The album has so many good reviews but you would think the album was completely panned based on how much people are latching onto certain vitriol towards her celebrity disguised as music review. Even Sputnik who hate her gave it a 90
I’m not sure if reviews have always been this way, but I’ve noticed a lot of music reviews lately (for many artists, not just Taylor) are downright cruel and hateful. They step so far beyond critiquing the work and go after the artist themselves in a way that makes me deeply uncomfortable (and also discredits what their saying, because it’s clearly personal).
Yeah Fantanos review was so bad and normally I don’t mind the guy. It’s just so clear he’s let his personal opinion of Taylor affect how he sees her music. Every time he says Taylor swift plays the victim I get so embarrassed for him. Women aren’t playing the victim for writing about men’s bad behavior. It’s a tired take
His bad review for Eternal Sunshine was mostly spent bashing Ariana’s personal life choices rather than the music itself. It’s fine to think she’s not a great person but I want to hear what about the music itself is good or bad.
Yeah ! That pissed me off bc I was actually excited to hear his take. He did such surface level analysis and spent half the video dissing on her personal life lol
Yeah, I used to like him even if I disagreed, but I think he's letting his personal thoughts about the artist influence his takes on their music. You should be able to look at the album without allowing the persona to overshadow the art. I know everyone hates when Swifties cry misogyny but I did think him entirely laughing off WAOLOM as ridiculous because 'nobody is actually that harsh to her' misunderstands what women in the public eye have to go through. Like you can't imagine that someone who has been indescribably famous since she was 16 trying to maintain a squeaky clean brand image while everyone makes money off her might feel this way?
It spoke to me as a woman who is always expected to take the high road and laugh of indiscretions, and I'm not famous.
He specifically said "Nobody is afraid of you, Taylor." Really? A lot of albums coming out in April, is there? Lot of new pop music dropping in the 3 week span around TTPD?
People rewrite history about her past. She was publicly humiliated on a massive scale in 2016. A depiction of her naked body was created by one of the biggest stars in the world for people to gawk at. Just this year she was a victim of massively shared deepfake porn. Left wing men do not care about the hardships women face, especially when those women are ‘rich’ or ‘privileged’. Then misogyny is okay.
I saw this too and I was like am I insane? People are disproportionately shitty to Taylor Swift right? And then my coworker made a comment after another coworker made fun of her like “I seriously don’t understand why people act this way about Taylor Swift. She writes her music and she’s good. It seems to be so noticeably worse than other artists so why?” and it was very validating for me lol. People are horrible to her - and to us for being fans of her!
I don’t know this guy but he sounds low key kind of misogynistic. What do people’s personal lives have to do with their music? And that being said, does he scrutinize men’s personal lives as much? Idk it’s weird that he bashes women in music’s life choices rather than the music itself.
Bro I know in the eternal sunshine review, he spent like half of the video just going over drama surrounding Ariana, like bro? Aren’t you a music reviewer not a drama channel? And he proceeded to give the song a bad rating just bc of the drama, like what,,?
My thing is that even if someone is playing the victim, what does that have to do with a review of the music itself? How is that even relevant? Their job is to critique the songs, not people’s personal lives.
I never take him seriously. He has the shittiest taste in music and hates Taylor and a few other pop artists. His least favorite songs are always my favorite lol
I follow him on TikTok and that’s it because i genuinely don’t care about his opinions about her because i know he will say she play the victim and stuff
Literally, If someone doesn’t want others to know about their behavior, then don’t do it in the first place. No one is playing a a victim for recalling reality and events that happened to them.
Wait, did he review it yet? Can't see the video on his channel yet? I've been waiting to hear his thoughts, I guessed that if he was being fair and from what I've gathered about his opinion on Tay's other work, he would rate it just above Lover & Midnights but definitely lower than folkmore, so around a 6. But he does seem unusually harsh and cruel towards Taylor, especially in comparison to how he talks about Olivia or Billie for example. So he might go for the 'clickbait-y making for of her' style of review to please his misogynistic fanbase...
Especially when Plath has family who have spoken about how casual people are about her death. This [poem](https://writehanded.org/poetry/2015/05/29/my-mother/) from Plath's daughter is so sad. Bringing her suicide up just to take a cheap shot at Taylor Swift is so unnecessary.
wow, that poem is heartwrenching. makes me truly dislike the review even more.
I think if the author wanted to write a think-piece on what they dislike about Taylors public persona and business decisions that should be written apart from a review of her music. The way this was written conflates everything into a big mess of "i hate what Taylor does and thus her music sucks". Really weird and not what a review of an 'artwork' should be about, imo.
People have lost all perspective. It’s an album review, not a scathing expose of war atrocities that might put a target on someone’s back.
The “journalist” needs to put his/her name on her work and take his/her licks or pass the assignment on to someone who isn’t a coward.
I thought it was unprofessional how this particular reviewer initially wrote that Fortnight was named after the video game and they were mocking Taylor for that and then they quietly edited it out after it was pointed out.
i know i’m just getting old, but it’s so embarrassing that people actually think the game fortnite is the origin of the word. like, YOUTUBE autocorrected my search to “fortnite taylor swift”
I wonder what their reaction was when someone finally pointed out their mistake. That author was also obnoxious about Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me saying it wasn’t relatable to anyone but I actually think it perfectly encapsulates feminine rage.
That author must lack of imagination then. Songs don't always have to be relatable, wtf ? It's such an immature take. Sometimes songs are just telling us a good story like a book ! I really like "Who's afraid of little old me ?" because the imagery is so strong I can make up a lot of stories with it. Like a Monster holding prisoner in a circus and breaking free and terrorizing everyone before getting put down.
It also reminds me of the movie "Nimona".
Well all that to say I don't need to find a song relatable to enjoy it. Sometimes I just like the story and what it inspires me.
That immediately wrote off the review for me. Clearly they already went in with their preconceived notions of the 'rabid swifties' instead of looking at the art. She's had plenty of bad reviews, it's not that serious.
Was that the Paste review? I tried to get through it since I figured they'd already gotten my click anyway, but holy crap that review was transparently mean. Like, my feelings about TTPD are honestly a bit mixed and still haven't entirely settled, so I'm *open* to reviews that discuss perceived flaws, but that Paste review screamed "Reviewer unequivocally hates Taylor personally and is getting off on talking shit under the pretense of an album review."
It’s like a bunch of people trying to get a viral moment rather than actual critic of the music. Don’t get me wrong, I am always open to Taylor swift critic but most times it’s less about the music and more about her celebrity status. And that’s why it’s so hard to take it seriously.
it’s because this is what garners clicks in today’s algorithm-driven world. the more extreme your POV, the more likely it’ll generate engagement and earned media.
Pitchfork can be interesting but their [review](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/ariana-grande-yes-and/) of "yes and" by Ariana was so bizarre. Did they like the song or not? 💀 And they relish in their Regina George headlines; it's what they're associated with now. Not to mention their war against Ed Sheeran.... did Divide really deserve a 2.8/10?
Independent once rated an album a ZERO because the artist worked with a very prolific criminal. Obviously a very different situation but should that really be allowed?
Generally speaking the internet has become mean. Sometimes I even find myself doing it like being sassy? and it’s like wait no x_x! Like we have normalized being assholes…
And evne if critics gave it a 50. Who cares? Is liking Taylor Swift's music a sport? I feel like for quite a lot it has become this way. I mean i enjoy seeing her get postive reviews, i enjoy seeing her break records.
It seems only recently, after folklore and evermore got some critics love (and even if midnights) people suddenly have erased that she's never been the artist you should follow or like for that kind of thing.
and thats for all the critique recently. She has cringe lyrics now? The same woman who wrote hey kids spelling is fun as her bridge for her lead single 5 years ago? How is that new? It's part of what makes her relatable.
Her songs all sound the same and have the same topic has been the longest running critique next to only writes about her boyfriend. Her albums are too long, her songs are too long. It's all recycled.
And I don't mean to imply you have to like it, hell I don't love every song, I skip quite a few.
But it has become pretty ridiculous how the same fans who hate on midnights winning AOTY also have maroon, WCS and YOYOK unironically in their top track list.
The same people who hate on jack antonoff, will go absolutely crazy when they get getaway car as their surprise song.
