Intense Records

Reputation CD

£8.33 (£9.99 incl. VAT)

Reputation is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on November 10, 2017, and was her last album under Big Machine Records. Swift conceived the album during her self-seclusion from public appearances as an effect of the rampant tabloid scrutiny on her private life and celebrity after her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). 

Inspired by the fantasy series Game of Thrones, she split the album's lyrical scope in two: one is about the downsides of fame and the resultant anger, and the other about love amidst the tumult. She worked mainly with Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, and Shellback to produce Reputation, an electropop, R&B, and trap record with a heavy electronic production consisting of programmed drum machines, pulsating synthesizers, manipulated vocals, and influences of urban genres like hip hop and EDM. 

Swift opted out of press interviews to promote the album, which she had done for previous releases. She cleared out her website and social media accounts, which generated widespread internet attention and has since influenced other artists' promotional campaigns. Reputation was preceded by two international top-ten singles, "Look What You Made Me Do" and "...Ready for It?", the former of which topped charts, including the US Billboard Hot 100, and broke sales and streaming records. The final international single, "Delicate", peaked atop US Billboard airplay charts. Critics received the album with generally positive reviews; some deemed the theme and sound as harsh, but most praised Swift's songwriting for depicting intimacy and vulnerability. Retrospective reviews have described Reputation as an album of experimentation and emotional evolution for Swift. 

The album was Swift's fifth consecutive to debut atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of over one million copies; it spent four weeks atop the chart. Reputation also topped charts in countries including Australia, Canada, and the UK. It was the best-selling album by a female artist of 2017, selling over 4.5 million copies. Swift in support of the album embarked on the Reputation Stadium Tour (2018), which became the highest-grossing North American tour of all time. Reputation was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, and it was listed on Slant Magazine's list of the best albums of the 2010s.