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Taylor Swift: The Peppiest Pop Star We Have Right Now

Fresh Air | By Ken Tucker

Published October 30, 2014 at 2:25 PM EDT

Taylor Swift's fifth album is called 1989, the year she was born. For the past few years, she's been the young queen of country music, by far its biggest-selling artist. But 1989 sidesteps country music entirely to become Swift's first pure pop album. Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker has a review.

Ken Tucker

Ken Tucker reviews rock, country, hip-hop and pop music for Fresh Air. He is a cultural critic who has been the editor-at-large at Entertainment Weekly, and a film critic for New York Magazine. His work has won two National Magazine Awards and two ASCAP-Deems Taylor Awards. He has written book reviews for The New York Times Book Review and other publications.

See stories by Ken Tucker

Stories From This Author

Country songs by Dwight Yoakam, Maren Morris and Shawna Thompson blend old and new

Ken Tucker

Yoakam has recorded a harmonious new duet with Post Malone. Morris is stretching beyond country's borders. And Thompson — half of the duo Thompson Square — looks back to the roots of honky-tonk.
Singer/songwriter Randy Newman looks back on his decades-long music career

Ken Tucker

Ken Tucker reviews Robert Hilburn's biography of Newman, A Few Words in Defense of Our Country. Plus, we listen back to a 1998 archival interview with the Grammy Award-winning artist.
Some of Bob Dylan's most raucous rock comes to life on 'The 1974 Live Recordings'

Ken Tucker

Dylan's 40-show 1974 tour with The Band produced a live double-album later that year. Now, the music available from that tour has increased dramatically with the release of a new 27-CD set.