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Oct 27, 2014Undoubtedly, she has the charisma and chops to be convincing on both bubblegum and ballads but 1989 is something else entirely: a cold, somewhat distant celebration of all the transient transparencies of modern pop, undercut by its own desperate desire to be nothing but a sparkling soundtrack to an aspirational lifestyle.
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Oct 28, 2014The music is a bright, shiny, and bland pastiche of electronic pop and faint nods to new wave and R&B. And the songwriting feels generic, a departure from the personable details that have made her a unique voice.
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Nov 4, 2014Swift’s vocals are triumphant, soaring, wild throughout--she is a fantastic singer, and 1989 does showcase her ability to attack a track of any style and claim it as her own, even if the ultimate results feel like a compromise had to be found to make the final cut.
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Oct 27, 20141989 is a deeply catchy, sleekly-produced pop record with the slightly juiceless quality of an authorized biography, a would-be tell-all bleached of the detailed insight she’s trained us to expect from her.
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Oct 23, 2014The new wave sound--anchored on brisk claps, cracks and booms--gives Swift’s new songs a certain breezy appeal. But her choruses tend to rest on a songwriter’s laziest fall-back: the repetitive, arena-mongering chant.
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Nov 6, 2014What stands out more than the production is how consistently solid the album is, and how effective the lyrics and songwriting.
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Nov 6, 20141989 is full of cliches, but the truth is that we wouldn't expect them to not be present anyway.
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Oct 23, 2014Produced mostly by Max Martin and Shellback, the settings blend twitchy electro riffs with skeletal, scudding beats and understated guitar parts, with occasional details hinting at 1980s influences.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 2,779 out of 3333
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Mixed: 119 out of 3333
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Negative: 435 out of 3333
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Oct 27, 2014
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Oct 27, 2014
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Oct 27, 2014