poll Midnights is one year old today. Thoughts on it now?

[Breakdown]

I don't like it, I don't use it.

One of her very worst records. 

A major step down from Folkmore.

A joke in comparison to 1989 and Reputation.

I only use Karma and Midnight Rain, though not often anymore).

I mean it has some bright moments emotionally like: Bigger Than the Whole Sky, but it's just not really sonically appealing, and I am someone who loves ballads.

 

Would've Could've Should've, Maroon are cute but not great like a lot of her previous album tracks, although I do like these songs.

 

The Great War is good, but I don't find myself wanting to listen to it again, but it's definitely in the Top 5 of this album.

 

Snow on the Beach is a disappointment, it has her worst Track 5 which is an unlistenable mess, Vigilante **** is unlistenable garbage that blue haired leftists who scream "I hate all men" would call a masterpiece.

 

Question, Labyrinth, Sweet Nothing, Mastermind, no one needs these songs, they aren't on the same level as most of her previous material, they feel irrelevant, forgettable and partially unlistenable.

 

Bejeweled is ok but not needed, Lavender Haze is a great opener but not single material (I guess for this album's standards it is).

 

Anti-Hero was cute but radio overplayed it so much, I don't know when I will want to willingly hear it again. Hits Different is a bop, but of course its quality is not comparable to 1989/Reputa/Red pop songs.

 

Overall it's bloated, lackluster production, lack of good melodies and her most overrated project to date. I don't hate it, but I'm not gonna pretend like it's some sort of masterpiece. Cut down the fat and it would be a cute record, but again nothing too special.

 

1. Lavender Haze

2. Maroon

3. Anti-Hero

4. Bejeweled

5. Midnight Rain

6. Karma

7. Paris

8. The Great War

9. Would've Could've Should've

10. Bigger Than the Whole Sky

11. Dear Reader

Bonus

12. You're Losing Me

13. Hits Different

Edited October 21, 2023 by Breakdown

[PoisonedIvy]

26 minutes ago, Love Again said:

I think part of the reason why it was so negatively received was because of the speculation that it was gonna be a 70s rock sound and that it was gonna be different from what people expected. I know Taylor herself never has said anything about the sound before it got released nor did insiders iirc, but because of the imagery (resembling Joni Mitchell) a lot of people expected an album in the style of Blue, surf rock, etc, you get the gist.

Makes sense, and now when we actually do get that sound from her she will have wasted this imagery  So she’ll have to come up with something new  

[AxelFox]

I only really like Would, Could've, Should've and Maroon. And there's a couple other tolerable tracks

 

Definitely one of her weakest efforts

 

I can't believe people really forced themselves into thinking this is a better pop album than 1989

[Haschwalth]

im among the ones who switched like a ph@ggot. panned it like crazy when it leaked then ended up loving like half of the album (lavender haze, anti hero, yoyok, midnight rain, question, vigilante 💩, bejeweled, labyrinth, karma (even the remix), wcs & you're losing me). i still LOATHE moron tho i cannot hear what other ppl r hearing in it

[burninredhot]

It has some gems but also it belongs to the bottom tier in her discography. I do feel that some tracks were rushed. Just comparing the deep cuts on Lover to that of Midnights tells you which album was more well thought out overall (ignoring the single choices on Lover )

 

My Top 5 on Midnights:

Would've Could've Should've

High Infidelity 

Maroon

Hits Different

Dear Reader

Edited October 21, 2023 by burninredhot

[PoisonedIvy]

11 minutes ago, AxelFox said:

 

 

I can't believe people really forced themselves into thinking this is a better pop album than 1989

For me, 1989 is so low in her discography. As a stan it just doesn’t have anything I actually enjoy her for? The songs are vague instead of specific and detail oriented. The bridges either don’t exist or are just one or two repeated lines. And there’s almost NO connecting thread/theme for all the songs on the album other than “I make pop music now!”
 

Not to mention the DUDS like Welcome to New York, How You Get the Girl, and Bad Blood and Shake It Off just being pretty weak songs in her discography (even if they are GREAT as pop radio singles, they drag down the quality of the album itself) and as much as I love I Know Places, it and This Love just don’t really add much to the record (This Love TV is pretty good but nothing can save the weak writing of the chorus) 
 

If you trim the fat of Midnights you’re left with a pretty damn good 11-13 track pop album. You trim the fat of 1989 and you’re left with like a 7 song EP.

