The Other Side: Second Opinion on Swift’s Latest

By ERIK ZOTTNICK

I just didn’t really find this album to be that fantastic. I don’t really know much about Taylor Swift, and it was hard for me to review this album with unbiased ears. Clearly, I’m not her target demographic.

It’s not a bad album––it’s actually pretty good––but something feels lacking. There just doesn’t seem to be too much substance to it. It’s just poppy dreamy fluff. There’s not much real personal vision there, more of a constructed one.

The instrumentation is good, and Taylor seems passionate, but when she tries to really get into the meat of things, she doesn’t push hard enough.

It is enjoyable though –– good, but not great. Taylor pulls her punches a bit and doesn’t go as far as she should to really dig deep.

The album just does not really stand out for me, lacking some sort of emotional hook. Count me as one of the unconverted.