Red (Taylor's Version) is Taylor's most critically acclaimed album. Deserved?

[naval23]

I have to say, Red has some of the highest highs of her albums ever 

Metacritic:

Red (Taylor's Version) - 91
folklore - 88

midnights - 85

evermore - 85

Fearless (TV) - 82

Lover - 79

Speak Now - 77

Red - 77

1989 - 76

Fearless - 73

Reputation - 71

Taylor Swift - 67

 

 

Imagine having a holy trinity as iconic as State of Grace, All Too Well (10 Minute Version) and amazing singles like "I Knew You Were Trouble" which had the world shook and become one of her most global singles at the time

 

She came for charts and art at the same time and the critics loved it

 

Did it deserve to outrank folklore, evermore, 1989?

 

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by naval23

[deal dough]

not even top 5

[M!X]

Hard disagree and the list becomes even more pointless when you see lover above original red, 1989 and speak now

 

the red score is recency bias, the original is better, same with fearless

 

Folklore should be #1 

[burninredhot]

folklore and evermore are obviously better but Red just has this timeless touch to it

[TaylorNation]

no, the album is an uneven mess and I hate how it’s so overrated. yes it’s really good but it’s not her best 

 

anyways, Speak Now TV is coming for that rightful title

[Blue Monday]

If we're talking about the original Red, then yes (if you ask me on a different day though I may answer folklore, but I think its significance of it to her career accounts for a lot) The pop songs on Red TV are some of the worst things I've ever heard

Edited June 21, 2023 by Blue Monday

[WEEKND]

I don’t get it how can the new Red be at 91 while the original is at 77 

 

 

Message in a bottle couldn’t have possibly taken it this far 

[cat1867]

Just now, WEEKND said:

I don’t get it how can the new Red be at 91 while the original is at 77 

Critics have become friendly to pop artists since Red came out.  Lover had her best metacritic score ever when it came out lol.

[Taylor fanboy]

(L)overRatED.

[Solaria]

Not deserved. It doesn't have her best song Call It What Grammys Want

[Popboi.]

Should be folklore, but Red TV is a must in her catalogue.

[yonsé]

20 minutes ago, WEEKND said:

I don’t get it how can the new Red be at 91 while the original is at 77 

 

 

Message in a bottle couldn’t have possibly taken it this far 

her voice has changed, for one. no more fake country twang.

 

this is her quintessential album in retrospect. after this she went exclusively pop and then folk (and then pop again), but red will forever be her "transitional" album from her country-pop days and contains some of her best songwriting.

[Klein]

It's a top 4 in her discography after evermore, Speak Now and folklore. Still deserves its score. It's the other three that were snubbed. 

[Steve Johnson]

9 minutes ago, Love Again said:

Not deserved. It doesn't have her best song Call It What Grammys Want

Cardigan is on folklore hun. 

[Cruel Summer]

It's absolutely deserved, but Evermore should at least be tied with it.

[Achilles.]

It makes sense that Red would be her highest album, as it represents the bridge between her country and pop phases, while also showcasing the singer-songwriter pop of Speak Now as well as the indie-pop-rock that she eventually revisited with folklore and evermore. It really is the perfect meeting point of all the different sounds and styles she’s worked in, and critics appreciate it as such. Frankly, it’s kinda amazing that critics are willing to give this album the high appraisal it deserves in spite of the fact that Taylor consistently emphasizes the least acclaimed part of it (the Max Martin pop material).
 

But folklore and evermore are better albums. 
 

And Red TV in particular is overly bloated with more than 2 hours’ worth of material. 

[Solaria]

5 minutes ago, Steve Johnson said:

Cardigan is on folklore hun. 

Folklore is for the Swifties I'm a pop Taylor stan 

[Guest]

Not deserved, it doesn't even have her best song Sparks Fly

[alfonso12]

It's the album that includes All too well, Treacherous and State of Grace so yes, it deserves it.

[Bloo]

It has All Too Well (10 Minute Version) so yes.

[Bonicap]

No, but in recent years music critics just do fan service for the most part. Albums that in 2014 would have had 70/100 now have 85/100 easily. For a lot of years pop artists have been vilified by old male music critics and now it's the opposite.

[Ampersand13]

I do find it slightly amusing that people pull the 'critics are nicer to pop artists now than they were back then' as a means to discredit current scores when the shift happened in large part because consumers/fans grew wise to the blatant misogyny running rampant amongst numerous publications. I don't disagree that certain outlets go out of their way to praise current pop artists and throw around acclaim like ATRL members throw shade but still the explanation has more variables than some have shared. 

 

Of course not every pop artist deserves to have immense retroactive acclaim but in this case Red (Taylor's Version) has some of the finest pop musicianship out there between State of Grace, Treacherous, All Too Well (both versions), Begin Again to name just a few plus self-written masterpieces like Better Man. It's a pop juggernaut that deserves high 80s. 

 

That being said I think Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights are stronger. I also think that while reputation and 1989 don't have quite the same highs that Red do, they are more consistent. I mean there are songs on Red that I personally can't stand (even though I recognize their validity.) So while I can respect Red (TV) as her most 'acclaimed' I wouldn't personally rank it as such.