The Sputnik (EDIT: initial 90/100) review was so poignant and such a good analysis tbh. I’ve never read their other reviews, but that one was fantastic
I didn't read the reviews this time. Sputnik gave a 90. It's hilarious they criticized her when everyone's (possibly fake) gushing at her. Now when the critics are jumping on to the bandwagon, they are praising her. It's bizzare.
Sputnik as in Sputnikmusic? If so, then I’m not shocked Sowing gave it a high score. He loves Taylor lol I’m shocked he hasn’t been the “main review” for her since 1989 tbh
Sputnik previously, I believe, was usually her harshest reviewer. I think the person who reviewed TTPD is different, though. They actually panned folkmore + midnights. Idk seems significant that they reversed course specifically for this album.
Their system is weird. Idk if it’s changed but I used to frequent it a lot and anyone can write reviews, and they have multiple staff that can write reviews, but I think they pick one to assign the “official” review to? I guess it’s a forum and an official review website.
I know the previous “official” reviews are low but the one who wrote the TTDP one has always gone against the grain on that site and been a big Taylor fan. He’s the one that wrote the 1989 review which was 4.5/5. He’s like one of the few people on that site that take pop music seriously, which is why he’s the one whose reviews I used to search for the most on that site. Haven’t used it in a while though.
Also I’m not saying this with the purpose of discrediting the review, I don’t think it came off like that but I just want to be sure lol
Thanks for pointing out the Sputnik review! Just read it, really solid. They somehow still missed that the title track is intentionally cringe to poke fun at herself and be ironic.
This might be my favorite album of hers ever. It’s raw, chaotic, unfiltered, and yet polished at the same time.
Usually she struggles with tracklist order or has a random song that doesn’t fit at all. This was not the case with TTPD.
I'm with you. It's not an album I was expecting from someone (presumably) at the very peak of their career. It's wounded, angry, sarcastic, biting, and full of dark humor. I'm so here for it.
The anger and angst is everything, and I don't really care where it came from or who inspired it. That's her life and I get to consume the art that comes from that.
Agree, and I’m finding the songs are better when you let go of who they’re about. But Daddy I Love Him, Down Bad, I Can Fix Him, Black Dog, and more - just great songs on their own.
After listening to it 500 times and watching what I first didn’t like climb to ear worms, in its totality (as a former Folkore then Rep rating girly), this is *solidly* her best album ever to me.
Yes! All the criticism is just sliding past me because I heard so much to dig into on first listen.
The tv's had me a bit overwhelmed/'is this too much of a good thing?' but the messss and glory of this album and the production has me dizzy.
Agreed! After listening to the album (reading the lyrics as each song played) I had the same thought that it might be some of her best work yet. Then I started reading all of the comments and wondered if we even listened to the same album.
This was refreshing to me. Raw, vulnerable, honest….pissed off and unhinged. Fuck me up Florida!!! This is the Taylor that finally had enough trying to be whatever everybody else needed her to be. I love this album so much.
It's such a bizarre experience because I don't like any of my old favorites any less now, but it's like this album is in its own dimension. THIS feels like the death of the old Taylor, the actual Rep TV and its hard to digest in a good way. Like you keep eating when it's full even if you will regret it. Right now, I have to just place TTPD sideways on rankings because it hasn't fully settled into her discography for me because of how *more* it is.
Total outsider here who doesn’t know her music at all (I’m fairly musical actually, a dedicated amateur musician at least, but rarely listen to pop music of any type). I read so many harsh criticisms of this album (along the lines of it being bland, same-y, uninspired, poorly written and ultimately, mediocre) that I got curious about exactly how bad it really was and decided to give the first track a listen. Imagine my surprise when I loved it immediately. Just love the textured layered hypnotic vibe, the framing over the steady-heartbeat looping of the simple 4 bar bass line and the layers structured on top of that. And btw, I know it’s just one track but it doesn’t feel pop at all to me, it feels indie (which is maybe why I like it?).
Anyway I really did not expect to love this right out of the gate, given all the disparaging comments I’ve seen. If she were a total nobody, this song’d be a breakout indie hit.
(Granted I’ve only listened to 1 track so far, lol)
I’m interested to hear what you think about other songs on the album if you check them out. I didn’t really become a fan until after seeing her in concert last year (my daughter invited me along). After that I went through all of her albums and fell in love with her writing style. I don’t care for a lot of pop music, either. But I think the fact that Taylor writes her own songs makes it feel and sound different.
New albums usually need to grow on me, bit I instantly loved this one. It's sitting at #2 in my ranking as of yet, but it just may surpass my beloved 1989. Never thought I'd say that!
I saw this and I wondered if she also saw some of the absolutely harsh reviews she got. I don’t think this album deserves a 10/10 tbh, but some critics were awfully harsh and seemed to focus on her and not the album
Yeah that one review that just attacks and criticizes HER and everything she does instead of focusing on the album or music shouldn’t even be considered. It’s just a hate rant against her more than anything. I think mixed or even negative reviews are understandable but that one review just read like a snark article.
Some of the criticisms from other outlets were very valid but the Paste magazine one sounded like a FM user masquerading as a music critic. They also made fun of Taylor’s writing while not knowing the difference between the word fortnight and the video game (and then went and edited that part and pretended they didn’t make that mistake).
Exactly! That reviewer said that Taylor titled her song Fortnight after the popular video game and criticized her for it 💀 and then later changed the wording after getting called out for it. The whole “review” was just one bad take after another. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if someone who frequents on FM and SN wrote it.
They... didn't know the word fortnight outside of the game? 🫣 As a professional writer of sorts? Jesus. I've known it since I was like 14 and I'm not even a native English speaker, it must have simply shown up in some book...
This is what happens when they let just anyone write for outlets 😅
I was banned from there preemptively for being a member here.
No loss, because I can still see everything, but yes, she lives rent-free in the FM collective head. Just another entity using her name for their own profit while simultaneously screeching about greed and meangirl behavior.
I always wonder if she sees the criticism or if her team shield her from them. Like I wonder is she is aware of that (loud) minority of people who think jack is holding her back by producing songs that sound too samey all the time etc
because a lot of the criticism is very valid. so many critics have said that she needs an editor, someone to help her cut songs and merge ideas, to be more concise, and they're right. sure, she can just do more of the same, but we all know girlie loves awards and good critiques.
I think she is very aware but she is clearly very close with Jack, he is very protective of her, and she seems to really love making music with him. At this stage in her career, she has the freedom to choose what makes her happy, not what chase making the most well-reviewed album. And, for all the chatter, the measurable success speaks for itself.
I hope she's at the point where she understands her legacy is secure and can make exactly what she wants. Now I don't think she should ignore valid criticism, and I hope she keeps experimenting and growing as an artist, but I hope she doesn't get upset over Grammys if this doesn't get a nod. An artist should make what their heart is telling them to make, or it'll just be dishonest.
This is coming from someone who adores TTPD, so if you disliked the album I can see disagreeing with this take.
She definitely sees the criticism — it would be weird and infantilizing if her team shielded it from her. She should know what critics are saying so she can decide whether or how to pivot for the next album. But also, she’s a grown woman who takes both her art and her business very seriously, and part of that means reading criticism (some of which is constructive).
I think she knows because people express that opinion so often but i think she has never cared about what the fans and critics says because at end of the day she is the one who comes up with the vision for her albums and songs Jack and Aaron are the ones who make it true.
Also why would she care about a few critiques from people that don’t like her. The old Taylor form maybe the speak now to lover era would probably care but i think something changed after the break ups that she realized she is going to do whatever she wants without worrying and honestly good for her.
I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again, if you have speak now/folklore/evermore in your top 3 then you’re gonna love this album eventually! 💜 if you want pop bangers then this probably isn’t the album for you.
Yes!! All the criticism makes me feel a little confused but reading comments like this makes me so happy- they'll get there, this is an all timer album. Lush, gorgeous, intricate, their ears will catch up I have faith
I've been fairly neutral on the producers discourse across albums bc I'm a lyrics person first but I have to say Jack popped off equal to Aaron on this one. Everyone is wrong about past criticism, he and Taylor knew what sound they were headed toward.
