Now this is how you make a thread, thank goodness
If she released 1989, while it wouldn't have been anywhere near successful, it could've been her "Ray of Light" in terms of critical acclaim. She has yet to get a solid album and this would've done wonders for her career.
ATRL loves to make fun of Taylor and songs like Shake It Off but they would take the acclaim any day. Katy actually needs a 1989 to be taken seriously. I mean, releasing PRISM is just gonna turn off critics
She could not have made this though, with her songwriting skills. Songs like Out of the Woods, Style, and Blank Space are too advance at the moment for her, and even though other "poppier" songs with simpler lyrics are above her, she would have to work hard to reach that.
Critics do not have a natural bias towards Taylor, it's the opposite really. Because she's a singer-songwriter who's switched from country to pop she would, in theory, get more backlash. But 1989 is probably the best female album of the year (Azealia Banks says hi!) so the critics can do nothing but praise
So in short, if she made it, it would've gotten the same respect. However she's incapable of making such an album at this time so it's a moot point