After August 18^th, the day Taylor Swift released her smash number one “Shake It Off,” and announced the release of her “first documented pop album,” many questioned whether altering her classic country girl image would damage her success. Swift had already been emerging as a pop star since the release of her 2012 effort, “Red,” an album of both country and modern components, and with “1989” she reduces the scope to just pop, something that could be considered a risky move. For the moment, at least, it seems like the risk paid off. Not only was she able to effectively create a new sound for herself, she also challenged other artists to step up their game if they want to sell as much as “1989” did (a whopping 1.2 million albums in its first week). It also helps that her album is stellar in nearly every way, filled with the same memorable tunes that always come from her, as well as many new qualities fans never experienced from her previous work.

Plenty of the songs are much more playful then her prior tunes. With songs like “Blank Space” she is able to sharpen the sword that she uses to fight off the critics. The tune soars with thumping drums, subtle guitar strums, and some fun 80s, pop-esque synthesizers that back her voice. The way she sings could almost be considered a vocal version of laughter. She is able to portray humor about the situation, something new to Swift’s toolkit. She plays with the rumors that she’s man crazy, and, behind all the synths, you can almost hear her internally rolling her eyes and proclaiming that, while everyone may think she is insane, she’ll let her next lover decide for himself.

In other songs her songwriting is clearer and more mature than her earlier releases. In “Clean” she metaphorically compares rehabilitation from drug addictions to letting someone go. With “Style”, she uses plenty of visual imagery to paint a picture of the stylish, 1960s-like world she and her lover live in.

The greatest difference between her previous songs and the ones in “1989” is that she has become much more cynical of true love, especially with tunes such as “How You Get The Girl,” and “All You Had To Do Was Stay,” a song where she criticizes an ex for wanting to come back. She proclaims through her music that he made the mistake of leaving, and there’s no coming back.

Perhaps the most soaring anthem on the album is “Out Of The Woods,” which describes an incredibly detailed bridge on the aftermath of a car accident, with destruction finding itself written between the lines, a common motif throughout the record. The song has an incredibly audacious beat, with help from Jack Antonoff of “Fun,” who helped create her first backtrack of any of her songs. The passion she sings with focuses her pitch, improving a quality for which many have previously criticized her.

Though some of the songs seem a little bit adolescent, such as “Bad Blood,” a hate letter to a certain fellow songwriter (Katy Perry), the composition and creativity of the majority of her tracks allows us to oversee the flaws.

By developing into a masterful writer and marketer (of herself, that is), Taylor Swift has come out with an album that is exciting to listen to. She has also put her flag down in the pop territory, letting all the others in the industry know that they will have to jump leaps and bounds to accomplish the same success she has attained.