A Review
Lo and behold everyone! We finally got a double album! If you are anything like me, you had to wake up at 3am the day that The Tortured Poets Department came out, so by the time you were listening at 11pm (Central Time!) you were EXHAUSTED. So after that I just went straight to bed and then woke up to The Anthology drop. It was probably the best morning I have had since I was a kid on Christmas, still believing in Santa.
Anyways, just like the original album, I personally love The Anthology. It has received better reception than the original album, and I think that is for 2 reasons. #1: More Aaron Dessner. Everybody loves Aaron and I think it is because he attempts to differentiate his sound more than Jack has been doing as of late (although my top 2 on The Anthology are Jack songs). #2: It sounds more like folklore and evermore. Many were expecting TTPD to be the third in the trilogy here with the poetry references and such, but they were in for a surprise when they first hit play on April 19th. There are many more songs in the second half that have the COVID albums’ sound and feel, so the Anthology is familiar territory.
While I prefer the cohesiveness of the original album, I appreciate The Anthology for the opposite reason. It is not an interconnected story, but a collection of smaller ones (aka what an anthology is). Of course there are some similar themes in each song because they have the same author with the same experiences, but largely they stand on their own. Maybe that’s why overall, The Anthology has my favorite individual songs but the original album is my favorite of the two collections.
Because each of these songs tells one story, Taylor experiments more with references and sound. She leans more into the contemporary with high school and sharing locations. She also goes even older with her classical references like the myth of Cassandra. With an anthology, she does not have to stick to a through line.
Individual Songs
My two favorites of the album are “The Black Dog” and “imgonnagetyouback.” They both have a very unique sound and musical moments that give me goosebumps. The swell of instruments when Taylor sings “screaming” makes me want to scream. The feeling of the little “huh” note she sings in the bridge of “imgonnagetyouback” scratches my brain like no other random adlib ever has. I cannot get enough.
“The Prophecy” is another favorite of mine. I think it has become the most “Taylor Swift” of Taylor Swift songs. It explains her why. It is her most vulnerable song. It is the struggle for a woman who wants and desires love that lives in a world where she is simultaneously told “she don’t need no man” and that she is nothing without one. It is devastating and I could write about this song all day.
A song that I think is not getting the credit it deserves is “I Look in People’s Windows.” It is a travesty that this song is so short. The weird plucky guitars achieve what “Snow On the Beach” wishes it did and the sentiment of the song is so real. When you go through any sort of break up, you look at what they are doing on social media even though you know it is a bad idea.
While there are many more incredible songs on this bonus album, there are some MAJOR skips in my opinion. I get why she wrote “thanK you AImee,” but that does not mean I have to listen to it. I will also never get over “way to go tiger “ being sung with seriousness in a Taylor song. I just can’t. Some other songs that I won’t skip every time, but are definitely not my favs are “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus,” “The Bolter,” and “The Manuscript.” I appreciate them for great songwriting and storytelling, but they just don’t have as much relisten value as many others.
All in all, I love this second little bonus album, but I disagree with the people who think it should have been the original album. The Anthology has great individual songs, but it is missing the cohesive sounds, themes, and author’s purpose that make The Tortured Poets Department and stand out album.