There is some bad news (which actually isn’t that bad) for Taylor Swift this week: After more than a year, her album 1989 has dropped out of the top ten on Billboard ‘s album list. 1989 is one of the biggest selling albums of all time by a female artist. It is actually the biggest selling album by a woman since Adele’s 21 .
Taylor first got things rolling when she released the song “Shake it Off” in August of 2014. Jason Lipshutz from Billboard was impressed with how Swift went from country to full-on pop .
“On new single ‘Shake It Off,’ the first from Swift’s forthcoming fifth album 1989 , she reteams with Martin and Shellback, but the trio is done toeing the line. The song suggests the world’s biggest country star now belongs to a different genre entirely. The completed transition is jarring, but the impeccable pop stylings make it easy to swallow.”
A couple of months later, Swift released the album 1989 , which became the best-reviewed album of her career. Rolling Stone gave it four stars .
“Deeply weird, feverishly emotional, wildly enthusiastic, 1989 sounds exactly like Taylor Swift, even when it sounds like nothing she’s ever tried before. And yes, she takes it to extremes. Are you surprised? This is Taylor Swift, remember? Extremes are where she starts out.”
Slant also had a lot of positive things to say about 1989 .
“1989’s standout tracks retain the narrative detail and clever metaphor-building that distinguished Swift’s early country songs, even amid the diversions wrought by the aggressive studio production on display throughout,” wrote critic Annie Galvin.
Perhaps the only negative review of Taylor Swift’s 1989 came from the Boston Globe .
“The music is a bright, shiny, and bland pastiche of electronic pop and faint nods to new wave and R&B. And the songwriting feels generic, a departure from the personable details that have made her a unique voice,” wrote critic James Reed.
Taylor Swift’s 1989 then spawned hit after hit — something pop stars such as Lady Gaga and Katy Perry couldn’t do with their latest albums. Besides “Shake it Off,” “Blank Space” and “Bad Blood” also hit No. 1. “Style” and “Wildest Dreams” both hit the top five. The singles kept hitting, while Taylor Swift launched what is, perhaps, the first fully stadium-oriented tour in the United States by a female star since Madonna’s Who’s That Girl Tour in 1987. The reviews for Swift’s tour were almost unanimously positive.
Perhaps one of the best reviews came from Eric Sundermann of Vice , who said the show was engineered to be the best night of your life.
“She pauses her strut at all the right times, and she is always smiling or laughing. Even though you know it’s a performance, everything about her feels flawless, which makes you feel good, too.”
Excellent reviews for Taylor Swift’s tour also appeared in the New York Times , Vulture , Mashable , and just about every other outlet that reviewed the show. Taylor Swift really hit a home run on the 1989 World Tour.
Unfortunately, but expectedly, Taylor Swift’s major success has led to somewhat of a backlash. There seems to be a concentrated effort to defame Swift, and some media outlets really showed their true colors when they accused Swift’s recent “ Wildest Dreams ” video of being racist. However, Swift is about to take a long-deserved break and will no doubt shake off all the ridiculous criticism thrown her way.
[Photo by Matt Sayles / Invision / AP]