 

Edited October 21, 2023 by PoisonedIvy

[Cruel Summer]

2 minutes ago, AxelFox said:

I can't believe people really forced themselves into thinking this is a better pop album than 1989

1989 is excellent but its lyrics are intentionally less personal, less nuanced, more controlled. Some of us in other threads have discussed how that ends up making 1989 feel just a little bit more faceless than Midnights, less honest and direct. She was seeking a particular sound and vibe on 1989 in the pursuit of a cohesive and successful album - and she absolutely found that, but whether it’s better than something more lyrically raw and honest is up in the air, up to the listener.

[PoisonedIvy]

8 minutes ago, burninredhot said:

It has some gems but also it belongs to the bottom tier in her discography. I do feel that some tracks were rushed. Just comparing the deep cuts on Lover to that of Midnights tells you which album was more well thought out overall (ignoring the single choices on Lover )

Lover has like 3 songs that are genuinely

good enough to stand up in her discography, let’s be so serious right now  DBATC, Cornelia St, and Cruel Summer. (And even then I don’t particularly think any of these 3 could make a strong enough case to be in her top 20 songs ever.)

 

And no deep cut on Lover is touching YOYOK, The Great War, Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve in my opinion 

 

I like reading everyone’s opinions here though, even the ones I might disagree with  

[chiliam]

Out of all her 4 pure pop albums.

I prefer the night time albums rep & mid more than the daytime albums lover & 1989

[cruelhprince]

you had to be there

pop perfection

[rebeltwat]

Her 5th best album to me after evermore, Red, folklore and 1989. Despite not having many standout “wow” moments on the album, it’s consistently good and doesn’t deserve the lashings I continue to see it receiving. 

 

[Just a Gay on ATRL]

1989

Reputation

Folklore

Speak Now

Red

Evermore

Fearless

Midnights

Lover

Taylor Swift

 

It's cute 

[Folklore89sm]

My opinion on Midnights is exactly the same as it was on first listen. My dislike of this album is accentuated by the fact that it came after career highs folklore & evermore. Following those up with MIDnights is embarrassing. Lavender Haze, Maroon, and Anti-hero are the three songs that have stood out as not bad to me. Sweet Nothing is acceptable but not very interesting.

 

Question sucks. It’s not just one of her worst songs, it’s one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. Noise pollution is putting it kindly. Awful, awful hook.

 

“Karma is a cat” is a joke. Vigilante Shït is horrendous. Labyrinth is fine but a boring slog. “You know how scared I am of elevators”  is a stupid line. SOTB is just so meh. The newer version is better but it’s still so messily written. YOKO ONO is such an overrated song. There isn’t even a chorus and the writing in the verses is so directionless and unimpactful. The instrumental build up to nothing is another unsurprising disappointment. Midnight Rain is too simplistic to pack a punch. Mastermind is just weird and the part about him smiling at the end is as corny as the applause in the last chorus of Question-able. 
 

If MIDnights came after Loser I’d be less harsh about it but among the 13 songs is a body of work that just isn’t good enough at all and is a waste of her time. It’s successful though so get that coin I guess.

[Terylee]

It seems I like it more than most people.

[Antikythera]

I'm proud to say I have never listened to it and pretend to stay that way.

 

For me is one more of the 500 albums Taylor release every other week, it is all mashed up like when Ariana releases 50 albums in a year.

 

I don't feel it make a difference in my life not having heard it, no one ever brings it up in conversations, even like pop music, I never feel like I lost something for not hearing.

 

Truth is I never heard a full Taylor album, maybe someday.

 

But I read a lot of threads about her, cause u guys seems so fascinated by her. I hope sometime soon we can have she taking a hiatus, cause I don't consume her work, but I feel her image is so saturated, for me anyway.

[evermore.]

Midnights is very underrated. Labyrinth and Dear Reader are some of her best songs 

[PoisonedIvy]

The hate for the “Karma is a cat line” is so overblown when it’s basically the same kind of whimsical lyric that The Beatles would always write into their music  

[PoisonedIvy]

7 minutes ago, Antikythera said:

I'm proud to say I have never listened to it and pretend to stay that way.

 

For me is one more of the 500 albums Taylor release every other week, it is all mashed up like when Ariana releases 50 albums in a year.

 

I don't feel it make a difference in my life not having heard it, no one ever brings it up in conversations, even like pop music, I never feel like I lost something for not hearing.

 

Truth is I never heard a full Taylor album, maybe someday.

 

But I read a lot of threads about her, cause u guys seems so fascinated by her. I hope sometime soon we can have she taking a hiatus, cause I don't consume her work, but I feel her image is so saturated, for me anyway.

You’re gonna have a great time exploring her catalogue when that day comes. She’s got quality, variety, and stories that are going to keep you captivated. But no rush at all.  