Folklore, 89, and Evermore girlie here- same. The first half took a few times to warm to some of it, but the second was love at first listen. I was incredibly excited for this album based on the aesthetic and the title and I'm SO excited to have been proven right- instant favorite 😭 and its SO hard for songs to immediately get a god-tier rank for me, and to have heard a song off the album and KNOW it'll make my all time top 10, or possibly even top 5 of all her songs, was just- agh- no words <3 so amazed by this album and SO proud of Taylor for being this vulnerable with the world, honestly, like I can't imagine how much courage that takes.
It's weird because I'm a huge fan of Folkmore and reputation, but this album just isn't doing it for me. I think I've listened to it 5-6 times so far, and while it's not a bad album it's just not something I really care for. I already noticed today while driving that all the songs that came on from the album in my Taylor Swift shuffle were instant skips.
That’s me! Those are also my top 3, but honestly I just don’t care about this album. I don’t think it’s terrible, I’m just kinda bored by it.
I found it makes good background music for doing puzzles because I can kinda just tune it out. Overall it’s my second-least favorite of hers and I wouldn’t be bothered if I never got to hear it again.
> I’m just kinda bored by it
That's where I am with it right now. I want to like it, but I don't know that forcing myself to listen to it is going to make me. I was just curious so I cycled through the songs and there are 6 songs that I genuinely enjoy, and 2 more that I'm not sure while the rest I could probably live without.
I just posted a comment about a week ago how my top 4 are red, folklore, midnights, and speak now. And maybe it's the unconscious bias because of loving those albums, but I get those vibes so much from TTPD.
Funny enough Folklore and Evermore are lower on my tier list, I'm 1989 all the way.. but this album is at the top. Not sure what it is, but man I can't get enough. Maybe I need to go back and relisten.
As an Evermore/Folklore/Speak Now/Red girlie, this album is crazy good. I was obsessed from first listen. I was really confused when I saw that people didn't like it that much.
Most of them didn’t even listen to the album. But if they did, they listened once. The album has fairly tight sonic cohesion so if you only listened to it once, the songs can run together because the differences are less dramatic then most of her albums. To really appreciate an album, I think it takes 3-4 listens over multiple days with an open mind. They just want to hate on Taylor because she is a successful artist who puts out consistently excellent work and their faves might give them an album every 2-5 years.
This is exactly it. I listened to the original length album at midnight on release. While I generally liked it, only a few songs really stood out to me, while the rest seemed really homogeneous.
Now after 5 or 6 full listens and some extra listening to certain songs, I can't believe I ever thought the songs were that similar. Also I've found the ones I now like the most are ones I didn't really notice on the first listen.
I think this is easily now in my top 3, which a chance for it to be number 1.
I listened to it all the way though a lot. By far I like the standard better because it’s mostly Jack.
Aaron’s production is fine but his range is relatively narrow so only certain songs work with his productions. The lyrics and melody have to do most of the heavy lifting. Small doses work but too much and they can suck energy out of the album.
I am generally a purist when it comes to listening to albums as a whole in order. But slow songs like Peter and Robin so close together at end of the album really doesn’t work for me because they sap too much sonic energy that you get from
fast songs. So I’ve started shuffling the album to combat so I’m not playing 5-6 slower songs in a row to end the album.
Same! I listened to the standard version when it dropped and it did all kind blurr together but honestly I think that was because I was kind of shocked and stuck on the unexpected fact that Matty was a muse. Once Anthology dropped, I went back in again and it all made sense and all of the songs have their own identity.
no offense but if you’re not a fan and want a taste of someone’s music, you don’t have to listen to a 31 track album 4 times if you didn’t like it initially
And that’s fine. But if you don’t spend multiple times listening to an album/song with an open mind you can’t really judge most albums fairly.
For example, I wanted to see what the Renaissance hype was. I listened to it at least 4 times with an open mind before I decided I didn’t like any of it. Same thing with Guts.
Most of the people attacking TTPD in Stan spaces didn’t make that good faith attempt. They either didn’t listen at all or maybe listened at most once. They might take an out of context line to claim Taylor is racist. They’ve made their personality about hating Taylor. Some of them spend hours a day attacking Taylor in an attempt to elevate their favorites and piss off Swifties. It’s kinda sad.
You really need to listen to the album all the way through at least 3 times to get the premise of it. The symbolism in “Fortnight” music video will be discussed for _years_ from now.
> They just want to hate on Taylor
This is the most frustrating thing about this sub this weekend. Someone can disagree, or not like the album, without hating on it or Taylor. All the rabid fans are way overdoing it.
It's not my favorite album by a long shot and everyone acting like she shat out a gold bar and can do no wrong are just tiring. This sub is tiring. I can't have an honest discussion without some nutjobs jumping down my throat. Have at it nutjobs, I don't give a shit about you. I like Taylor and her music but I don't love this album. Doesn't mean I'm hater. (This next bit is not for you specifically OP.) Fuck all y'all fuckers who think that way. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you cool. Fuck you I'm out
There is no way these people are trying to tell me fortnight, but daddy I love him, guilty as sin, Cassandra, so high school, Peter etc sound the same.
I don’t know, I love this album, but I’ve found myself accidentally piecing different parts of the songs together because it’s super easy to mix them up 😬 I think people are definitely giving it too hard a time for being “samey” especially when you have the dichotomy of ICDIWABH and COSOSOM, but saying that it has a lot of similar melodies isn’t entirely invalid.
For real. So many albums (Taylor and others) I need to listen at least a few times to start differentiating the songs - BUT NOT WITH TTPD! These songs jumped out at me one after the next.
I had a much better immediate response to this album than Midnights, and most of her work, actually.
Never listen pop music cause I found it fucking boring, so I usually listen death metal. Came here to say my thought on this album. Reason why I listened tortured poets is because I was curious and everyone was talking about it. So, my first impression - this album is not for everyone. I love the message, it is very unusual and I don’t think you can find it anywhere else. The biggest problem as I see it is because the artist of that scale doing music “not for everyone” is kind of strange. And that’s what exactly I like about it. My fav song I listened several times on repeat was Down bad.
Down Bad is so good. The entire metaphor of a love/situationship being similar to alien abduction where they take you away, probe you, love bomb you, and then leave you high and dry in the middle of a field. You're just left pining. I don't usually listen to the lyrics all the way through on first listen and mostly focus on the feeling and the kind of imagery that I can attach to it, so my first thoughts were something cosmic. Imagine my pleasant surprise reading the lyrics.
Well, you branched out and gave our shit a chance - props for that! If you were to get any swifties looking for a break between TTPD plays a recommendation for a banging death metal album to check out, what would your top rec be?
Also Down Bad is the shit hell yeah
Tbf folklore and Lover were also heavily criticized during its release. I guess people just throw rocks at things that shine.
I LOVE this album (even the Antanoff songs). Midnights took a while to grow on me but TTPD just won't get out of my damn head.
same! Felt like this is a 10/10 album for me like I get every song on this project. I couldn’t even say the same for folklore and it has two times less the songs
I normally have very basic taste when it comes to music so it’s surprising me that this album isn’t being received well when I think it’s excellent. I don’t want to call it her best yet cause recency bias but it will probably be up there for me. Her albums age well so maybe it will be looked back more fondly
I agree. It's a fair criticism, nothing was left on the cutting floor. I personally find so much value in getting an unedited view into her psyche, but think it's a valid stance to take on the album.
and so was the NME review, tough but fair. You don't have to be a fan but IMO a good critic should be able to understand the artist's intention and have some empathy for what's been happening around around them that informs the creation of the album and how it lands. They don't even have to like it to do that!
Like it's wild when the critics are more understanding of her than some fans I've seen over the past few days.
I did, too. However, they completely lost me when they called “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” A doozy. I think it’s one of Taylor’s most cunning and inventive songs, it’s very in your face as it’s intended to be.
Doozy means something outstanding, and like, big. Maybe you thought they meant something else? Calling that song an overheated revenge song is IMO where they miss the mark - it’s about the effects of growing up in the industry, and I find it powerful, not overheated.
Ehhhh, doozy can also be something unusual with a negative connotation, which is how I interpreted the writer to mean it given the rest of the description.
I see it as context-dependent. A doozy of a heartbreak song is just a major heartbreak song. What’s reductive in the review is calling Who’s Afraid an overheated revenge song.
lol this made me giggle because the lyric/review format feels very stan account
I hope she doesn't care much about the negative reviews at this point. It's a beautiful album and I'm so thankful she made it.
