Is Taylor Swift's New Album Worth Buying?

I have no shame in admitting it: I’m a T-Swift fan. Say what you will, but at the end of the day youknow one of her songs is going to be stuck in your head like the never-ending soundtrack to your life. Now, I'm a fan, but I'm also a scrooge who hates paying for things. Usually I'll buy one or two songs out of an entire album and occasionally try to catch the others on the radio and think, "Well, that's just as good, right?" So if you're in the same boat—scoot over, there's a lot of us in here and if we break it, we buy it. Also, here's a rundown of her latest album, Red, so you can make an informed decision as to whether it's worth your hard-earned cash.

The Good:

State of Grace—This song is like an ethereal concoction of spooky drums and it will make you feel like you're in a misty forest.

Red—At first I thought this one was kind of "meh," but a few hours later I realized it was stuck in my head, and even now I can't get it out, and I fully expect it to be stuck in my head several years in the future. Even weirder, I'm okay with that.

Treacherous—I will freely admit that I listened to this song relentlessly for three days straight until I hated it, and even then I was still partial to its kickass backup vocals.

I Knew You Were Trouble—This is kind of like what would happen if you crossbred Miley Cyrus with dubstep.

All Too Well—THIS SONG IS A JOURNEY EVERYONE NEEDS TO TAKE. This song is what falling out of love feels like.

22—Definitely the kind of freakishly upbeat pop song I would love to blast in my car with all the windows rolled down.

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together—If you haven’t heard this one by now, hurry on back to the ROCK you’ve been living under and STAY THERE, because this is torturously catchy. As soon as you hear it once, it's all over.

Stay Stay Stay—Cute and fluffy, like sponge cake. This song is essentially sponge cake.

The Last Time—Prepare yourselves: this is the song that NEVER ENDS. Okay, okay, not really, but it's very repetitive and I was getting impatient because I had to go get my laundry before somebody threw it on the floor. Regardless, I love duets, and I enjoyed this one once my laundry was secure. It was very “Set the Fire to the Third Bar,” most likely because it has Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody.

The Lucky One—Some people are comparing this to Britney Spears’ “Lucky,” but come on. That little ditty came out twelve years ago. (I had to check the math on that, because it feels like it was just yesterday that I was screeching “iiiisn’t she looovely, this Holly-WOOOOOD giiiirl” into a hairbrush.) It’s about time someone else came along to remind us that being famous is hell.

Everything Has Changed—This is kind of a mixing bowl of all my favorite things, like warm cookies, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and puppies, thrown together and embodied musically. Mostly because it’s a duet with ED FREAKIN' SHEERAN! (I wouldn’t say no to a JGL/T-Swift duet, though. I wouldn’t say anything. I’d probably implode.)

Starlight—If you can keep from dancing to this, you’re some kind of robot oblivious to normal social conventions and I’ve got my eye on you.

Begin Again—This song. Dude, THIS SONG. This song is what hope sounds like.

The Meh:

Holy Ground—It's not that it was bad; I just didn't fall in love and want to marry it.

Sad Beautiful Tragic—The title doesn't lie. It's sad, beautiful, and tragic. I can see myself listening to this while staring out the window on a rainy day as I'm pretending I'm in a music video, but alas, right now it's sunny and I can't do much with that.

I Almost Do—This is song is all country and break-ups; in other words, it's classic Taylor. It's not phenomenal, but it's not like I'm going to skip it every time it comes up on shuffle.

Final Thoughts: If you like Taylor Swift, you’ll probably love Red. If you’re set in your ways thinking she’s some pop-country princess-devil here to poison our radio waves with her catchy tunes, it probably won’t change your mind. In any case, I bought it, and considering I decided last week that I don't really need silverware (that's what fingers are for), you can rest assured that it's money worth investing.