Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated album The Tortured Poets Department dropped last week – and despite it becoming an instant hit on the charts, the reaction has been far more mixed than her recent releases.

Releasing a successful 11th studio album – or 15th counting the re-released Taylor’s Version albums – is a massive feat itself in a world of narrowing attention spans.

As soon as The Tortured Poets Department was released to the masses on Friday, glowing reviews from prominent outlets such as Rolling Stone poured in, and many Swifties were quick to profess their adoration for the songs on what turned out to be a surprise double-album release.

Even before the release, Swift’s latest album had broken records; it had become Spotify’s most pre-saved album countdown in the streaming service’s history earlier last week.

On the day of its release alone, The Tortured Poets Department:

• Became the first album in Spotify history to have over 300 million streams in a single day
• Broke the record for biggest pop album of all time by first-day streams on Apple Music
• Became the most-streamed album in Amazon Music’s history
• Sold 1.6 million album-equivalent units in the US; about 1.4 million in traditional format (vinyl, CD, cassette) sales, a particularly big win in the current era of streaming.

As it has only been about three days, at the time of writing, since the album was released, we may have to wait longer for further numbers and possible notices of broken records.

But it’s safe to say in terms of streaming and sales, the album has been a resounding success.

Many fans were fully on the bandwagon.

“It’s sooo good. I was literally shivering from the chills each song gave me!” one fan wrote on Instagram.

“It took me five hours to absorb this album, and I still can’t get over the overwhelming feeling this album gives me,” another wrote in a YouTube comment.

Sorry I didn’t text you back, Taylor Swift released an album and I’ve been very clear about where my priorities lie. Please, respect my boundaries during this time while I process the lyrics to all 31 songs from The Tortured Poets Department. You know what you signed up for.

— kayla 🤍 (@LoverbugKayla) April 20, 2024

But the praise has not been universal, with some labelling the album boring, especially in terms of lack of variation in music and singing style.

Pitchfork was among media outlets to give less-than-awed reviews of the album, handing it a 6.6 out of 10, and even some self-professed Swifties were not impressed with the singer’s latest offering.

Some criticism was also levied at Swift’s long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff for his production style, as well as Swift continuing her habit of releasing a surprise extended version of her album mere hours after the first release.

What is Taylor Swift’s latest album about?

The Tortured Poets Department was reported to be largely inspired by Swift’s former long-time partner, actor Joe Alwyn, who in 2022 told GQ UK he was part of a WhatsApp group chat with fellow male actors called The Tortured Man Club.

The album also appears to reference Swift’s brief fling with singer Matt Healy, current relationship with NFL player Travis Kelce and feud with Kim Kardashian, along with what some fans have taken as criticism of the public’s very vocal opinions about her life.

In a tweet, Swift wrote the album was “an anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time – one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure”.

“This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up,” she said.

“There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted.”