folklore
by Taylor Swift
  • Record Label: Republic
  • Release Date: Jul 24, 2020
User Score
9.0

Universal acclaim- based on 17537 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15,823 out of 17537
  2. Mixed: 241 out of 17537
  3. Negative: 1,473 out of 17537
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  1. jemesc
    Jul 24, 2020
    10
    This album is cozy, cohesive, and a completely different turn for Taylor, while sounding true to her. 10/10
  2. dxvidr13
    Jul 24, 2020
    10
    album of the year. amazing lyrics, amazing production, amazing sounds. taylor swift is the best songwriter of this generation. .
  3. Alejandroo13
    Jul 24, 2020
    10
    I think it is one of the best jobs Taylor has. He is calm and in my opinion he is very relaxed, both to the point of enchanting me, Taylor transmits a lot with this album ❤️
  4. jorge_benevides
    Jul 24, 2020
    10
    Taylor nos leva ao ápice de sua maturidade emocional nesse álbum.
    Ela ousa e mesmo assim não foge das suas raízes country e 80s.
    Uma grata surpresa de 2020.
  5. caroliinatos
    Jul 24, 2020
    10
    Her best album. Beautiful lyrics. Storytelling at its peak. Magical production.
  6. jichu
    Jul 24, 2020
    10
    one of taylor's best albums! she did incredibly awesome! folklore is perfect
  7. uaifilippi
    Jul 24, 2020
    10
    this album is a lyrical & instrumental masterpiece. Taylor comes at her beast releasing this amazing, emotional and deep record. Each song connects to you in a meaningful and beautiful way. By the album's and you just wanna cry and thank Taylor Swift for this amazing work.
  8. Jords13
    Jul 24, 2020
    10
    Completely mature, with amazing lyrics, and a unique sound, Taylor swift really knows how to make an extremely good album... Note 10
  9. markzov
    Jul 24, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Jack, too, is present and accounted for on “Folklore,” to a slightly lesser extent, and together Antonoff and Dessner make for a surprisingly well-matched support-staff tag team. Swift’s collabs with the National’s MVP clearly set the tone for the project, with a lot of fingerpicking, real strings, mellow drum programming and Mellotrons. You can sense Antonoff, in the songs he did with Swift, working to meet the mood and style of what Dessner had done or would be doing with her, and bringing out his own lesser-known acoustic and lightly orchestrated side. As good of a mesh as the album is, though, it’s usually not too hard to figure out who worked on which song — Dessner’s contributions often feel like nearly neo-classical piano or guitar riffs that Swift toplined over, while Antonoff works a little more toward buttressing slightly more familiar sounding pop melodies of Swift’s, dressed up or down to meet the more somber-sounding occasion.

    For some fans, it might take a couple of spins around the block with this very different model to become re-accustomed to how there’s still the same power under the hood here. And that’s really all Swift, whose genius for conversational melodies and knack for giving every chorus a telling new twist every time around remain unmistakable trademarks. Thematically, it’s a bit more of a hodgepodge than more clearly autobiographical albums like “Lover” and “Reputation” before it have been. Swift has always described her albums as being like diaries of a certain period of time, and a few songs here obviously fit that bill, as continuations of the newfound contentment she explored in the last album and a half. But there’s also a higher degree of fictionalization than perhaps she’s gone for in the past, including what she’s described as a trilogy of songs revolving around a high school love triangle. The fact that she refers to herself, by name, as “James” in the song “Betty” is a good indicator that not everything here is ripped from today’s headlines or diary entries.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Best Album of 2020
1
#1 Most Discussed Album of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
88

Universal acclaim - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. Uncut
    Aug 13, 2020
    90
    It's a sharp turn to the left for Swift and a fine reminder that she is more than just a gleaming pop phenomenon, but a remarkable songwriter too. [Oct 2020, p.36]
  2. DIY Magazine
    Aug 7, 2020
    90
    A modern-folk masterpiece which finds her moving from her previous pop bangers into stunningly simple yet sharp melodies, ‘folklore’ will be going down in Swiftie history as one of her most unexpected, and undoubtedly one of her best.
    Read full review
  3. The Observer (UK)
    Aug 3, 2020
    60
    These 16 tracks (17 on the deluxe version) play out quite pleasurably in their entirety, the joins between Swift, Dessner and Antonoff ultimately only of niche interest. But Swift’s powerful songs reach their climaxes with bittersweet orchestrations, rather than blows to the solar plexus or a ringing in the ears. Everything hovers; little truly lands.
    Read full review
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