Taylor Swift’s tenth studio album, Midnights has been out for a few weeks now, and fans and critics have had a lot to say about it.
Taylor describes her new album as “a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. The floors we pace and the demons we face.”
The album, released on October 21, has broken record after record. Swift made Billboard Charts History, with 10 of her songs from Midnights occupying all top 10 spots, which no other artist has been able to do. Not to mention this was the first time ever a male artist has not occupied a spot in the top 10. Only 22 albums have ever sold more than one million copies in a week, and Midnights sold more than 1.2 million copies in its first three days. With 57.5 million streams on Apple Music, Midnights broke the record for the biggest pop album of all time.
With “Anti-Hero” being placed at number 1 in Billboard Charts Hot 100, it describes Taylor Swift’s nightmare scenarios and intrusive thoughts, as fans get an inside look at Swift’s deepest insecurities.
Despite what seems like a hit album, not all fans are loving Midnights. Hannah Titlow, a student at Lakota West says “I like some of the songs but it’s very repetitive and they all sound the same.” Some were expecting Midnights to have a similar feel to her previous albums, and were disappointed that it didn’t.
Taylor Swift is well known for having different “eras” of music, with each album being a different one. Midnights is just another example of one of her eras. Some fans of Swift’s music strictly like her country and pop music, so her newer albums Folklore and Evermore haven’t been as appealing to them. It makes sense why not everyone loves Midnights, since it has an engulfing vibe, and a moody feel to it. A lot of her newer songs express her most vulnerable feelings which some fans may not be used to yet.
Although there are few who don’t have much care for Swift’s new album, it is also getting a lot of praise. In an interview with Kara Goyette, a sophomore at Lakota West, she says that “If you don’t love this album, you’re not a true Taylor Swift fan. You haven’t learned to appreciate who she is as a person, and her individual success and evolution that this album is.” Fans who have been with her throughout her whole career are loving this new album and love seeing how her writing style develops and changes over time.
Zoe Miller, another sophomore at Lakota West says that “Midnights is a very unique album from Taylor, and although it is different from her previous albums, her music never gets old.”
Whether you’re a Taylor Swift fan or not, Midnights is definitely an album that deserves a listen.