[AxelFox]

10 minutes ago, PoisonedIvy said:

For me, 1989 is so low in her discography. As a stan it just doesn’t have anything I actually enjoy her for? The songs are vague instead of specific and detail oriented. The bridges either don’t exist or are just one or two repeated lines. And there’s almost NO connecting thread/theme for all the songs on the album other than “I make pop music now!”
 

Not to mention the DUDS like Welcome to New York, How You Get the Girl, and Bad Blood and Shake It Off just being pretty weak songs in her discography (even if they are GREAT as pop radio singles, they drag down the quality of the album itself) and as much as I love I Know Places, it and This Love just don’t really add much to the record (This Love TV is pretty good but nothing can save the weak writing of the chorus) 
 

If you trim the fat of Midnights you’re left with a pretty damn good 11-13 track pop album. You trim the fat of 1989 and you’re left with like a 7 song EP.

 

 

9 minutes ago, Cruel Summer said:

1989 is excellent but its lyrics are intentionally less personal, less nuanced, more controlled. Some of us in other threads have discussed how that ends up making 1989 feel just a little bit more faceless than Midnights, less honest and direct. She was seeking a particular sound and vibe on 1989 in the pursuit of a cohesive and successful album - and she absolutely found that, but whether it’s better than something more lyrically raw and honest is up in the air, up to the listener.

I mean, fair enough points and I definitely understand that we all look for different things in a record; especially from somebody we are a huge fan of. 

 

But as somebody from the outside looking in to me 1989 feels like a lot more thought out and better executed as a complete body of work. Will not disagree on the lyrics being more personal and profound on Midnights, but I also don't think the lyrics on 1989 are that much worse in comparison for it to be a detrimental factor in the overall quality. Especially since 1989 is a lot stronger in everything else: better melodies, better sequencing and flow and just overall more memorable and standout tracks. 

 

There's a couple duds yes, namely SIO and Bad blood but outside of those it's consistently great. HYGTG is an absolute ear-worm and I never really understood the hate for Welcome To New York. I think it's a great opener for the album, both sound wise and theme wise representing the feeling of excitement and adventure of going to a new place, adventures she would sing about throughout the rest of the album. 

 

I deleted SIO and Bad Blood off the tracklist and put New Romantics in BB's spot. It's one of my favorite pop albums of the 2010s decade! 

[Solaria]

29 minutes ago, PoisonedIvy said:

For me, 1989 is so low in her discography. As a stan it just doesn’t have anything I actually enjoy her for? The songs are vague instead of specific and detail oriented. The bridges either don’t exist or are just one or two repeated lines. And there’s almost NO connecting thread/theme for all the songs on the album other than “I make pop music now!”
 

Not to mention the DUDS like Welcome to New York, How You Get the Girl, and Bad Blood and Shake It Off just being pretty weak songs in her discography (even if they are GREAT as pop radio singles, they drag down the quality of the album itself) and as much as I love I Know Places, it and This Love just don’t really add much to the record (This Love TV is pretty good but nothing can save the weak writing of the chorus) 
 

If you trim the fat of Midnights you’re left with a pretty damn good 11-13 track pop album. You trim the fat of 1989 and you’re left with like a 7 song EP.

 

It just depends on what you value in an album/song. I get that Swifties might have 1989 lower in their ranking due it being more ubiquitous in its lyrics but it makes sense why non Swifties would have it higher in their ranking considering it’s a fantastic pop record and has aged exceptionally well

[Red Velvet]

Its a good album with some asbolute gems.  

Anti-hero

Snow on the Beach

You're on your own kid

Maroon 

Mastermind

Paris

[Antikythera]

7 minutes ago, PoisonedIvy said:

You’re gonna have a great time exploring her catalogue when that day comes. She’s got quality, variety, and stories that are going to keep you captivated. But no rush at all.  

I don't know, maybe. Thing is I'm used to good lyrics, like Jewel, Fiona Apple or even Alanis. I just cant with stuff like "karma is a cat" lol

Edited October 21, 2023 by Antikythera

[Yoko]

i only use the slower tracks i.e labyrinth, maroon & SOTB but it’s still a much better album than reputation and lover. In general her synth-pop work is kind of mid asf though 

[Badgalbriel]

It's a great album. There are only a few bad songs in it. The rest is pretty solid. 

[Tusk]

It’s my favorite pop album of hers. It’s either second or third behind evermore. Sometimes I like folklore more… sometimes midnights.

 

Top 5 songs 

-Labyrinth

-Maroon

-YOYOK

-The Great War

-High Infidelity  

Edited October 21, 2023 by Tusk