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Taylor Swift Responds to ‘TTPD’ Reviews After 1 Critic Remained Anonymous Over Harassment Concerns
Taylor Swift responded to a series of reviews for her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, on Sunday, April 21, amid one outlet’s critic remaining anonymous due to fear of harassment by her fans.
The “Karma” singer shared the glowing reviews to her X account and was particularly overjoyed with Rolling Stone‘s Rob Sheffield giving it five stars as well as naming TTPD a coveted “instant classic.”
While reposting his review, Taylor, 34, wrote in the caption, “And that’s the closest I’ve come to my heart exploding,” a line from the song “The Tortured Poets Department.” Rob called TTPD the Grammy winner’s “most personal album yet” and said it “combines the intimacy of Folklore and Evermore with the synth-pop gloss of Midnights to create music that’s wildly ambitious and gloriously chaotic.”
When it came to the U.K.’s The Times and Sunday Times, Taylor rejoiced, “These chemicals hit me like whiiiiite wiiiiine,” a line from “The Alchemy,” when the outlets raved, “Fans’ fervent speculation about the truth behind Swift’s songs misses the point — they are as rich and concise as a short story collection.”
The Pennsylvania native went back to “The Tortured Poets Department” for the lyric, “Everyone we know understands why it’s meant to be,” when posting Helen R. Brown‘s glowing five-star review in The U.K.’s The Independent, saying the “Anti-Hero” singer’s “11th studio album is a terrific reminder of her storytelling powers.”
While Taylor tagged the music critics in her posts, Paste magazine told readers via an April 19 post on X that they wouldn’t not be sharing their reviewer’s name due to harassment concerns.
“Editor’s Note: There is no byline on this review due to how, in 2019 when Paste reviewed Lover, the writer was sent threats of violence from readers who disagreed with the work. We care more about the safety of our staff than a name attached to an article,” the publication explained.
The outlet’s decision seemingly proved to be correct, as it was highly critical of TTPD, writing, “On her latest album she can’t help but infantilize the very people who buy into her music and drive her successes upwards in the first place.”
The review, simply bylined by “Paste Staff,” claimed Taylor took “the multi-dimensional feelings of heartbreak, mental illness or what-have-you,” and chose to “monetize them into a wardrobe she can wear for whatever portion of her Eras Tour setlist she opts to dedicate to the material. Torture is fashion to Taylor Swift, and she wears her milieu dully.”
One X user wrote under the review’s link, “What an absolute garbage review written by someone who wants Taylor to fail. I used to respect your publication. Not anymore after this 100% biased review.” Another added, “If you’re too scared to put your name on it, maybe you shouldn’t release a review! This is the most unprofessional review I have ever read. Why are you making it personal? lol sad.”
Reviews didn’t matter when it came to Taylor’s fanbase, as the album broke streaming records upon its release.
“On April 19th, 2024, Taylor Swift’s ‘Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)’ became Spotify’s most-streamed song in a single day,” the service shared on X the following day. Spotify also revealed TTPD was their most streamed album ever in one day, with 300 million streams in a 24-hour period.
TTPD also became the most-streamed album ever on its first day on Amazon music and the biggest pop album of all time in first-day streams on Apple Music.
Ever since Taylor announced the album at the 2024 Grammy Awards, anticipation had been at a fever pitch for more than two months, with fans eagerly dissecting every bit of new information Taylor released, including track lists, bonus songs and more.
