Most of those songs were written when she was about 17. They're completely age-appropriate. The songs she wrote as a teen sound like a teen and the songs she wrote in her early 20's, sound like early 20's. I don't see how they make her less than Carole. You can't expect Taylor to sound like a divorced mother of 30, when she's only 23. I could easily make a list of juvenile Carole King songs, that Carole wrote in her late teens/early 20's.

The Loco-Motion
Take Good Care of My Baby
I'm into Something Good
Keep Your Hands Off My Baby
Don't Say Nothing Bad (About My Baby)
One Fine Day
Hi-De-Ho (That Old Sweet Roll)
He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)

But she's also written some deep and mature songs. Just like Taylor. Although, of course, Carole was several years older than Taylor before she started to make songs like that.

But Carole was part of the Brill Building group, all who were tasked with creating these juvenile songs for the baby boomer market to digest. These weren't pieces of work she was releasing under the premise of them being about her life, etc.

And actually I think her most juvenile song is one of her most recent, We Are Never Getting Back Together. The playground taunts, the gossipy bits, the use of the words "never ever getting back together". But you are right. Comparing Taylor at her age to Carole at her Tapestry age is a bit unfair.

I know she is perhaps writing with success in mind, but the difference is Carole was commissioned to write hits for other artists and Taylor is writing them for herself, under her name, saying their about her life. That's HER music. Locomotion isn't Carole's song although she wrote it.

Isn't Red an ode to Joni's Blue? She could go down their routes if she stopped coming out with pop music. Taylor's also always been far more country than any of those women, perhaps if she went more down the folk/blues route. She's an excellent songwriter though so I could see it in her

No you don't have to know all of her singles to get an idea, but you should if you are going to argue that she's nowhere near as good as another artist is, especially if you're more familiar with the other artist that you are comparing her too.
The songs you've listed are some of her worst. You haven't really listened to many of her songs that define Taylor as the artist she is. She always releases her worst songs as singles anyway. Give these songs a listen:
Last Kiss
Enchanted
State Of Grace
Holy Ground
The Lucky One
Tim McGraw
Sad Beautiful Tragic

These are just a few of her gems, maybe you'll just have to discover the others out yourself

On the outside, She seems to be more like Carly. Where She came from and the super-weirdo personality. But if you get down to the core, the loneliness and self-loathing that are always present in Her music, She's more of a Joni. I'll wait a few more years for Her to get into deeper topics (ie: more of those two topics, depression, etc.)

Red could rival a '70s singer-songwriter masterpiece if you cut down three Max Martin tracks out of it tbh.

Fixed it for you

Please GET AN EDUCATION. This is one of the most offensive things I've ever seen on this site. You're comparing someone to Adolf Hitler because they don't agree with you in a Taylor Swift thread? People on this site may have family that DIED in the Holocaust.

Ignorant. Reprehensible. Disgusting.

muddysquirrel didn't compare anyone to Hitler. Please GET SOME READING COMPREHENSION. She was pointing out you should know the whole story of someone before you judge, not just get a quick glimpse and conclude from that.

It's trivializing one of the biggest tragedies in history. Get some sensitivity and reading comprehension.

Seriously? Mentioning someone who caused the death of millions in the context of someone not agreeing with you? Way to downplay a huge issue. It's offensive to a lot of groups of people.