Through 2014 and 2015, Taylor Swift was at an all-time high with her Grammy win for album of the year “1989.” The media suddenly turned against Swift when the feud between rapper Kanye West and Swift broke the internet back in July of 2016. Bloggers and articles slandered Swift’s name and came up with anything to make her look bad. In return, Swift went off the grid and laid low from social media.

After blacking out her entire website, Instagram and Twitter, Swift and her team posted a video of a snake to promote her first single “Look What You Made Me Do.” The news of Swift returning with a new single and album caught everyone’s attention. The singer was no longer playing the victim, but embracing her “snake” image to promote her new album, “Reputation.”

Providing the first glance for the tone of the album, “Look What You Made Me Do” is much different than any other single Swift has released. Swift makes many references about her reputation with “I rose up from the dead,” a line referencing to the Twitter hashtag, #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty, created by haters. The song is catchy, but Swift doesn’t show off her vocals as much as what would be expected for a comeback single.

“End Game” (featuring Ed Sheeran & Future) is Swift’s second collaboration with Sheeran and first with Future. The song begins with amping the audience up with Swift chanting the line “Big reputation.” Swift, Ed and Future surprisingly fit well together in this tune. Placing this song at track two was a good choice because it gets fans excited to hear the rest of the album.

Track nine’s “Getaway Car” gives the audience a glimpse of her old signature storytelling. It can easily be compared to “Love Story,” “The Story of Us” and “Out of The Woods” as they all tell stories by Swift adding metaphors with secret meanings behind them. Swift steps up her game with the lyrics “We never had a shot, gunshot in the dark.” It’s clear the meaning of the song is that Swift was running from a problem or a relationship. The lyrics avoid being repetitive and everything shifts toward the end of the song where the story Swift is telling reveals to be beautifully tragic. While a few of the tracks on this album end abruptly, Swift lets her listeners process these magnificent lyrics while this song ends on a soft instrumental.

Track thirteen, “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” is calling out an old friend. Clearly a diss track, this song hints at the summer of 2016 attack from her old friends Kanye and Kim Kardashian. Swift reminisces the parties she threw without having to worry about being stabbed in the back by friends. “Stabbed me in the back while shaking my hand” is just the beginning of the shade thrown. Swift then makes a jab at the 2016 feud with the line “Friends don’t try to trick you, get you on the phone and mind trick you.” This diss track is the progressed sequel of “Bad Blood.”

In the closing track of the album, “New Year’s Day,” Swift returns to the piano and gives the audience nostalgia feelings to old heartfelt songs. The song isn’t about finding the special person to kiss on New Year’s Eve; it’s about spending time with a loved one on New Year’s Day. The ballad reminds listeners Swift hasn’t forgotten how to make her fans grab a box of tissues.

“Reputation” is promptly making its way toward being Swift’s most successful album. It has already passed the one million mark of sales, making it Swift’s fourth album to do so. The album has made other achievements as well including being the fastest album to reach number one on iTunes in six minutes. Swift is no longer “shaking it off,” but is using the insults and negative comments to write songs and break records.