Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" Causes Bad Blood Among Listeners
Taylor Swift's "TTPD" is apparently so disappointing that even the media slammed her, and critics are urging the singer to "take a break."
The Swifties are loving Taylor Swift's new songs, but the rest of the crowd doesn't seem to be enjoying them. Here's how people reacted to Swift's latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.
New Musical Express (NME), a British media covering music, film, culture, and gaming, did not hold back on their critique. However, they did give Swift three out of five stars, which is pretty generous.
Author Laura Molloy wrote, "Swift seems to be in tireless pursuit for superstardom, yet the negative public opinion it can come with irks her, and it’s a tired theme now plaguing her discography and leaving little room for the poignant lyrical observations she excels at. It’s why the pitfalls that mire her 11th studio album are all the more disappointing — she’s proven time and time again she can do better. To a Melbourne audience of her Eras Tour, Swift said that The Tortured Poets Department came from a 'need' to write. It’s just that maybe we didn’t need to hear it."
The Sydney Morning Herald wrote a piece on TTPD titled, "Taylor Swift's new album is here, and it's proof she needs to take a break."
The entertainment website AV Club's article titled, "Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department is stuck in the past," explained that the album was a "solid but underwhelming effort" from a "pop star at the peak of her powers." Author Mary Kate Carr provided a great assessment, detailing what works and what doesn't, but concluded in the end, "The Tortured Poets Department is a perfectly good album. Swift rarely makes bad ones."
According to The London Evening Standard, TTPD was "underwhelming and clunky," with "Predictable production choices and occasionally hollow lyricism" that "dulls the glow" of the 11th album. They gave it two out of five stars.
"Sometimes, though, her one-liners feel like they’ve been spewed out of a satirical Beat poem generator. For instance, the title-track’s clumsy cadence. 'You smoked, and then ate seven bars of chocolate,” she sings, “We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist. I scratch your head, you fall asleep, like a tattooed Golden Retriever'. Somebody call the RSPCA!" wrote The Standard's El Hunt.
International outlets seem to give honest opinions on the album, while American critiques are rather forgiving. The Rolling Stone called Swift "the better Adele" (the audacity!) in their review. In their eyes, Swift can do no wrong: She got a whopping four out of five stars.
Meanwhile, the general audience believes that most of TTPD's songs sound the same and that only a few of them ("Florida" and "Fortnight") stick out.
What we're seeing isn't Swift's decline, not at this point anyway, but rather a widespread letdown that comes from setting the bar exceptionally high.
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