Taylor Swift released her highly anticipated tenth studio album, Midnights, on Friday, Oct. 21. She broke the record for most global streams on Spotify, gaining over 185 million streams worldwide, breaking the previous record of 183 million by Bad Bunny. Swift released 13 songs at midnight, with seven bonus tracks released at 3 am. 

I [Faith] would rate the album a 9/10, with my favorite song being “Snow on the Beach”, featuring Lana del Rey. As a Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift fan, I was so excited to hear how the song would sound with them together. When Swift has other artists featuring in her songs, typically they just do backing vocals on the song. I was hoping that Swift would give Del Rey a verse, like Phoebe Bridgers had on Swift’s track “Nothing New” on Red (Taylor’s Version), but Del Rey was only heard in the backing vocals of the song. Although I do wish that Del Rey was able to have her verse in the song, “Snow on the Beach” is still my favorite song on the album. 

 My [Danielle’s] overall review of the album is an 8/10. I think many songs on the album were 10/10s, however the album as a whole was good. I can’t pick just one favorite song, however, some of my favorites are “Lavender Haze”, “Vigilante Shit”, and “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve (3 am Edition)”. I think that some songs are very underrated by the general public, which are “Paris (3 am Edition)”, “Sweet Nothing”, and “Dear Reader (3 am Edition)”.

Swift announced that there would be a surprise announcement at 3 am, the morning of the release. Many fans guessed it would be a tour announcement or a Long Pond Studio recording. However, when 3 am rolled around Swift announced that she was adding seven more tracks to the album, calling it Midnights, 3 am Edition. She said that the original 13 tracks still make up the complete album, but wanted to share some other songs she had made that didn’t make it on the final album. While I love many of the 3 am songs and I’m very glad she released them, I think that adding them on, but not including them in the whole album was a bit strange and unnecessary. Part of me wonders if she wanted to release all 20, but was caught up in having only 13 tracks, as that is her special number. 

 While knowing who Swift’s songs are about changes nothing about the song, many fans enjoy speculating who the inspiration was. Swift is known for dropping hints and lines, or name-dropping, alluding to a certain person from her past or currently in her life. A particular song that is controversial to many fans is “Midnight Rain”. Fans are speculating that the song is either about her ex-boyfriend Taylor Lautner or her ex-boyfriend Tom Hiddleston and sharing their thoughts and reasoning on who they think it is. Some people think it’s about Hiddleston and that it fits their relationship dynamic, others think it’s about Lautner because of the line “making my name” since if they were married, they would have the exact same name. Whether it’s about one of those two or some other person, it doesn’t change the fact that the song is fantastic and she is a lyrical genius.

I [Connor] would rate the album an 8/10, there were some songs that felt like they needed more, and some that seemed a little too much. However, the overall album was incredibly well composed and I enjoyed almost every second. My favorite songs were “Question…?” and “Bejeweled”.

Controversy sprang up around Walmart before the album’s release. The seller stocked the shelves with the records and CDs almost a week before the 21st, causing leaks on social media sites such as TikTok and Instagram. While some fans were excited to hear the album early, others were angry that Walmart made it possible to leak the album before it was released. 

“They did the same thing with Harry [Styles]… It’s so they get lots of sales when they come out.” TikTok user heyymolly._ under a video of someone buying the album early. 

While Walmart received hate online for it, the action was likely a marketing decision made to boost sales and promote the album. 

Taylor Swift is one of the biggest musicians in the world. Her ten studio albums and two re-recordings have been enjoyed by billions of people. Anything that she creates in the current age is going to have fans, so such an experimental and raw album is something she can release now. Midnights is a beautifully crafted album, and though it has its flaws, it is still something inspiring and lovable. She is constantly in the spotlight, and for good reason. Make sure to steam Midnights this Fall.