2LP
Big Machine Records (2014) US
1989 is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 27, 2014, through Big Machine Records. After releasing her fourth studio album, Red (2012), and embarking on The Red Tour (2013/14), her personal life generated significant media attention. Swift began planning her follow-up project in 2013 and continued work into 2014, during which she collaborated with producers including Max Martin and Shellback, while the former served as the album's executive producer along with Swift. The album's title was inspired by the pop music scene of her birth year.
1989 is a pop album which Swift described as her "first documented official pop album," representing a musical departure from the country pop style in her earlier works. The album's production differs from Swift's previous work. Unlike others, 1989 is built over drum programming, synthesizers, pulsating bass, processed backing vocals, and guitars. Its lyrical content is based mainly on Swift's style of writing about love, the album's content frequently discusses the complexities of relationships.
1989 received generally favorable reviews from contemporary music critics who felt that its experimental production was well executed. The album was a commercial success debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 1,287,000 copies. In doing so, the album became the highest sales week since 2002, and made Swift the first artist to have three albums sell a million or more copies in a week as well as becoming the best-selling album released in 2014. It has spawned two number one singles, "Shake It Off" and "Blank Space," and the top 20 song "Out of the Woods."