Beth Garrabrant
In my first-listen review, I hailed "The Tortured Poets Department" as the "messiest, horniest, and funniest album" in Swift's catalog.
Standout tracks like "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" and "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived" excavate fury and betrayal in a singularly Swiftian way, while sensual country-rock songs "Fresh Out the Slammer" and "Guilty as Sin?" paint Swift and her lover as partners-in-crime, driven to delinquency by the sheer force of their lust. As she foreshadows in the opening track, their fantasy falls to pieces in spectacular fashion.
By the time the standard tracklist ends with "Clara Bow," Swift is still aggrieved, yet calmer and clear-eyed.
It's the perfect bridge to "The Anthology," a collection of grounded, reflective stories that play like the comedown after a manic episode. The album's true closer, "The Manuscript," offers an apt summary of the entire torrid affair: "Now and then I reread the manuscript / But the story isn't mine anymore."
Please note: In my first-listen review, "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" was rated as "Background music," while "The Alchemy" was rated as "Worth listening to." After a week's worth of spins, these songs have been swapped.
Worth listening to: "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys," "Down Bad," "So Long, London," "But Daddy, I Love Him," "Fresh Out the Slammer," "Florida!!! (featuring Florence + The Machine)," "Guilty as Sin?", "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?", "I Can Fix Him (No Really, I Can)," "Loml," "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart," "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived," "Clara Bow," "The Black Dog," "imgonnagetyouback," "The Albatross," "Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus," "How Did It End?", "So High School," "I Hate It Here," "I Look in People's Windows," "The Prophecy," "Cassandra," "Peter," "The Bolter," "The Manuscript"
Background music: "The Alchemy," "thanK you aIMee," "Robin"
Press skip: "Fortnight," "The Tortured Poets Department"
*Final album score based on songs per category (1 point for "Worth listening to," .5 for "Background music," 0 for "Press skip").