"Red" was positively received for Swift's lyrics, but divided critics on its genre-spanning sound: praise directed at Swift's versatility, and criticism targeted the inconsistency. It received nominations for Album of the Year at the 2013 Country Music Association Awards, and Album of the Year and Best Country Album at the 2014 Grammy Awards. Retrospectively, critics lauded "Red" for showcasing Swift's artistry, describing it as a transitional record that drifted her from country into mainstream pop, which laid the groundwork for her consequent albums' electropop sound. "Red" appeared in publications' lists of the best albums of the 2010s, and ranked at number 99 in the 2020 revision of "Rolling Stone" 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.