When Taylor Swift accepted the best pop vocal album award at the last Grammys, she surprised her fans. It was widely believed that she would use this moment to announce that she was re-releasing her Reputation album. But like always, Taylor had a surprise for us. She had been working on a new album for two years titled “The Tortured Poets Department,” scheduled to be released on April 19. Two hours after releasing the Tortured Poets Department, she announced on Instagram that it was a surprise double album. The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology had 15 more songs.
So has the new double album been successful? Taylor’s new album opened at number one of the Billboard 200 album chart with historic numbers and she had a huge success with the sales of TTPD vinyl. TTPD department had around 2.6 million album sales in the US during its first week. This is the largest first week sales of an album since 2015.
So how do critics feel about Talyor’s new 31 songs? Reviews of TTPD are very mixed. Some love the new album, notably the Rolling Stones described it as an “instant classic”. The album has also gotten many negative reviews, The New York Times going as far as to say “Taylor Swift Could use an Editor”. Taylors fans or “Swifties” have been posting their reactions to the songs and they are very positive. The question is will Swiftes praise anything Taylor releases?
One notable reaction is fans’ first time listening to “But Daddy I love Him”. Taylor actually pranks her fans with this song. In one of the lyrics is “I’m having his baby,” causing all of her fans to believe she was pregnant. The line after she follows with “No I’m not, but you should see your faces.”
So, really there is no consensus on this album. So you might as well listen to it, according to the critics, you can’t be wrong.
Cites
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2024-04-19/taylor-swift-double-album-anthology-surprise-drop#:~:text=And%20overnight%20she%20dropped%20the,is%20a%20secret%20DOUBLE%20album.
