The Autumn leaves are in bloom as the colors of the season shine bright. October is a month filled with pumpkins, sweaters, and the beginning of the holiday season. There’s nothing more beautiful and more memorable than this. What makes October more special than it already is? Taylor Swift’s 4th studio album Red, a masterpiece and an album that did indeed make Autumn a little more bright.
Released on October 22, 2012, Red was an album that allowed Taylor Swift to mix genres and it was the beginning of her switch over to pop music. It was an album that we still listen to on a daily basis and an album that will forever be in our hearts. Not only for its charm but also for its masterful songwriter and raw emotion weaved throughout each track.
The album was inspired by semi-toxic relationships that the songstress had experienced over the years of making the album. Swift had described the emotions as ‘red emotions,’ due to their intense nature, which inspired the album name. It’s an album that displays mature growth in Swift’s musicianship and songwriting craft. If you listen to the album more than once, you can tell the artistry that Swift had at just the age of 22.
Before the release of Red, Swift released her lead single and No.1 hit “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” along with two other promo tracks “Begin Again,” “State of Grace” and “I Knew You Were Trouble”. All three tracks went to be greatly successful. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” became Swift’s first ever No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. With great chart performance, the song placed second among the all-time best week sales singles, behind Flo Rida’s 2009 hit “Right Round”. “Begin Again” was released on September 25, 2012, as a promo track and later became a single from the album. It was the first single to dethrone Psy’s “Gangman Style” on the iTunes charts and went to sell more than 299,000 copies in its first week.
“I Knew You Were Trouble” was Swift’s second single from the album and became to be one of her most successful. With sales of 416,000, Swift became the first artist in digital history to have two songs that debuted with 400,000 or more copies. This alone proved that Red was meant to be marked as a blockbuster masterpiece. After its release, the album sold over 1.21 million copies in its first week, being Swift’ third album to do so. It also went to be certified quadruple platinum, making it her fourth album to hit the plateau.
Red went on to gain more commercial success with hits like “22” and “Red”. The album also received Grammy nominations for Best Country Album and Album of the Year, in which it rightfully deserved. It is by far one of the best albums by Swift and will go down in history as one of the most successful.
Red garnered much more than success though. It brought true artistry back to the music industry with perfectly crafted songs such as fan favorite “All Too Well” and “Holy Ground”. It’s an album that touched upon so much more than heartbreak and love, but it also had songs about fame and being in the limelight and having fun even when you’re confused. As a whole, it’s a compilation of pieces that could tell the soundtrack of someone’s life. These stories have become so real for so many, which is what makes Swift a talented artist with her strong ability to write a story that’s relatable to so many.
There is much to be said about Red as an album. It’s a fan favorite, a soundtrack, a story, and one of the best albums in history. It displays the true efforts and credibility as Swift as a songwriter and artist. She truly is the best of our generation.