Taylor Swift's album release order was somewhat complicated by the introduction of Taylor's Versions, but the re-releases represent the powerhouse artist reclaiming her early musical legacy on her own . After bursting onto the country-pop music scene in 2006 with her self-titled debut album, Taylor Swift quickly became one of the biggest stars in the world, and every one of her releases has been a smash hit. Known for her powerful lyrics and open and honest approach to storytelling, Swift is a new kind of 21st-century pop diva whose success is owed to her abundant talent.

The music industry hasn't always been very fair to artists, though. Swift's notorious battle with her original label, Big Machine Records, only escalated when music manager Scooter Braun purchased her whole cata 2019 (via Taylor Swift actually owns all her newer albums and has embarked on an ambitious journey to re-record her remaining albums that were released under Big Machine. Known as Taylor's Versions, these re-recorded, re-released, full-length records (which also include some tracks from the vault) have allowed Swift to reclaim ownership of her earlier work.

Every Taylor Swift Album In Original Release Order

Swift Has 15 Full-Length Albums So Far

Taylor Swift (2006)

October 24, 2006

Swift's debut album dropped when she was a teenager, and it illustrated her early country music influences in a way that would make it nearly unrecognizable to her modern hits. Singles like "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "Tim McGraw" were seminal songs in the rising country pop genre, and the album continued to produce singles into 2008. Swift herself was nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy Award in 2008, and Taylor Swift spent 157 weeks on the Billboard 200 (via Billboard).

The album was written in 2005 over the course of the year that Swift first signed with new label Big Machine Records. She had previously had a development deal with RCA, but they wanted to keep her on a development deal until she was 18, which would have meant she was writing songs for the label without actually getting to record her own album. Under the deal with Big Machine Records, Swift was promised to get to record what she wrote.

Though she originally wrote 40 songs for her debut album, 11 ended up on the standard edition of the record released, mostly co-wrote with Liz Rose, who helped Swift hone her songwriting skills. Five of the songs were released as singles: "Tim McGraw," "Our Song," "Teardrops On My Guitar," "Picture To Burn," and "Should've Said No."

Since its release, the album is now certified platinum - seven times.

Fearless (2008)

November 11, 2008

Swift snagged Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards along with Best Country Album and firmly established herself as the newest thing in music.

Even as her debut album was still riding high, Taylor Swift released her second album in 2008. Fearless still showed signs of Swift's country roots, but songs like "You Belong With Me" not only incorporated more pop but also set the tone for her love gone wrong theme that still peppers her biggest hits today. Setting a record at the time as the youngest artist to win the award, Swift snagged Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards along with Best Country Album and firmly established herself as the newest thing in music.

Swift actually wrote the majority of Fearless while on tour as an opening act for different country artists. She wrote over 70 songs during this time, but only a fraction of them made the album. According to an interview with Billboard at the time of release, some of the tracks chosen for her sophomore album were actually written for the first. Again, five singles were chosen for release while the album was being promoted, and they allowed Swift to cross over into more pop territory.

"You Belong With Me" and "Love Story" both set records (at the time) for radio play on country and pop stations. Since its release, Fearless has been certified Diamond in the US, meaning it's sold over 10 million copies. This album also marked Swift's first foray into producing as she became a co-producer for the record.

Speak Now (2010)

October 25, 2010

As she fully blossomed into an adult artist, Taylor Swift's third studio album, Speak Now, showed maturity in the singer/songwriter. Speak Now was Swift's first album which was entirely self-written (except for the bonus track "If This Was a Movie" on the deluxe edition). Though questions of her country music authenticity had persisted since her debut, singles like "Back to December" led mainstream critics to declare that Swift had moved in an almost entirely pop-rock direction (via Los Angeles Times).

Over the course of two years while promoting Fearless, Swift wrote the tracks that would end up on Speak Now. The entire album is framed as a confessional of sorts with each track being something she wished she could have said. Again, Swift co-produced the album. Between writing and producing, she had gained more creative control of her work than she would have had if she had stayed under the original development deal with RCA, which allowed her to mature as an artist.

This time around, the album had six singles to promote it. Both "Back to December" and "Mine" hit the Billboard Hot 100 while "Ours" and "Sparks Fly" landed on the country charts. Continuing her impressive album sales, Speak Now flew off the shelves, and by 2020 it was certified six times platinum (via RIAA).

Red (2012)

October 22, 2012

Though many tried to make Swift's country pop image stick, 2012's Red represented the singer/songwriter's final push towards mainstream radio pop. Generally considered one of Taylor Swift's more naughty albums, she broadened her horizons in the songwriting process and stripped away the cutesy naïveté that dominated her first three records. Boisterous anthems like "I Knew You Were Trouble," "22," and "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" completely transformed her sound.

Red marks Swift's first breakup album. Even though there are songs about other concepts, like "22," on the record, much of the album is themed around lost love. The album played with even more genres than country and pop, which left critics on the fence about what kind of artist Swift was becoming, but it was definitely a hit with fans who loved to see her exploring more sides of her musical personality.

Seven singles were used to promote the album, including a collaboration with Ed Sheeran, "Everything Has Changed." Swift earned an Album of the Year nomination at the Grammy Awards, and Red managed to crack seven times platinum (via RIAA) before her earlier albums.

