On October 27 Taylor Swift released “1989,”  her first true pop album. During an interview last August with Yahoo! Live Stream, Swift said that she based the album on 80’s pop music. Each of the 13 songs has its own beat and meaning. Some show the positive aspects of relationships, while others show the negative side. Then songs like “Blank Space” talk about fun crushes that you would like to see go further. Other songs like “Welcome to New York“ and “Shake it Off“ are simply about her regular everyday life.

Swift is receiving a lot of negative reactions for switching from country to pop, however this has been a gradual transition for her. Some songs from her debut album, like “Picture to Burn“ also had more of a pop sound.  She brushes off criticism in “Shake it Off“ with lines like  “haters gonna hate, hate, hate” and “I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake… shake it off.”

But, she must be doing something right, considering this is her fifth album since 2006. Caroline Bradbury (AHS Class of 2016), thinks this album is “a contrast from her other albums, but a strong representation of pop.” “1989” went platinum in its first week, selling 1.3 million copies, making it the first album to sell more than a million units in 2014 according to USA Today. In addition, “1989″ is the number one album on the iTunes charts and “Shake It Off“ is the number two song, followed by “Blank Space.”

Swift gives her fans a lot of memorabilia with this album. Inside every copy are 13 Polaroid pictures, Swift’s new favorite type of picture.  She also sponsored  “Swiftstakes” with “1989” prizes. The grand prize was a “meet and greet” with Swift. The Target deluxe edition includes three songwriting voice memos from her phone revealing how she came up with her lyrics.

The”1989″  World Tour arrives at Gillette Stadium on July 24 and July 25.