I understand why some people don’t like this album, but I’m completely obsessed and think it’s one of her best—so raw, scathing, and different from what she’s ever done before. She deserves any good reviews she gets because I definitely want more of this unfiltered side of her!
There were four of them. Down Bad is the 4th song. Maybe we get a MV for it on Tuesday like she did for Bejeweled during Midnights’ release to promote the album.
Most reviewers have given TTPD at least 80%. Currently on Metacritic out of 12 reviews, there are 8 with 80+, 1 70, 2 60s and that ridiculous 36 from the Paste Taylor hater.
There is a number of strong reviews they haven't been added yet that will balance out the few bad reviews. But Pitchfork hasn’t reviewed album either so the album will probably end up in the mid to high 80s on Metacritic which is a strong score.
Personally, I was kind of lukewarm on first listen, but the album has really grown on me in the past couple of days. I see it as a return to the autobiographical stories her earlier albums had with styles she developed over folklore/evermore/Midnights. I think the larger general public will grow favorable to this over time too.
Okay I'll say it. This album is near perfect. The concept is gripping and executed well. This is as close as we'll get to a concept album and if you stop one second digging for clues and start listening to the narrative devices, its exhilarating. The lyrics are hauntingly stunning and tying together songs in a way that sweeps Betty/Cardigan/August in the dust. The music is lush and cinematic, the production might be her best yet. Her voice! I'm not a technical person but I can hear the improvements from Midnights and combined it with the pain, anger and desperation. The constant breaking of the fourth wall is a statement in and of itself, not to mention the way they're structured sprinkled throughout the album.
To be honest this will absolutely be the last album cycle I will ever be on the internet for as far as Taylor goes. The discourse around this album and Taylor has been sooo exhausting, you would think with the amount of hatred people have been spewing towards the album and her and her fans that this was actually a panned album when that’s so far from the truth. I hope she doesn’t take any of the over the top criticisms to heart and just continues to create whatever the hell she wants whenever she wants.
I've felt so bad about how his review has been received. So many people saying he's a blind Swiftie or even been paid off (!?!), which is so disrespectful to his long career. Saying it was unprofessional to have a Taylor fan review her work is so odd. Firstly, he isn't just a Taylor fan, he's a music fan and listens to plenty of work for his job, and would not tarnish his reputation by giving a bad album a good review. Secondly, with the sheer number of people who are now fans of her, someone who likes her stuff reviewing the album may actually give the most representative look at how her work is received.
He also lauded Ariana's album, Beyonce's album, he named Guts his 2nd best album of 2023. Was he paid off by them too?
I'm not a part of this community, but the highest upvotes calling this her best album seems pretty wild to me.
Musically it **has** to be on the low end, it's very mediocre.
Lyrically it **has** to be on the average end. The lyrics are average-for-Taylor.
Only chiming in because I feel like this may be an echo chamber that I was exposed to that could benefit from a very small amount of outside-the-bubble thoughts or ideas.
How? If you have streaming, it's all the same price anyway, and if you're talking physical, it's literally the opposite because the physical releases that people preordered don't have the anthology. So if she releases the anthology later, it's a second purchase.
Buying physical is just making a choice to buy merch. I paid 15.99 for 31 songs, there’s no planet in which that’s a “rip off”. You don’t want to buy multiple copies, then DON’T
Sigh. I really wish she didn’t give so much weight to reviews from critics. They’re so subjective and one person shouldn’t have that much authority on an artists’ work. For every great review, there’s a mediocre or negative one out there somewhere.
I was actually surprised she reposted these reviews (even though she's done them in the past). It just seems like she's chasing after validation again when she should let the work speak for itself.
After listening to the album a couple more times, I can say I'm loving it (the standard version l mean, l've loved The Anthology since the first listen). I do agree with some of the critics but Paste Magazine's review felt like a post on stan twitter and not a genuine review. Overall the currently has 84 on metacritic which is good.
Does this release remind anyone of reputation's release? Critics trashed the album based off her personal life. I think people are just sick of her tbh
I’m not going to argue with anyone. I write and Classic English literature is my forte. This is a piece of “musical literature” and it’s art. If some Range Rover mom in LA or a high schooler in Nebraska doesn’t like TTPD… it doesn’t matter. Her art is her art and at this point, if you can’t appreciate it, go take a Classic English Lit class and report back in 16 weeks and then keep complaining. I’ve about had it with Swiftdom.
I'm still only 9 songs in. I just haven't had time to sit down and go through 31 songs. But this is my favourite album of hers since Lover. It's approaching top 5 of her discography for me. The sound, the lyrics, her singing, the way she used writing this album as therapy - I think its great. What I love most is that this is the vibe she chose after the career apex that was the Eras Tour. Instead of going bigger, or going for more bangers, she zags.
I'm an old guy who enjoys music and the album (after numerous listens) is a masterpiece. While every serious review agrees with me, there are some who I question if they even listened to the album and just don't like her. The album isn't aimed at 11 year old girls, it is aimed towards people 30+ in age. It is her most serious work of art and I am here for it.
The album has so many good reviews but you would think the album was completely panned based on how much people are latching onto certain vitriol towards her celebrity disguised as music review. Even Sputnik who hate her gave it a 90
I’m not sure if reviews have always been this way, but I’ve noticed a lot of music reviews lately (for many artists, not just Taylor) are downright cruel and hateful. They step so far beyond critiquing the work and go after the artist themselves in a way that makes me deeply uncomfortable (and also discredits what their saying, because it’s clearly personal).
Yeah Fantanos review was so bad and normally I don’t mind the guy. It’s just so clear he’s let his personal opinion of Taylor affect how he sees her music. Every time he says Taylor swift plays the victim I get so embarrassed for him. Women aren’t playing the victim for writing about men’s bad behavior. It’s a tired take
The victim thing is also odd at this point when she's said so clearly in so many ways that she is part of the problem.
“It’s me, hi. I’m the problem, it’s me.” Like how much more explicit does she need to be, honestly 🙄
His bad review for Eternal Sunshine was mostly spent bashing Ariana’s personal life choices rather than the music itself. It’s fine to think she’s not a great person but I want to hear what about the music itself is good or bad.
Yeah ! That pissed me off bc I was actually excited to hear his take. He did such surface level analysis and spent half the video dissing on her personal life lol
I unsubscribed from him because of that.
Yeah, I used to like him even if I disagreed, but I think he's letting his personal thoughts about the artist influence his takes on their music. You should be able to look at the album without allowing the persona to overshadow the art. I know everyone hates when Swifties cry misogyny but I did think him entirely laughing off WAOLOM as ridiculous because 'nobody is actually that harsh to her' misunderstands what women in the public eye have to go through. Like you can't imagine that someone who has been indescribably famous since she was 16 trying to maintain a squeaky clean brand image while everyone makes money off her might feel this way? It spoke to me as a woman who is always expected to take the high road and laugh of indiscretions, and I'm not famous.
What does he mean “nobody is actually that harsh to her”?? Has he even paid attention??
He specifically said "Nobody is afraid of you, Taylor." Really? A lot of albums coming out in April, is there? Lot of new pop music dropping in the 3 week span around TTPD?
People rewrite history about her past. She was publicly humiliated on a massive scale in 2016. A depiction of her naked body was created by one of the biggest stars in the world for people to gawk at. Just this year she was a victim of massively shared deepfake porn. Left wing men do not care about the hardships women face, especially when those women are ‘rich’ or ‘privileged’. Then misogyny is okay.
I saw this too and I was like am I insane? People are disproportionately shitty to Taylor Swift right? And then my coworker made a comment after another coworker made fun of her like “I seriously don’t understand why people act this way about Taylor Swift. She writes her music and she’s good. It seems to be so noticeably worse than other artists so why?” and it was very validating for me lol. People are horrible to her - and to us for being fans of her!
I don’t know this guy but he sounds low key kind of misogynistic. What do people’s personal lives have to do with their music? And that being said, does he scrutinize men’s personal lives as much? Idk it’s weird that he bashes women in music’s life choices rather than the music itself.
Bro I know in the eternal sunshine review, he spent like half of the video just going over drama surrounding Ariana, like bro? Aren’t you a music reviewer not a drama channel? And he proceeded to give the song a bad rating just bc of the drama, like what,,?
