Red, the fourth studio album from
six-time Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift, was released worldwide just
yesterday (October 22nd), and the disc is already notching striking
sales numbers and widespread critical acclaim.
Red topped the all-genre Top Albums chart at iTunes within 36
minutes of release, and first day sales at iTunes alone topped 262,000
albums. Taylor scored 13 of the Top 20 songs on iTunes, with the song
“Everything Has Changed” taking the #1 position on the all-genre Top
Songs chart. Thus far, Red has sold 4.5 million song downloads at iTunes
in the U.S. alone. At Target, Taylor’s Speak Now album had the highest
one-week sales in the retailer’s history. Red has now set their record
for Day One sales and is on pace to exceed Speak Now’s one week results.
Worldwide, Red reached #1 at iTunes on the first day of release in
32 countries, including the UK, Australia, Singapore, Brazil, Canada,
Italy, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Denmark, Venezuela, Thailand, and
Ireland.
With Red, Taylor has set a new Billboard record -- for the most
rapid accumulation of 50 Hot 100 hits in history, reaching the milestone
just six years and one month after her 2006 chart debut. Aretha
Franklin previously held the record, with a stretch of just over 14
years and six months, and Taylor is one of only five women in the
54-year history of the chart to reach this milestone (joining Franklin,
Madonna, Connie Francis and Dionne Warwick).
Taylor Swift’s Red is also impressive in its widespread critical
acclaim, garnering stellar praise from top critics around the globe.
“Taylor Swift is a turbine of artistic ambition and superstar
drama, and Red is a 16-song geyser of willful eclecticism. Her
self-discovery project is one of the best stories in pop. When she's
really on, her songs are like tattoos.” – Rolling Stone
“The writer James Dickey once described a poet as 'someone who
stands outside in the rain, hoping to be struck by lightning.' He
could've been talking about Taylor Swift. Sublime…Red should be required
listening…’We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ is the snarkiest
pop kiss-off, like, ever.” --Entertainment Weekly
“Taylor Swift’s Red burns with confidence. [She] seems to have
crossed some sort of emotional threshold [to] the assured words and
music of a star. There are no bumps on Red. Only clean, perfectly
rendered American popular music.” – Los Angeles Times
“Taylor Swift’s Red is another winner. What Swift does better than
anyone [is] she connects with clear, concise, relatable love songs that
are thrown like punches and steeped in everyday details.” – The
Washington Post
“Red puts Swift the artist front and center with big, beefy hooks
that transcend her country roots for a genre-spanning record that
reaches heights unseen. Red is her most interesting full-length to date,
but it probably won't be when all is said and done in her career.” –
Billboard
“Fantastic. This is an album she's spent her entire career building
toward. Red is, in every conceivable way, her bid for artistic freedom,
not only her most mature and accomplished album, but also her most
unapologetic. In short, this is her album, on her terms….the album of
her (still young) life. Red may be the beginning of her golden age, but
really, it only sets the stage for things to come. And I'm willing to
bet we'll be amazed by what's next.” --MTV News
"It's clear that Red is another chapter in one of the finest fantasies pop music has ever constructed." – The Guardian (UK)
“Swift seems to know just the right phrase to pull you inside her narratives.” – The Observer (UK)
“Swift has grown into one of the sharpest songwriters of her
generation. Red is all the proof you need. All in all, colour me
impressed.” – The Sun (Canada)
Taylor is making multiple television appearances this week in
support of Red. Her Times Square Concert this morning was the largest in
the history of “Good Morning America,” and tonight she appears on “The
Late Show with David Letterman” (CBS). Tomorrow (10/24) she will be live
on ABC’s “The View,” and on Thursday she will make a special concert
appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” On Friday, she will be a guest
on ABC’s “Katie” with Katie Couric, and on Friday night she will be
featured on ABC’s “All Access Nashville with Katie Couric – A Special
Edition of 20/20.” Next week, Taylor will perform on ABC’s “Dancing With
The Stars” (Tuesday, October 30th) and also on the “41st Annual CMA
Awards” (November 1st on ABC).
