I was never a Taylor Swift fan. That doesn’t mean I didn’t think anything bad about her. I just never really listen to her music past what they play on the radio. Then, she started making people mad with her relationship with Travis Kelce and encouraging people to vote and I began to like her more. Imagine in 2024, the Republican Party being mad at a singer who performs country-western music and a football player from Kansas City named Travis?
Yes, it seems like a bizarro world we’re living in. But every day nothing seems to impress or surprise me anymore it seems. Swift has grown up a lot artistically since bursting on the scene in the 2000s. The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology is one of those double albums an artist does at this point in their career to prove they can be more serious. With 31 tracks and about 122 minutes of music, a lot of the songs flow really good from beginning to end. However, a few of them only stand out.
“Fortnight” is probably one of the standouts and perfect listing as the first song. It features Post Malone and one of her best. The title song has some nice somber rhythm to it. “So Long, London” has a synth-pop style to it. And “Clara Bow” is a folk pop rock ode to the late silent movie actress.
This is Swift’s 11th studio album and it’s already breaking records on Spotify and Billboard Hot 100. The popularity of Swift over the last year has probably led to these records. So, it’s the perfect time to release such a long album with as many songs. Swift is credited as a writer on all songs, along with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dressner, who all are also producers. Every now and again, sometimes the songs seem to run together. It happened to the best of the best. The Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” begins just like “Brown Sugar.” And Nirvana’s “Rape Me” had the same opening riff and beat similar to “Smells Like Teens Spirit.” Howard Hawks basically remade Rio Bravo twice as El Dorado and Rio Lobo with John Wayne all three times in the lead.
So, it’s nothing new. However, I think Swift might face more criticism. Yet, I found most of the songs to be easy to listen to and Swift does have a great singing voice. She’s been facing a lot of uphill criticism her whole career. Is she better than Beyonce? That’s like trying to compare Martin Scorsese to Steven Spielberg. They both have their own styles and they have both been very successful with a little friendly rivalry. I think a lot of the hatred comes from people wanting to pit them against each other.
I just think the harder part is people aren’t willing to see Swift as the grown-up. Ten years ago, when she released “Shake It Off,” she was 24 and it had more of a bubble-gum dance pop vibe to it. Now, she’s 34 and this is the result of someone with more life experiences and more songs have maturity to them. I’m not saying it’s the best album of the year nor the best I’ve heard in years. I think Swift must’ve known people would be more critical of her and has been working on this one for some time. Recordings were in 2022 and 2023.
Swift fans will like it regardless and it may just introduce her to a whole new batch of fans.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 