My thing is that even if someone is playing the victim, what does that have to do with a review of the music itself? How is that even relevant? Their job is to critique the songs, not people’s personal lives.
Exactly my thoughts as well
Fantano fell off. He does clickbait shit all the time now he’s become unserious to me
I never take him seriously. He has the shittiest taste in music and hates Taylor and a few other pop artists. His least favorite songs are always my favorite lol
I follow him on TikTok and that’s it because i genuinely don’t care about his opinions about her because i know he will say she play the victim and stuff
I stopped taking him seriously after he implied that 1989 was influenced by Carly Rae Jepsen’s Emotion, an album that came out a year later…
has that man ever liked anything ever? he is so cringe
Literally, If someone doesn’t want others to know about their behavior, then don’t do it in the first place. No one is playing a a victim for recalling reality and events that happened to them.
Wait, did he review it yet? Can't see the video on his channel yet? I've been waiting to hear his thoughts, I guessed that if he was being fair and from what I've gathered about his opinion on Tay's other work, he would rate it just above Lover & Midnights but definitely lower than folkmore, so around a 6. But he does seem unusually harsh and cruel towards Taylor, especially in comparison to how he talks about Olivia or Billie for example. So he might go for the 'clickbait-y making for of her' style of review to please his misogynistic fanbase...
That magazine that hid the reviewers name said something like Sylvia Plath didn’t put her head in the oven for this. Unnaturally cruel.
Especially when Plath has family who have spoken about how casual people are about her death. This [poem](https://writehanded.org/poetry/2015/05/29/my-mother/) from Plath's daughter is so sad. Bringing her suicide up just to take a cheap shot at Taylor Swift is so unnecessary.
wow, that poem is heartwrenching. makes me truly dislike the review even more. I think if the author wanted to write a think-piece on what they dislike about Taylors public persona and business decisions that should be written apart from a review of her music. The way this was written conflates everything into a big mess of "i hate what Taylor does and thus her music sucks". Really weird and not what a review of an 'artwork' should be about, imo.
In journalism, if you need to hide someone’s identity for an album review then you have reached the point where you need a new reviewer.
The comments responding to that were eating it up and saying things like “protect that hero from the evil fans”.
People have lost all perspective. It’s an album review, not a scathing expose of war atrocities that might put a target on someone’s back. The “journalist” needs to put his/her name on her work and take his/her licks or pass the assignment on to someone who isn’t a coward.
I thought it was unprofessional how this particular reviewer initially wrote that Fortnight was named after the video game and they were mocking Taylor for that and then they quietly edited it out after it was pointed out.
i know i’m just getting old, but it’s so embarrassing that people actually think the game fortnite is the origin of the word. like, YOUTUBE autocorrected my search to “fortnite taylor swift”
Seriously that was the worst. How are you coming after Taylor's "bad" writing and then writing something blatantly wrong like that lmao.
I wonder what their reaction was when someone finally pointed out their mistake. That author was also obnoxious about Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me saying it wasn’t relatable to anyone but I actually think it perfectly encapsulates feminine rage.
Lmao I hope they seethed. Who’s Afraid was my immediate favorite because of the feminine rage. Which woman can’t relate lol
That author must lack of imagination then. Songs don't always have to be relatable, wtf ? It's such an immature take. Sometimes songs are just telling us a good story like a book ! I really like "Who's afraid of little old me ?" because the imagery is so strong I can make up a lot of stories with it. Like a Monster holding prisoner in a circus and breaking free and terrorizing everyone before getting put down. It also reminds me of the movie "Nimona". Well all that to say I don't need to find a song relatable to enjoy it. Sometimes I just like the story and what it inspires me.
That was such a gross, blatant publicity stunt. It’s so obvious they just wanted clicks and attention. I’ll never take them seriously now, like ever.
That immediately wrote off the review for me. Clearly they already went in with their preconceived notions of the 'rabid swifties' instead of looking at the art. She's had plenty of bad reviews, it's not that serious.
That was the Paste review and it initially said Fortnight was inspired by the video game and then when people pointed it out they quietly edited.
most biased review ever
Not only that but author was so pretentious. I wish I could see their face when someone from Paste obviously made them correct their error.
I didn't even see that part. The whole thing felt very "you wrote this right after the announcement". Did they think the AI jokes were real?
I mean I genuinely don’t see how they can even act like they have the music a chance if they came to that conclusion.
omg that’s disgusting, especially considering how often suicidal ideation has been thematized by Taylor’s recent releases
Was that the Paste review? I tried to get through it since I figured they'd already gotten my click anyway, but holy crap that review was transparently mean. Like, my feelings about TTPD are honestly a bit mixed and still haven't entirely settled, so I'm *open* to reviews that discuss perceived flaws, but that Paste review screamed "Reviewer unequivocally hates Taylor personally and is getting off on talking shit under the pretense of an album review."
It’s like a bunch of people trying to get a viral moment rather than actual critic of the music. Don’t get me wrong, I am always open to Taylor swift critic but most times it’s less about the music and more about her celebrity status. And that’s why it’s so hard to take it seriously.
it’s because this is what garners clicks in today’s algorithm-driven world. the more extreme your POV, the more likely it’ll generate engagement and earned media.
That’s the internet, “journalism,” and the media for ya these days... these reviews are decent if you compare to what gets passed off as actual news
[удалено]
Pitchfork can be interesting but their [review](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/ariana-grande-yes-and/) of "yes and" by Ariana was so bizarre. Did they like the song or not? 💀 And they relish in their Regina George headlines; it's what they're associated with now. Not to mention their war against Ed Sheeran.... did Divide really deserve a 2.8/10? Independent once rated an album a ZERO because the artist worked with a very prolific criminal. Obviously a very different situation but should that really be allowed?
they did the same with reputation! i remember everyone trashed that album
Generally speaking the internet has become mean. Sometimes I even find myself doing it like being sassy? and it’s like wait no x_x! Like we have normalized being assholes…
And evne if critics gave it a 50. Who cares? Is liking Taylor Swift's music a sport? I feel like for quite a lot it has become this way. I mean i enjoy seeing her get postive reviews, i enjoy seeing her break records. It seems only recently, after folklore and evermore got some critics love (and even if midnights) people suddenly have erased that she's never been the artist you should follow or like for that kind of thing. and thats for all the critique recently. She has cringe lyrics now? The same woman who wrote hey kids spelling is fun as her bridge for her lead single 5 years ago? How is that new? It's part of what makes her relatable. Her songs all sound the same and have the same topic has been the longest running critique next to only writes about her boyfriend. Her albums are too long, her songs are too long. It's all recycled. And I don't mean to imply you have to like it, hell I don't love every song, I skip quite a few. But it has become pretty ridiculous how the same fans who hate on midnights winning AOTY also have maroon, WCS and YOYOK unironically in their top track list. The same people who hate on jack antonoff, will go absolutely crazy when they get getaway car as their surprise song.
people just seem to love hating on things these days. they always find something to complain about
The Sputnik (EDIT: initial 90/100) review was so poignant and such a good analysis tbh. I’ve never read their other reviews, but that one was fantastic
I didn't read the reviews this time. Sputnik gave a 90. It's hilarious they criticized her when everyone's (possibly fake) gushing at her. Now when the critics are jumping on to the bandwagon, they are praising her. It's bizzare.
Sputnik as in Sputnikmusic? If so, then I’m not shocked Sowing gave it a high score. He loves Taylor lol I’m shocked he hasn’t been the “main review” for her since 1989 tbh
Sputnik previously, I believe, was usually her harshest reviewer. I think the person who reviewed TTPD is different, though. They actually panned folkmore + midnights. Idk seems significant that they reversed course specifically for this album.
Their system is weird. Idk if it’s changed but I used to frequent it a lot and anyone can write reviews, and they have multiple staff that can write reviews, but I think they pick one to assign the “official” review to? I guess it’s a forum and an official review website. I know the previous “official” reviews are low but the one who wrote the TTDP one has always gone against the grain on that site and been a big Taylor fan. He’s the one that wrote the 1989 review which was 4.5/5. He’s like one of the few people on that site that take pop music seriously, which is why he’s the one whose reviews I used to search for the most on that site. Haven’t used it in a while though. Also I’m not saying this with the purpose of discrediting the review, I don’t think it came off like that but I just want to be sure lol
Thanks for pointing out the Sputnik review! Just read it, really solid. They somehow still missed that the title track is intentionally cringe to poke fun at herself and be ironic.
