Despite recent comments that Taylor Swift’s new album entitled, The Tortured Poets Department is too long, too lyrical and overall needed an editor to be a “good” album, she is breaking records that she herself set only last year with her last album release, 1989 (Taylor’s Version).
One of the biggest critiques of the album is the length, a whopping 31 songs, 16 of which on the original album, and an additional 15 on the deluxe version of the album that was released just two hours after the initial album.
While some critics find this album too long, the general consensus among Swift’s fans is that there is no such thing as too many songs from the singer. Complaining about the length of this album comes from those who have grown used to shorter ones, a commonplace for artists nowadays with albums containing a mere ten songs, none of which are longer than three minutes.
Swift’s ability to write incredible songs has always been the hallmark of her accomplishments, the fact that she can string together so many songs into a cohesive, yet dynamic album is an incredible feat, not something to discourage to future songwriters.
Another critique of the record-breaking album—despite it being out for merely a weekend—is that it has too many lyrics. Some have criticized that the songs are more reminiscent of poetry by Swift over music, rather than songs. This again, is a surprising take on an album with the word “Poets” in the title. Being surprised that Swift’s lyrics overflow in this album in a poetic way is what someone who has followed Swift for a long time would expect, what else would an album called The Tortured Poets Department consist of?
Even the length in the title, four words as opposed to her usual one-word titles (with the exception of Speak Now) is a deviation from her usual style, prompting those following along to expect difference in the album as well.
All this to say, those who are surprised and shocked by this album, don’t know Taylor, and those who weren’t, let’s just say this album was for you.