Taylor Swift released her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19th and there has been a lot of discourse about it, both online and in between friends. My dad has even brought it up to me. Personally, I am a big fan of Taylor Swift’s work, and while not being a huge fan of her as a person, I understand her giant impact and importance to many people. In my opinion, this album strays far from her best work. I don’t think the album is as horrible as many people say it is, but the length of the album and similarity of the songs and their production leads to very potent listener’s fatigue. It is hard to appreciate each song individually when you feel like you are hearing the same thing every time.
The songs work so much better when they are listened to in an isolated instance. “Fresh Out The Slammer”,”The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”, and “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” are the best on the album, as they feel the most distinct to me. Again, I am not saying that the album is bad, but it could have benefitted from a few less songs and more focus on the ones that sound so similar. This is not her best work, as albums like Red and 1989 all feel unique in terms of their sound, but it still has some good songs and produces a generally positive listening experience when focusing on the lyrics. I would recommend listening to the album in parts, because it does not have the same feeling when listening to the whole album in one sitting.