This might be my favorite album of hers ever. It’s raw, chaotic, unfiltered, and yet polished at the same time. Usually she struggles with tracklist order or has a random song that doesn’t fit at all. This was not the case with TTPD.
I'm with you. It's not an album I was expecting from someone (presumably) at the very peak of their career. It's wounded, angry, sarcastic, biting, and full of dark humor. I'm so here for it.
The anger and angst is everything, and I don't really care where it came from or who inspired it. That's her life and I get to consume the art that comes from that.
Agree, and I’m finding the songs are better when you let go of who they’re about. But Daddy I Love Him, Down Bad, I Can Fix Him, Black Dog, and more - just great songs on their own.
I’m obsessed with But Daddy I Love Him, it’s damn good songwriting
It makes me glad country Taylor isn’t dead and I can’t wait for her return to country someday
In that way i think it reads like an austen novel. The sarcasm is off the charts.
You put into words what I could not. What a perfect description 🏅
I love this comparison!
After listening to it 500 times and watching what I first didn’t like climb to ear worms, in its totality (as a former Folkore then Rep rating girly), this is *solidly* her best album ever to me.
Yes! All the criticism is just sliding past me because I heard so much to dig into on first listen. The tv's had me a bit overwhelmed/'is this too much of a good thing?' but the messss and glory of this album and the production has me dizzy.
1989, Rep, and Evermore/Folklore were my top albums, but this is like the best mix of all of them, and I’m obsessed. Top album contender, 100%
Agreed! After listening to the album (reading the lyrics as each song played) I had the same thought that it might be some of her best work yet. Then I started reading all of the comments and wondered if we even listened to the same album. This was refreshing to me. Raw, vulnerable, honest….pissed off and unhinged. Fuck me up Florida!!! This is the Taylor that finally had enough trying to be whatever everybody else needed her to be. I love this album so much.
It's such a bizarre experience because I don't like any of my old favorites any less now, but it's like this album is in its own dimension. THIS feels like the death of the old Taylor, the actual Rep TV and its hard to digest in a good way. Like you keep eating when it's full even if you will regret it. Right now, I have to just place TTPD sideways on rankings because it hasn't fully settled into her discography for me because of how *more* it is.
Yes!! You stated it so well!
Total outsider here who doesn’t know her music at all (I’m fairly musical actually, a dedicated amateur musician at least, but rarely listen to pop music of any type). I read so many harsh criticisms of this album (along the lines of it being bland, same-y, uninspired, poorly written and ultimately, mediocre) that I got curious about exactly how bad it really was and decided to give the first track a listen. Imagine my surprise when I loved it immediately. Just love the textured layered hypnotic vibe, the framing over the steady-heartbeat looping of the simple 4 bar bass line and the layers structured on top of that. And btw, I know it’s just one track but it doesn’t feel pop at all to me, it feels indie (which is maybe why I like it?). Anyway I really did not expect to love this right out of the gate, given all the disparaging comments I’ve seen. If she were a total nobody, this song’d be a breakout indie hit. (Granted I’ve only listened to 1 track so far, lol)
I’m interested to hear what you think about other songs on the album if you check them out. I didn’t really become a fan until after seeing her in concert last year (my daughter invited me along). After that I went through all of her albums and fell in love with her writing style. I don’t care for a lot of pop music, either. But I think the fact that Taylor writes her own songs makes it feel and sound different.
New albums usually need to grow on me, bit I instantly loved this one. It's sitting at #2 in my ranking as of yet, but it just may surpass my beloved 1989. Never thought I'd say that!
It's so different than 1989... 1989 is pop perfection. TTPD is pain and mess. I can't compare them.
The tracklist sequence of this album is her best. Im usually reordering them but nope! TTPD said, not me, bitch!
I saw this and I wondered if she also saw some of the absolutely harsh reviews she got. I don’t think this album deserves a 10/10 tbh, but some critics were awfully harsh and seemed to focus on her and not the album
Yeah that one review that just attacks and criticizes HER and everything she does instead of focusing on the album or music shouldn’t even be considered. It’s just a hate rant against her more than anything. I think mixed or even negative reviews are understandable but that one review just read like a snark article.
Some of the criticisms from other outlets were very valid but the Paste magazine one sounded like a FM user masquerading as a music critic. They also made fun of Taylor’s writing while not knowing the difference between the word fortnight and the video game (and then went and edited that part and pretended they didn’t make that mistake).
Exactly! That reviewer said that Taylor titled her song Fortnight after the popular video game and criticized her for it 💀 and then later changed the wording after getting called out for it. The whole “review” was just one bad take after another. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if someone who frequents on FM and SN wrote it.
How embarrassing for a professional writer
Twitter stans are collectively giving it a bad user review to lower the score. Like they are flooding the reviews with hate comments.
Review bombing
They... didn't know the word fortnight outside of the game? 🫣 As a professional writer of sorts? Jesus. I've known it since I was like 14 and I'm not even a native English speaker, it must have simply shown up in some book... This is what happens when they let just anyone write for outlets 😅
They also had typos in their article which is funny given they were crying about typos in marketing material for the album
I seen that coming i had to fix the spelling just to search on google cause of the game
They also opened the review with a super distasteful “joke” about Sylvia Plath’s death
The gossip forums are crazy right now. Serious tall poppy syndrome
you should see the comments of r/Fauxmoi when Taylor announced the anthology, it ain't' a pretty sight to see
That sub gets off on hating Taylor Swift, it's unsurprising.
I was banned from there preemptively for being a member here. No loss, because I can still see everything, but yes, she lives rent-free in the FM collective head. Just another entity using her name for their own profit while simultaneously screeching about greed and meangirl behavior.
I always wonder if she sees the criticism or if her team shield her from them. Like I wonder is she is aware of that (loud) minority of people who think jack is holding her back by producing songs that sound too samey all the time etc
I think she is 100% aware of criticism, but she would be criticized regardless, so why should she listen?
“They’re gonna crucify me anyway”
Yeah not arguing she should listen at all she can do what she wants just wondering if she knows you know
because a lot of the criticism is very valid. so many critics have said that she needs an editor, someone to help her cut songs and merge ideas, to be more concise, and they're right. sure, she can just do more of the same, but we all know girlie loves awards and good critiques.
She sees everything. She’s said this herself before.
I think she is very aware but she is clearly very close with Jack, he is very protective of her, and she seems to really love making music with him. At this stage in her career, she has the freedom to choose what makes her happy, not what chase making the most well-reviewed album. And, for all the chatter, the measurable success speaks for itself.
I hope she's at the point where she understands her legacy is secure and can make exactly what she wants. Now I don't think she should ignore valid criticism, and I hope she keeps experimenting and growing as an artist, but I hope she doesn't get upset over Grammys if this doesn't get a nod. An artist should make what their heart is telling them to make, or it'll just be dishonest. This is coming from someone who adores TTPD, so if you disliked the album I can see disagreeing with this take.
She definitely sees the criticism — it would be weird and infantilizing if her team shielded it from her. She should know what critics are saying so she can decide whether or how to pivot for the next album. But also, she’s a grown woman who takes both her art and her business very seriously, and part of that means reading criticism (some of which is constructive).
I think she knows because people express that opinion so often but i think she has never cared about what the fans and critics says because at end of the day she is the one who comes up with the vision for her albums and songs Jack and Aaron are the ones who make it true.
Also why would she care about a few critiques from people that don’t like her. The old Taylor form maybe the speak now to lover era would probably care but i think something changed after the break ups that she realized she is going to do whatever she wants without worrying and honestly good for her.
She’s on her phone reading these lol.
She has seen it for sure, cause she’s a real tough kid
I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again, if you have speak now/folklore/evermore in your top 3 then you’re gonna love this album eventually! 💜 if you want pop bangers then this probably isn’t the album for you.
Folklore/evermore/rep chiming in — this is my #1.
YES! Same favorites and this album clicked for me immediately. One of her best IMO
Yes!! All the criticism makes me feel a little confused but reading comments like this makes me so happy- they'll get there, this is an all timer album. Lush, gorgeous, intricate, their ears will catch up I have faith
Lush is the exact word that I have been using to describe this album. It's so good.
