Taylor Swift’s new album Midnights has both fans and critics alike saying some truly incredible things about the title. In fact, there are already signs suggesting that it may be her best recording yet.
At the time this article was written, Midnights claims a score of 92 on Metacritic, which aggregates reviews by respected critics and well-known publications in an attempt to paint a picture of how a piece of media was perceived
That number places it just barely ahead of her 2021 release Red (Taylor’s Version), which sits comfortably at 91, making it her best-reviewed album ever.
Compared to much of Swift’s earlier work, Midnights is performing spectacularly well when it comes to reviews. On Metacritic, her next-highest album of all-original material – Folklore – sits a few spaces down with a score of 88. The lowest score in her discography is attached to her self-titled debut, which only earned a 67.
Looking on the same website at all albums released in 2022, Midnights still stands out as one of the best releases of the year, even when the competition is ramped up. Currently, the top title is Rosalía’s Motomami, which is ahead of every other effort with a score of 94.
Midnights is, at the moment, tied for the second-highest ranking of this calendar year, sitting alongside Nova Twins’ Supernova and Black Country, New Road’s Ants From Up There. Amazingly, it’s one rung above Beyoncé’s Renaissance.
Major media outlets like Rolling Stone, The Independent, and The Guardian all gave Midnights a perfect score of 100, which is incredibly rare to see.
In fact, just a short time after Swift made her tenth full-length available to the public, Rolling Stone deemed it an “instant classic,” which is quite the honor to receive from what is often considered the most important music magazine in the world.
And it’s not just critics who love Midnights, either. Swifties the world over are announcing their love of their fave’s new CD.
On Metacritic, which also tracks fan reviews, the set has a 9.0 rating out of a possible 10. According to the site itself, that number means the collection has received “universal acclaim,” which is not easy to secure from the masses.
Once again, when looking at everything released in 2022, Midnights comes in a very close second place, at least according to Metacritic. Swift’s new LP sits just one spot behind Demi Lovato’s Holy Fvck, the top-rated album of the year by listeners. In the coming weeks, Swift could tie Lovato, as the latter’s CD is only in the lead score-wise by a tenth of a point.
With critical acclaim behind it and fans all over professing their love, Midnights is an immediate success story. The album is sure to debut at No. 1 on charts all around the world in the coming days and weeks, and it could very well end up as the biggest and perhaps top-rated release of the year.
Swift is also surely headed toward more Grammy love, though Midnights won’t be eligible until the 2024 ceremony.
The D.C. area is on track to be graced by two visits from the Indigo Girls this year, including a stint with the Fairfax Symphony at Capital One Hall and a remarkable double-bill pairing with fellow lesbian vanguard Melissa Etheridge at Wolf Trap. Wolf Trap is also the place to go for a second edition of the venue's Out & About Festival, this year offering a new cohort of LGBTQ musical acts.
Queer artists are really, truly just about everywhere, coming to nearly every music venue in the region this season. A quick scan of the listings bears this out: There's Donna Missal at The Atlantis, BOOMscat at Blues Alley, CMAT at DC9, XOMG Pop! at the Fillmore, Billy Gilman at Jammin Java, Mary Gauthier at Rams Head on Stage, and Mx Mundy at Songbyrd. And that's just a quick and easy seven, with several times that number waiting in the wings for your discovery.
David Archuleta has been through a lot in the past several years.
He came out as gay and left the Mormon church, which had been a huge part of his life. As an artist, he’s now looking to mine his past experiences – and even his trauma – to make something beautiful out of an experience that must have been incredibly difficult. That's exactly what he's managed to do with “Hell Together,” his latest single.
The former American Idol star dropped “Hell Together” last week after teasing new music was coming. The track is a gospel-tinged affair, a nod to his past and the story he tells in the song.
Ariana Grande is back with her first new album in four years, the highly-anticipated Eternal Sunshine.
The set arrived on Friday, March 8, to positive reviews and intense streaming activity from fans eager to hear what one of the biggest pop artists on the planet had come up with.
The full-length includes the superstar’s new single, "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)," which could easily become another smash.
"We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" is an electro-pop/synth-pop tune about a love gone awry, one that cannot be morphed into a friendship.
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