Also, the genre change was risky with regard to critics' opinions. Some reactions:
On We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together:
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While describing the song as "joyous", he nevertheless expressed concern that the song's "juvenile sensibilities" marked a regression following Swift's work on Speak Now.
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Kevin Coyne of Country Universe gave the song a failing D grade, calling it a "huge step backward".
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David Malitz of The Washington Post found the song immature and remarked, "the chorus is catchy but if this is representative of what awaits on Red, it’s hard to be too excited".
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On Shake It Off:
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Kevin Fallon found "this new direction of her career is woefully depressing." While he admitted "Shake It Off" is "a great pop song", he said it is "the least musically interesting song that Swift has done" and "it's not personal, at least not in the ways we expect from a Taylor Swift song." Fallon deplored Swift's transition to pop in which he felt she "abandoned her sound" in the process.
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On 1989:
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high-level pop-by-numbers expertly designed not to offend or titillate.
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And the songwriting feels generic, a departure from the personable details that have made her a unique voice.
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The music is a bright, shiny, and bland pastiche of electronic pop
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Some
ATRL fan reactions to working with Max:
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Her pop tracks are fun, but would NEVER want an album with only pop-Taylor
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Whaaaaaat?
I'm gonna kill this bitch!!
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Noooo ! I want a country album... I'm not here for pop music ! Taylor, why ?
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Well Taylor, you had a great 8 year career.
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It was perfect while it lasted.
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Not here for pop Taylor.
Please stick to Nathan for the love of God.
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ewww generic Taylor again. I don't use. She will lose her country base if she continues with that
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Lemme go and sign out of ATRL for today.
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Her first 60 on metacritic I can feel it.
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Death of Country Taylor and the end of Grammy Taylor.
Rough day for Taylor fans.
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no. ****. taylor. please no more WANGBT's and 22's. please
please only have 3 songs with them. Nathan Chapman >>>>>>>>>>>>> those others
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Max Martin's songs are so forgettable.... They don't stand the testament of time the way Taylor's first 3 albums do. Even WANEGBT and 22 are forgettable. Trouble was the only one that's truly a big success. I guess we'll see... -.-.....
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Taylor is so thirsty for WW success that she is willing to sacrifice everything for it.
No Grammy's, no album sales, no country audience to bounce back to. Good luck with that!!!
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Regardless of what she releases this is still gonna get backlash. That's the thing with playing in two genres you just can't keep both sides happy.
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Shake It Off/1989 debut week predictions:
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Single: 350-400k
Album: 450-500k
She's peaked and has alienated her country fans. Better to be prepared!
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Single: 500k
Album: 800k tops
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Single: 450k
Album: 700 - 800k
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Single : 480-520k
Album : 700-750k
She peaked but will still do numbers most of the other girls could only dream of.
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Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
Some critics and fans were all for Taylor moving into pop music. But she clearly had her share of detractors. It was just a matter of whether or not her detractors were able to overpower her supporters. In the end, she still had her share of haters, but most fans and critics were okay with the change because her songwriting talent and music quality carried over. And now she's having the most successful album cycle of her career, which many fans (as seen above) did not expect whatsoever.
It's a risk that she willingly took, and it turned out to be a success. She surprised many people and most of that can be attributed to her dedicated fanbase. If anyone still tries to say it was completely safe, they are delusional.
