Head to Head- Taylor Swift's "Midnights"

Meghan AmRhein: “Midnights” swiftly tops my list 

Here we are again, Phoebe and I’s seemingly annual argument on the newest Taylor Swift album. If you’ve kept up with any of our past head to heads, you know that I (unlike Phoebe) have been a fan of Swift since childhood — I grew up with my “Speak Now” CD playing on repeat. So if you’re looking for an unbiased opinion on either side of this argument, we’re not the best people to do that. That being said, my review: 

I’m not going to sit here and say this is the best Swift album out there. We can argue about that another day. However, I do think that this album thematically encompasses every other album she’s released. This could be either really good if you enjoy her other stuff, or really bad if you don’t. 

The overarching tale seems to be a reflection of adversities in her home, work and love life as if every album she’s released previously has built up to the release of “Midnights.” The lyricality may seem cheesy at points, but the dialogue on her life rings true. She continues to start conversations surrounding societal pressures for women and celebrities, creating a space for female empowerment. Swift also discusses newer hardships (at least to the public) about her eating disorders and mental health complications as a result of her place in the limelight. 

This subdued and somber look into Swift’s life feels very personable: a backstage glimpse into the headliner’s world. It feels perfect for driving in the rain, pretending to be in your favorite indie movie. 

So, if you’re on the fence, give it a listen — I’ll be here trying to convince Phoebe to give it another chance. 

Phoebe Zea: Sleeping through “Midnights”  

Beware, Swifties, this may hurt your feelings. 

As you probably know, whether you wanted to or not, Taylor Swift’s tenth studio album, “Midnight,” hit streaming platforms last Friday at, you guessed it, midnight (technically 10 p.m. MST time, but honestly who cares). And look, I was not a Swift fan until her re-release of “Fearless” when I was 20 years old – as a child I just didn’t get the hype of her pop-country sound. Now, however, nearly every Spotify playlist in my pocket has a song from her re-released albums or her pre-2012 tracks. But as much as I love singing along to “All Too Well” (the normal version, NOT the extended –see my earlier contribution to Angela’s Dec. 2 article for my opinion on that), her pure pop records make me want to rip my ears out. 

Then comes “Midnights.” A track that was over-hyped for months, it features 13 songs (20 on the ‘3 a.m.’ edition) that feature the classic whiney, ear-piercing and repetitive beats and lyrics that made me hate Taylor in the first place. Each track is a discombobulated mash up of somber beats that never evolve into anything – when I listened to the full album I could barely decipher the change in tracks. Every track lacks a true chorus or climax, and the overall feeling of every tune is overbearing, to say the least. The lyrics of each track felt as though her co-writers (who are usually very talented) used a thesaurus for every.single.word. Sure, her saving grace (ha) in this album is the fact that the perfectly-blonde popstar uses curse words and opens up about things she experiences that are more relatable to the general public (I, unfortunately, cannot relate to dating Joe Jonas or John Mayer), but the overall album made me remember why I was never a Swiftie in the first place. Perhaps it's my yearning for the return of a pop-country Swift that I can’t move past, but “Midnights” let me down in ways I didn’t know were possible. Thanks for nothing, Taylor.