I Ranked These Albums From BEST to WORST

Overview

The video is a pop-album “tier list” style ranking. The creator reviews multiple recent pop releases, weighs personal taste against a bit of “objective” critical reception (notably Pitchfork), then delivers an overall ranking—along with quick song-by-song verdicts.

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Main Structure / “Plot”

• Opens with Taylor Swift — The Tortured… / “The Monster on the Hill: The Life of a Showgirl” (as transcribed)
  • Argues it’s not as bad as people say, but falls off after the early run.
• Moves through:
  • Ariana Grande — Petal
  • Zara Larsson — Midnight Sun
  • Sabrina Carpenter — Man’s Best Friend
  • Tate McRae — So Close to What
• Returns to Taylor after she announces a deluxe version.
• Closes with Olivia Rodrigo, specifically:
  • “You Seem Pretty Surrem for a Girl So in Love…” (transcribed title)
  • Called the most critically beloved and “objectively” great album on the list.
• Ends with an overall ranking and asks viewers to comment theirs.

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Highlights, Jokes, and Key Reactions

Taylor Swift — “Showgirl” is visually ambitious, but musically uneven

• The creator says Showgirl is Taylor’s biggest commercial success but also her most mixed critical/fan reception, citing a very low Pitchfork score in the transcription.
• They argue the album’s reputation gets over-exaggerated—as if it’s a specific “143”-style Katy Perry-level mess—but that this framing isn’t fair.
• Best stretch: the first six songs (minus one track), described as essentially “the pop bible.”
• Later drop-off: it drops hard after “Ruin the Friendship,” with later songs called boring; they admit they don’t revisit even the title track.

• Concept mismatch critique: Taylor frames the album as the backstage/after-the-glamour life of the Eras world, but the creator feels it’s too love-heavy to match that promise—only two tracks truly deliver the “industry/backstage” angle.

• They suggest it may play better live, but right now the visual design feels like wasted potential.

• The deluxe follow-up doesn’t improve much; the creator jokes about not doing “paternity tests,” just opinions.

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Ariana Grande — huge summer single, but the album doesn’t hit the same

• They praise “Hate That I Made You Love Me” as the “most streamed song of the summer,” saying it stays high on charts months later.
• But they argue the rest of Petal doesn’t sustain the hype, calling it Ariana’s lowest-rated Pitchfork album (and comparing it to Yours Truly).
• Defenses against criticism:
  • Ariana not having “more of a say” in millennial pop: the creator says this criticism doesn’t fit.
  • A tweet theory that the album would’ve done better if Ariana “didn’t look” a certain way: the creator claims appearance chatter influenced reception.
• Core take: Petal is more about fans/media/public dynamics and Ariana’s toxic-complicated relationship with attention—not just “haters.”
• Recurring joke/bit: only Taylor or Ariana could make a researched, concept-heavy album because they’re the most “researched” artists.
• They rate Petal very highly personally, but lower when including critical reception.

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Zara Larsson — viral star, but not always a distinct musical identity

• Midnight Sun is described as the era that revived Zara’s career, including the comedic jab that it “got her out of the Kia Asylum.”
• The creator argues Zara’s brand/personality/performance goes viral more than her music translates commercially.
• They compare the “gap” to Sabrina Carpenter’s earlier work (Emails I Can’t Send, per the transcription), claiming both eras lacked a fully defined “signature sound.”
• They say listeners hear Ariana influence more often than Zara herself—especially via a hit “Nonsense” and later a “Feather”-like song on deluxe.
• Strong point: Zara has vocals, stage presence, and ambition; they plead for her to make the “one masterfully crafted album” that makes her global.

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Sabrina Carpenter — “Man’s Best Friend” grows on the creator

• The creator’s opinion flips over time:
  • Didn’t like most of it at first
  • Now listens to it more than Short and Sweet
  • Still, they consider Short and Sweet the better album overall.
• They frame Man’s Best Friend as “Short and Sweet 2.0” (written right after), making it less “argument-worthy” than the original.
• Emotional comparison: it’s described as mapping to relationship emotional stages, similar in structure to Olivia Rodrigo’s You Seem So Sad—focused on progression through stages/acceptance more than identical sound.
• Their best track pick is “Sugar Talking.”

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Tate McRae — great emotional writing, but unclear theme + a “random” track

• So Close to What covers love, sex, heartbreak, regret, and being misunderstood—yet that breadth becomes a weakness because it feels less cohesive.
• They single out “blood on my hands” as a late-added track that “has absolutely no reason to exist,” allegedly created after the album leaked to keep it fresh.
• The album title only fully makes sense after Tate explains it, so the concept doesn’t always carry through without context.
• Additional emotional/realness angle:
  • Tate allegedly went through intense heartbreak while touring
  • They reference her seeking many healers
  • They pose a big artistic question: does happiness help or hinder great art?
• Overall rating lands around “good,” but not top-tier.

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Taylor deluxe announcement — “Showgirl Life: Encore” doesn’t fix the core issues

• The creator jokes about doing “paternity tests” again.
• They like the new single “Patient Zero”:
  • praised for good lyrics and sound
  • includes a metaphor about being first trapped by a manipulative ex and warning a current partner
• But the creator says the main problem remains: some deluxe tracks feel derivative or like rehashes without new perspectives.
• Final stance: they keep Taylor’s overall rating basically where it was—the deluxe doesn’t add enough that’s genuinely new.

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Olivia Rodrigo — the “objectively beloved” closer

• Olivia’s album is presented as the most critically acclaimed, citing a very high Pitchfork score.
• It’s framed as a two-part relationship narrative:
  • anxiety/joy cross over
  • breakup begins at “The Cure”
  • final acceptance and separation by the end, with vivid details (beer bottles, cigarette smoke imagery)
• Strong interpretive metaphors are highlighted:
  • maggots instead of brain
  • a thread on his shirt breaking
  • all used to emphasize how love turns into pain
• The creator links the emotional sentiment to Ariana’s “I Wish I Hated You,” suggesting both albums share the “I wish I hated you so I could move on” vibe.
• Olivia’s rating is the highest on the list: about 9.

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List of Personalities Mentioned (by appearance/reference)

• Taylor Swift
• Ariana Grande
• Zara Larsson
• Sabrina Carpenter
• Tate McRae
• Olivia Rodrigo
• Comparisons/jokes also reference Katy Perry, PinkPantheress, and Travis (Taylor-related context in the subtitles)