Two artists released an album on the same day. There are immediate comparisons to be made. 

On Aug. 24, the Arctic Monkeys announced their seventh studio album, “The Car,” would be released on Oct. 21.

Four days later, Taylor Swift announced – at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards Show – that her 10th studio album, “Midnights,” would be released on Oct. 21. 

This makes the artists natural competitors. 

Starting off with ratings, Matthew Strauss of Pitchfork awards a mighty 8.0 to the Arctic Monkeys’ album. Nipping at the heels of the group is Taylor Swift with a 7.0 for “Midnights.” 

It is notable that Swift is shifting her genre. It’s arguable that she is actually going back to her original synth-pop ways, which led to her initial stardom. It’s simply contrasting her most recent albums “Folklore” and “Evermore.” In the mentioned albums, she dims the lights of her tone, giving us a taste of  melancholic America. People were expecting more from her new album. They wanted an emotionally vulnerable tracklist. These expectations had already dampened the experience. 

Focusing on the Arctic Monkeys, their last album, “Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino,” completely flipped their style on its side. With an entirely new sound, they are immediately welcomed back into the charts with open arms. Aside from loyal fans, the album grabbed and dragged new ones into the fan base. Their new album does nothing but solidify the new and exciting sound. The group dug their claws into this album. Lead singer Alex Turner uses his practiced voice as a vehicle for his hypnotic lyrics. Fans were pleased with the outcome of this album. 

When measured, Taylor Swift had sold a total of 140,000 albums. The Arctic Monkeys sat behind her with 105,000 sold. One thing to take into account is the fact that Taylor Swift released four different variants of the record; variants that relate to each other when all bought. When together they form a clock. Each variant has a specific color assigned to it, as well as different album art. For collectors, this was a very easy justification to buy all four of them, thus driving up the number of her sales. The Arctic Monkeys have three different variants: a standard black, custard, and silver record. 

This being said, the masses have declared “Midnights” to be the better album with her rocket-high sales, while individual ratings support “The Car” being the better album. All of this means that the winner is completely up to you.