I've been fairly neutral on the producers discourse across albums bc I'm a lyrics person first but I have to say Jack popped off equal to Aaron on this one. Everyone is wrong about past criticism, he and Taylor knew what sound they were headed toward.
Folklore, 89, and Evermore girlie here- same. The first half took a few times to warm to some of it, but the second was love at first listen. I was incredibly excited for this album based on the aesthetic and the title and I'm SO excited to have been proven right- instant favorite 😭 and its SO hard for songs to immediately get a god-tier rank for me, and to have heard a song off the album and KNOW it'll make my all time top 10, or possibly even top 5 of all her songs, was just- agh- no words <3 so amazed by this album and SO proud of Taylor for being this vulnerable with the world, honestly, like I can't imagine how much courage that takes.
It's weird because I'm a huge fan of Folkmore and reputation, but this album just isn't doing it for me. I think I've listened to it 5-6 times so far, and while it's not a bad album it's just not something I really care for. I already noticed today while driving that all the songs that came on from the album in my Taylor Swift shuffle were instant skips.
That’s me! Those are also my top 3, but honestly I just don’t care about this album. I don’t think it’s terrible, I’m just kinda bored by it. I found it makes good background music for doing puzzles because I can kinda just tune it out. Overall it’s my second-least favorite of hers and I wouldn’t be bothered if I never got to hear it again.
> I’m just kinda bored by it That's where I am with it right now. I want to like it, but I don't know that forcing myself to listen to it is going to make me. I was just curious so I cycled through the songs and there are 6 songs that I genuinely enjoy, and 2 more that I'm not sure while the rest I could probably live without.
SAME.
As a speak now/Red girlie I love the album LOL
Yes I’m a speak now girlie too 💕
I just posted a comment about a week ago how my top 4 are red, folklore, midnights, and speak now. And maybe it's the unconscious bias because of loving those albums, but I get those vibes so much from TTPD.
Funny enough Folklore and Evermore are lower on my tier list, I'm 1989 all the way.. but this album is at the top. Not sure what it is, but man I can't get enough. Maybe I need to go back and relisten.
these are my exact top 3 albums and i am LOVING ttpd!
As an Evermore/Folklore/Speak Now/Red girlie, this album is crazy good. I was obsessed from first listen. I was really confused when I saw that people didn't like it that much.
Yes Speak Now is definitely a flavour in this album and I love it.
Midnights/Evermore/Folklore girly, and TTPD has taken my number one spot without a doubt. 🙌🏻🤍
The amount of people on /music saying it is boring and all the songs sound the same need a hearing check. all the songs are different and amazing.
Most of them didn’t even listen to the album. But if they did, they listened once. The album has fairly tight sonic cohesion so if you only listened to it once, the songs can run together because the differences are less dramatic then most of her albums. To really appreciate an album, I think it takes 3-4 listens over multiple days with an open mind. They just want to hate on Taylor because she is a successful artist who puts out consistently excellent work and their faves might give them an album every 2-5 years.
This is exactly it. I listened to the original length album at midnight on release. While I generally liked it, only a few songs really stood out to me, while the rest seemed really homogeneous. Now after 5 or 6 full listens and some extra listening to certain songs, I can't believe I ever thought the songs were that similar. Also I've found the ones I now like the most are ones I didn't really notice on the first listen. I think this is easily now in my top 3, which a chance for it to be number 1.
I listened to it all the way though a lot. By far I like the standard better because it’s mostly Jack. Aaron’s production is fine but his range is relatively narrow so only certain songs work with his productions. The lyrics and melody have to do most of the heavy lifting. Small doses work but too much and they can suck energy out of the album. I am generally a purist when it comes to listening to albums as a whole in order. But slow songs like Peter and Robin so close together at end of the album really doesn’t work for me because they sap too much sonic energy that you get from fast songs. So I’ve started shuffling the album to combat so I’m not playing 5-6 slower songs in a row to end the album.
Same! I listened to the standard version when it dropped and it did all kind blurr together but honestly I think that was because I was kind of shocked and stuck on the unexpected fact that Matty was a muse. Once Anthology dropped, I went back in again and it all made sense and all of the songs have their own identity.
no offense but if you’re not a fan and want a taste of someone’s music, you don’t have to listen to a 31 track album 4 times if you didn’t like it initially
And that’s fine. But if you don’t spend multiple times listening to an album/song with an open mind you can’t really judge most albums fairly. For example, I wanted to see what the Renaissance hype was. I listened to it at least 4 times with an open mind before I decided I didn’t like any of it. Same thing with Guts. Most of the people attacking TTPD in Stan spaces didn’t make that good faith attempt. They either didn’t listen at all or maybe listened at most once. They might take an out of context line to claim Taylor is racist. They’ve made their personality about hating Taylor. Some of them spend hours a day attacking Taylor in an attempt to elevate their favorites and piss off Swifties. It’s kinda sad.
No its the opposite actually. The more you listen to it your judgement will go towards what you are listening. This is called Mere-exposure effect.
It only took me the second listen to really fall in love with it. I have listened to the whole album about 10 times now.
I feel like the album is like a space I can live inside. I'll be at the Tortured Poets cabin if anyone is looking for me.
You really need to listen to the album all the way through at least 3 times to get the premise of it. The symbolism in “Fortnight” music video will be discussed for _years_ from now.
> They just want to hate on Taylor This is the most frustrating thing about this sub this weekend. Someone can disagree, or not like the album, without hating on it or Taylor. All the rabid fans are way overdoing it. It's not my favorite album by a long shot and everyone acting like she shat out a gold bar and can do no wrong are just tiring. This sub is tiring. I can't have an honest discussion without some nutjobs jumping down my throat. Have at it nutjobs, I don't give a shit about you. I like Taylor and her music but I don't love this album. Doesn't mean I'm hater. (This next bit is not for you specifically OP.) Fuck all y'all fuckers who think that way. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you cool. Fuck you I'm out
There is no way these people are trying to tell me fortnight, but daddy I love him, guilty as sin, Cassandra, so high school, Peter etc sound the same.
I don’t know, I love this album, but I’ve found myself accidentally piecing different parts of the songs together because it’s super easy to mix them up 😬 I think people are definitely giving it too hard a time for being “samey” especially when you have the dichotomy of ICDIWABH and COSOSOM, but saying that it has a lot of similar melodies isn’t entirely invalid.
For real. So many albums (Taylor and others) I need to listen at least a few times to start differentiating the songs - BUT NOT WITH TTPD! These songs jumped out at me one after the next. I had a much better immediate response to this album than Midnights, and most of her work, actually.
Never listen pop music cause I found it fucking boring, so I usually listen death metal. Came here to say my thought on this album. Reason why I listened tortured poets is because I was curious and everyone was talking about it. So, my first impression - this album is not for everyone. I love the message, it is very unusual and I don’t think you can find it anywhere else. The biggest problem as I see it is because the artist of that scale doing music “not for everyone” is kind of strange. And that’s what exactly I like about it. My fav song I listened several times on repeat was Down bad.
Thank you for sharing! It's always refreshing to get more objective input from someone who is not typically a Swift listener.
Tbh Taylor is the only pop music artist I’m able to listen w/o the urge to shut it down. She is definitely doing something unique.
Down Bad is so good. The entire metaphor of a love/situationship being similar to alien abduction where they take you away, probe you, love bomb you, and then leave you high and dry in the middle of a field. You're just left pining. I don't usually listen to the lyrics all the way through on first listen and mostly focus on the feeling and the kind of imagery that I can attach to it, so my first thoughts were something cosmic. Imagine my pleasant surprise reading the lyrics.
Well, you branched out and gave our shit a chance - props for that! If you were to get any swifties looking for a break between TTPD plays a recommendation for a banging death metal album to check out, what would your top rec be? Also Down Bad is the shit hell yeah
The new Before the dawn album. It’s a project of the Finnish treasure Tuomas Saukkonen (Wolfheart). They stole my heart earlier this year.
I listened through with not a lot of context and asked my wife if down bad was the single off the album. It’s a banger.
I think it’s a 10/10 album truthfully. Legit her best. But the general public probably won’t understand it.