1989 (2014)

October 27, 2014

Any question about where Taylor Swift stood regarding country music after Red was instantly answered by1989. Pop anthems like "Shake It Off" and "Bad Blood" were certified radio juggernauts with no hint of the twang that accompanied Swift on her first few albums. By 1989, Swift's personal life began dominating the discourse regarding her music, and her distinct songwriting style fueled the flames of celebrity gossip.

Initially, Swift saw pushback from Big Machine Records about making a pop album. Scott Borchetta had tried to get her to incorporate a fiddle onto some of the tracks to retain some of the country sounds of her previous efforts, but Swift declined (via Billboard). That was a smart decision as she's found an even bigger audience and more longevity in the world of pop music.

Despite winning Album of the Year, 1989 divided critics, with some criticizing her overt attempts to be commercial (via Slant). Regardless, Swift had finally come into her own as the new Queen of Pop. The album went nine times platinum and won Best Pop Vocal Album at the Grammys as well.

Reputation (2017)

November 10, 2017

If 1989 solidified Swift as a pop artist, Reputation allowed Swift to make her mark as a global artist.

Continuing Swift's somewhat divisive era from a critical standpoint, 2017's Reputation (stylized as reputation) didn't struggle to pull in the cash financially and produced a slew of singles. After the bubblegum synthpop of 1989, Taylor Swift presented a noticeably darker version of herself on Reputation that was likely informed by Swift's feud with the Kardashians and Kanye West. On top of that, with the media picking apart every part of her relationships, songs like "Look What You Made Me Do" had added meaning. Reputation was Swift's fourth consecutive album to debut at the top of the US Billboard 200.

If 1989 solidified Swift as a pop artist, Reputation allowed Swift to make her mark as a global artist. "Look What You Made Me Do" was a hit around the world much faster than any of her country pop tracks had been. Swift's clearing of all of her social media counts and debuting anew with Reputation raised some eyebrows, but it had also been a hint that the world was about to see a very different side of her as an artist.

Swift had spent so much time out of the public eye, trying to avoid rumors about her relationship status and getting backlash for her success, that very little was known about Reputation before it debuted, unlike her other albums. It went on to become three times platinum in the US, but was also certified platinum in five other regions around the world.

Lover (2019)

August 23, 2019

Lover was Taylor Swift's first album following her departure from Big Machine Records, showing off a version of her who could look backward for the first time. Reincorporating earlier influences, Lover was a step back from her rising pop queen status and showed a happier and healthier artist in general. Singles like "You Need To Calm Down" poked fun at her critics, but the album was intended to be a more subdued release. While previous albums had clear hip-hop and R&B influences, Lover showed Swift setting her sights on rock and indie.

In reflecting on the album while speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Swift said she was inspired by her fans seeing her as more than just a pop star during her Reputation Stadium Tour. She explained, "This time around I feel more comfortable being brave enough to be vulnerable, because my fans are brave enough to be vulnerable with me."

The album had five singles released between 2019 and 2023. Lover was supposed to get its own tour, but the COVID-19 pandemic put that on hold, which might be why "Cruel Summer" was still released as a single four years after the debut of the album. The album still went platinum in multiple regions around the world, selling over 2 million units in the US alone.

Folklore (2020)

July 24, 2020

Co-produced by indie rock pioneer and guitarist for The National, Aaron Dessner, Folklore (stylized as folklore) was yet another major shift for Taylor Swift as she fell headlong into her indie-folk influences. Released during the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift traded out her love gone wrong themes for a much more heady and introspective look at herself.

While only three singles were released from the album, it still marked an interesting point in Swift's career.

Critics came around to her transformation as well, and in a more stripped-down state, music publications like Pitchfork were won over by her charms and bestowed Folklore with an impressive 8.0/10. While only three singles were released from the album, it still marked an interesting point in Swift's career. She recorded The Long Pond Sessions for Disney+ to give fans an inside look at what went into making the album while she was isolated during the pandemic.

She also made a departure from theming the music around her personal life, crafting narratives about different characters (some named after the children of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds) that meant fans didn't feel as much need to speculate about Swift's "secret messages" in her music, though there were still plenty of Easter eggs. Folklore won Album of the Year at the Grammy's, making it Swift's third win in the category, and making her the first woman in history to do that.

Evermore (2020)

Released right on the heels of her surprise album, Folklore, Swift's second album of 2020 was a continuation of her work with Dessner. The stripped-down Evermore (stylized as evermore) continued her cinematic approach to storytelling and even brought in The National to back her up on the single "Coney Island" and perennial indie favorites Haim on "No Body, No Crime." Like Folklore, the album was recorded in secrecy.

It's considered Folklore's sister album since both albums contain tracks written during the pandemic, and both albums also contain fictional narratives inspired by a lot of the media Swift herself was consuming during isolation. Also like Folklore, the album only had three singles released to promote it. The album debuted at number one and was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards.

The album definitely has influences from stories from the early 1900s. "Tolerate It" is inspired by Daphne Du Maurier's 1938 novel Rebecca, while "Happiness" contains references to F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Interestingly, some of the songs also connect to one another. "Dorothea" and "'Tis The Damn Season," for example, tell two points of view of the same story. These links were loved by fans, who made the album platinum in multiple regions around the world.