Evermore received widespread acclaim upon release, with many admiring its contrast with Folklore.[58] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from publications, the album received an average score of 85 based on 27 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim"; it is her second best-reviewed album after Folklore.[54]
On the US Spotify chart, all 15 tracks from Evermore appeared inside top-18, completely occupying the first seven spots; the lead single "Willow" entered at number one with 3.645 million opening-day streams, followed by "Champagne Problems" (3.248 million) and "Gold Rush" (2.978 million).[76]
On the Billboard 200 chart, Evermore debuted at number one with 329,000 units, consisting of 220.49 million on-demand streams and 154,000 pure copies; it earned the biggest sales week for an album and biggest streaming week for a non-R&B/hip-hop album since her own Folklore. Evermore is Swift's second number-one album in 2020 and eighth consecutive number-one debut, making her the third female artist to collect eight number-one albums, behind Barbra Streisand (11 number-one albums) and Madonna (9). It was also the biggest sales week for an album since bundles and concert ticket offers stopped factoring. With Folklore charting at number three, Swift became the first woman to simultaneously chart two albums in the top-three since the chart's inauguration in 1963,[41] and the first act to have two albums move 100,000 units each in the same week since Prince in 2016.[78]
The time period between the number-one debuts of Folklore and Evermore was four months and 18 days, marking the shortest gap ever between two chart-topping albums by a woman on the Billboard 200 since 1956. Billboard noted that Evermore was not available in physical copies during its first week, and was released to digital music and streaming platforms only.[41] The album also topped the Alternative Albums chart, replacing Folklore from the top spot.[79] Evermore remained atop the Billboard 200 for a second consecutive week, moving 169,000 units.[80]
All of the album's 15 tracks entered the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously, generating five top-40 hits. Evermore became Swift's third album to chart all of its standard tracks in the same week, following Lover (2019) and Folklore. Swift became the female artist with the most Hot 100 hits in history with 128, regaining the record from Nicki Minaj. "Willow" landed at number one, marking her seventh number-one single in the US, second number-one hit in 2020, and the third number-one debut of her career. It made her the first act in history to simultaneously debut an album and a single atop both Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts at two occasions, following Folklore and "Cardigan" (2020).[81][82]
Fourteen tracks from Evermore appeared on Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, except "No Body, No Crime"; "Willow" placed first, giving Swift her second number-one hit on the chart, after "Cardigan". Due to eight tracks from Folklore remaining on the chart alongside the 14 from Evermore, Swift occupied 22 of the chart's 50 positions—the second most simultaneous entries in the chart's history, behind Linkin Park (23 entries). On Billboard Hot Alternative Songs chart, Swift claimed 16 spots led by "Willow", besting Machine Gun Kelly's 12 simultaneous entries.[79]
Dec 30, 2020
by
AureliusReyes