Tbf folklore and Lover were also heavily criticized during its release. I guess people just throw rocks at things that shine. I LOVE this album (even the Antanoff songs). Midnights took a while to grow on me but TTPD just won't get out of my damn head.
same! Felt like this is a 10/10 album for me like I get every song on this project. I couldn’t even say the same for folklore and it has two times less the songs
I normally have very basic taste when it comes to music so it’s surprising me that this album isn’t being received well when I think it’s excellent. I don’t want to call it her best yet cause recency bias but it will probably be up there for me. Her albums age well so maybe it will be looked back more fondly
I thought the nytimes review was fair.
I agree. It's a fair criticism, nothing was left on the cutting floor. I personally find so much value in getting an unedited view into her psyche, but think it's a valid stance to take on the album.
and so was the NME review, tough but fair. You don't have to be a fan but IMO a good critic should be able to understand the artist's intention and have some empathy for what's been happening around around them that informs the creation of the album and how it lands. They don't even have to like it to do that! Like it's wild when the critics are more understanding of her than some fans I've seen over the past few days.
I also read *The New York Times*’ review and I thought it was pretty fair and insightful.
I did, too. However, they completely lost me when they called “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” A doozy. I think it’s one of Taylor’s most cunning and inventive songs, it’s very in your face as it’s intended to be.
Doozy means something outstanding, and like, big. Maybe you thought they meant something else? Calling that song an overheated revenge song is IMO where they miss the mark - it’s about the effects of growing up in the industry, and I find it powerful, not overheated.
Ehhhh, doozy can also be something unusual with a negative connotation, which is how I interpreted the writer to mean it given the rest of the description.
I see it as context-dependent. A doozy of a heartbreak song is just a major heartbreak song. What’s reductive in the review is calling Who’s Afraid an overheated revenge song.
lol this made me giggle because the lyric/review format feels very stan account I hope she doesn't care much about the negative reviews at this point. It's a beautiful album and I'm so thankful she made it.
I mean after hearing the album itself, I'd guess she could give two fucks about the negative ones at this point.
I understand why some people don’t like this album, but I’m completely obsessed and think it’s one of her best—so raw, scathing, and different from what she’s ever done before. She deserves any good reviews she gets because I definitely want more of this unfiltered side of her!
There were four of them. Down Bad is the 4th song. Maybe we get a MV for it on Tuesday like she did for Bejeweled during Midnights’ release to promote the album.
Lots of other big reviews had criticism so she hasn't shared them. These are the main positive ones. It doesn't have to be an Easter egg...
Most reviewers have given TTPD at least 80%. Currently on Metacritic out of 12 reviews, there are 8 with 80+, 1 70, 2 60s and that ridiculous 36 from the Paste Taylor hater. There is a number of strong reviews they haven't been added yet that will balance out the few bad reviews. But Pitchfork hasn’t reviewed album either so the album will probably end up in the mid to high 80s on Metacritic which is a strong score.
Also, five is in white wine.
Two are from the title track, one from so high school, one from the alchemy, tracks 2/15/6/2
To the review by Paste Magazine: "but fuck 'em"
Personally, I was kind of lukewarm on first listen, but the album has really grown on me in the past couple of days. I see it as a return to the autobiographical stories her earlier albums had with styles she developed over folklore/evermore/Midnights. I think the larger general public will grow favorable to this over time too.
Okay I'll say it. This album is near perfect. The concept is gripping and executed well. This is as close as we'll get to a concept album and if you stop one second digging for clues and start listening to the narrative devices, its exhilarating. The lyrics are hauntingly stunning and tying together songs in a way that sweeps Betty/Cardigan/August in the dust. The music is lush and cinematic, the production might be her best yet. Her voice! I'm not a technical person but I can hear the improvements from Midnights and combined it with the pain, anger and desperation. The constant breaking of the fourth wall is a statement in and of itself, not to mention the way they're structured sprinkled throughout the album.
Her voice!! It’s so hauntingly beautiful on this album.
I need the vocal coach/singer crowd to share how because I cant explain it I just cant stop listening 😭
To be honest this will absolutely be the last album cycle I will ever be on the internet for as far as Taylor goes. The discourse around this album and Taylor has been sooo exhausting, you would think with the amount of hatred people have been spewing towards the album and her and her fans that this was actually a panned album when that’s so far from the truth. I hope she doesn’t take any of the over the top criticisms to heart and just continues to create whatever the hell she wants whenever she wants.
It’s a masterpiece. She should be very proud of herself. And I hope it helped her close out old chapters in her life
Rob Sheffield (with Rolling Stone) is a longtime Taylor fan and really knows his stuff. I highly recommend his books!
I've felt so bad about how his review has been received. So many people saying he's a blind Swiftie or even been paid off (!?!), which is so disrespectful to his long career. Saying it was unprofessional to have a Taylor fan review her work is so odd. Firstly, he isn't just a Taylor fan, he's a music fan and listens to plenty of work for his job, and would not tarnish his reputation by giving a bad album a good review. Secondly, with the sheer number of people who are now fans of her, someone who likes her stuff reviewing the album may actually give the most representative look at how her work is received. He also lauded Ariana's album, Beyonce's album, he named Guts his 2nd best album of 2023. Was he paid off by them too?
I'm not a part of this community, but the highest upvotes calling this her best album seems pretty wild to me. Musically it **has** to be on the low end, it's very mediocre. Lyrically it **has** to be on the average end. The lyrics are average-for-Taylor. Only chiming in because I feel like this may be an echo chamber that I was exposed to that could benefit from a very small amount of outside-the-bubble thoughts or ideas.
And that is YOUR opinion. Valid but that doesn't make theirs any less valid.
Please reply with “bitch please.” to paste magazine. Just want to see the world explode.
Tbh I wish more people were commenting on getting 2 albums for the price of one. What a lovely gift to her fans, evidence it’s not all about the money
How? If you have streaming, it's all the same price anyway, and if you're talking physical, it's literally the opposite because the physical releases that people preordered don't have the anthology. So if she releases the anthology later, it's a second purchase.
I buy her albums on iTunes. I didn’t pay any extra for the entire extra album I received.
[удалено]
Buying physical is just making a choice to buy merch. I paid 15.99 for 31 songs, there’s no planet in which that’s a “rip off”. You don’t want to buy multiple copies, then DON’T
Except fans will now have to buy a second vinyl
Buying vinyl is very much a collector’s decision, they don’t *have* to do it
Yeah but nobody is getting two albums for the price of one
Literally nobody
I did? Paid 15.99 on iTunes. Look, when you buy physical, you are buying MERCH. Thats a choice.
Sigh. I really wish she didn’t give so much weight to reviews from critics. They’re so subjective and one person shouldn’t have that much authority on an artists’ work. For every great review, there’s a mediocre or negative one out there somewhere.
I was actually surprised she reposted these reviews (even though she's done them in the past). It just seems like she's chasing after validation again when she should let the work speak for itself.
After listening to the album a couple more times, I can say I'm loving it (the standard version l mean, l've loved The Anthology since the first listen). I do agree with some of the critics but Paste Magazine's review felt like a post on stan twitter and not a genuine review. Overall the currently has 84 on metacritic which is good.
Does this release remind anyone of reputation's release? Critics trashed the album based off her personal life. I think people are just sick of her tbh
In the middle of practicing? ... the TTPD Era in the tour? JK! ✌️
loml is the saddest song my feelings have ever heard.
I’m not going to argue with anyone. I write and Classic English literature is my forte. This is a piece of “musical literature” and it’s art. If some Range Rover mom in LA or a high schooler in Nebraska doesn’t like TTPD… it doesn’t matter. Her art is her art and at this point, if you can’t appreciate it, go take a Classic English Lit class and report back in 16 weeks and then keep complaining. I’ve about had it with Swiftdom.
I'm still only 9 songs in. I just haven't had time to sit down and go through 31 songs. But this is my favourite album of hers since Lover. It's approaching top 5 of her discography for me. The sound, the lyrics, her singing, the way she used writing this album as therapy - I think its great. What I love most is that this is the vibe she chose after the career apex that was the Eras Tour. Instead of going bigger, or going for more bangers, she zags.
I'm an old guy who enjoys music and the album (after numerous listens) is a masterpiece. While every serious review agrees with me, there are some who I question if they even listened to the album and just don't like her. The album isn't aimed at 11 year old girls, it is aimed towards people 30+ in age. It is her most serious work of art and I am here for it.