The Tortured Poets Department : The Anthology (2024)

"This "The Anthology" edition adds 15 additional songs and another hour to the playing time of "The Tortured Poets Department". While Swift's extended, 10-minute Taylor's Version" of Red's highlight "All Too Well" was able to maintain an emotional intensity that justified its epic length, songs like the swaggering and confusing "But Daddy I Love Him" and the lingering "Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me" just linger too long. For a songwriter responsible for some of the greatest choruses and best-selling melodies of her generation, there is a surprising lack of immediacy or even cheap, sure pop hooks here. Songs like "Fortnight" and the tepid title track aim for the kind of memorable earworms Swift has created better than others, but fall short. This culminates in an album that feels like a missed opportunity. A better organized, more thoughtful version of the album, one that turns the best songs over a few more times until a few hit-worthy elements emerge, could have taken Swift into a whole new era." (AllMusic)