The broken-hearted, blonde haired country beauty is at it again. Except in her 4th studio album that has been the top album for three consecutive weeks, Red, the countryness many have grown to love has seemed to disappear.
The 22-year-old has had 50 songs on Billboard’s Top 100 and her success doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Many “Swifties” believe Red is out of Swift’s comfort zone and that she is being adventurous. Others question if compromising her quirks and sounding like every other female pop singer is really “adventurous”. And many listeners question the random dubstep infused into “I Knew You Were Trouble.” But few would argue that Swift’s new tunes aren’t infectious; I’d like to see a show of hands of who hasn’t had “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” stuck in their head.
Regardless of the criticism, Red sold 1.21 Million in a week – the biggest sales week for an album since 2002 granting it the title of biggest selling album of the year. Only Adele’s “21” (4.114 million) and One Direction’s “Up All Night” (1.316 million) have sold more in 2012. She can still surpass the others though- she did have the No.1 album in 2009.
In an interview with the Huffington Post Swift said, “On my fourth album, I wanted to do something that wasn’t what I’ve done for the first three.” Red is unlike Swift beat-wise but the old Taylor is still there- singing about boys who left her disheartened.