the best are Begin Again, I Almost Do, All Too Well, Treacherous, and Everything has Changed. Among the different are Red, I Knew You Were Trouble, 22 and State of Grace. This IS a different album. Some songs don't feel polished and this is completely different than previous albums. Some songs aren't lyrically 'heavy' like I Knew You Were Trouble, State of Grace, and We Are Never.... Is that a bad thing? No. Its just different. Every album gives us a new take on where she is musically and lyrically. Bottom line. Go get the album. You know you want to!

25 of 32 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the Taylor Swift album I wanted, but the one I should have expected... October 23, 2012

By Michael J. Cassizzi Jr.

Format:Audio CD

My initial impression of Taylor Swift's new album RED was that it's very good, and that's probably a fair assessment, but there are two things that I have to say about it. First, a little history...

You see, Taylor's albums have all come two years apart. Her self-titled debut dropped in 2006. FEARLESS followed in 2008, SPEAK NOW in 2010, etc. So it's been six years since her debut, and four since what was, in the opinion of myself and many others, her best album. FEARLESS showed some of the true potential of an emerging young songwriter who combined outstanding pop sensibility with a maturity beyond her years that was both fresh and wholesome. And SPEAK NOW saw her exploring different influences and directions in songwriting. The problem for me comes with RED and the fact that, two years after SPEAK NOW, and four years after FEARLESS, her music leaves me no reason to believe she is any longer mature beyond her years; in fact, she is still singing about the same kind of whimsical experiences that only a person like herself -- young, wealthy, gorgeous -- gets to have. Compare the song "Fifteen" on FEARLESS, which cautions young girls about the danger of falling in love too young, with "22" on RED... a song about the mania of being 22 and dancing with guys who are "bad news". One shows wisdom not necessarily common among young women her age, while the other eschews that wisdom for potentially reckless whimsy. So the first thing is this: whatever credit I once gave Taylor Swift for being mature beyond her years has evaporated.

The second thing is more easily explained, but also warrants some comparison to older albums. Taylor's debut album was clearly country music.... FEARLESS, however, tightly walked the line between country and pop, and this fact is probably why it took off the way it did. SPEAK NOW was, if FEARLESS wasn't, a pop album first and foremost; there were tracks on it that could have just as easily been performed by Evanescence or Paramore. RED not only follows in this tradition of moving away from country and towards pop, but is basically the culmination of this movement. RED is the kind of pop album one could expect from any of a countless number of industry-produced pop stars who are largely disposable. So yes, it's catchy as all hell, but not the way I personally want a Taylor Swift album to be. And I get that much of this might be due to outside pressure. And no, I don't blame her for wanting to be a bazillionaire. But the reality, as far as I can tell, is that she sold out with this album.

Do I trust her as an artist to find her way again? That's the question someone essentially posed to me while we were talking about this. My answer is: I do. I think RED probably marks the end of one phase of her career, even knowing that it will be ridiculously successful from a commercial standpoint, but I think she has the talent to reinvent herself before she really does become just another disposable popstar. And if not, well, I'll still have FEARLESS and the best tracks from SPEAK NOW to remind me of what she could've and, in my opinion, should've been. Read more ›