album Taylor Swift - 'THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT'

[NEX]

I think I'm finally ready to share my thoughts about the Side A of the album now that the dust settled a little.

 

Taylor's greatest strength right from the start of her career was her ability to craft a strong, interesting and beautiful vocal melody to any song she wrote - no matter the tempo. Her lyrics are obviously also great and she has some of the most well written pop songs ever in her discog, but there were many lyrical misses in her music scattered throughout her career. Yet those songs still worked well mainly because they were catchy and the vocal melodies were strong. Production always played support role to her two greatest strengths and pretty much always complimented or enhanced those two talents. 

 

Fast forward to TTPD. After several careful listens in a row I'm struggling to find and connect to those vocal melodies that I've grown to expect from a Taylor Swift album. The majority of the songs barely reach that 4 star level that aren't bad, but at the same time aren't the 5 star melodies that I'm used to with her. I understand that the album was supposed to be more lyrics oriented, but this is not poetry, this is still music. If  those lyrics aren't supported by interesting melodies they don't land the same way, and end up sounding uninteresting. The instrumental melodies are also lacking in quality. loml is a well written song lyrically but that piano melody is very boring (and we already heard something similar on the Evermore title track)

 

Now production. Yes, we are all tired of Jack, and Midnights felt like the last straw, but the production on Midnights still complimented most of the songs (bar a few). The productions on this album do largely nothing positive for the songs, and often either distract or outright drag them down. This applies to both Jack and Aaron's produced tracks on the main album. A lot of the songs could have been so much better with different production. A lot of songs are desperately calling for real drums and guitars to highlight that emotion that she's conveying with her voice and words. Instead we get pastel synths, muted pianos and those weird sparkles that are ever-present and add nothing. 

 

Another thing that kept bugging me on many tracks is their lengths: a good chunk of them didn't know when to end. I don't mind long songs at all, but they need to be able to justify their lengths. The title track, Down Bad, But Daddy, and Who's Afraid should have been 30% shorter for much greater results. Those extended lengths add absolutely nothing and instead take away points. Even "My Boy", which is pretty short seems to drag and could have been much shorter. 

 

Fortnight is easily the best song on the main album. Such a well executed, catchy (even addictive!) pop song. This will be a mega smasha with very long legs. Almost perfect on every level. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart is such a fun and bonkers song, and could be another big hit for her. My only issue with it is the "Masterminded" production that I can hear underneath all the fun parts. Florida sounds fresh compared to most of the rest, and loml is definitely a grower. I Can Fix Him and Guilty as Sin are also the highlights. Looking forward to exploring the Athology side properly, since it sounded better on my first and only listen of it so far. But my impression of the main album so far has been rather midling. I'm not even sure if it's better than the Mixtape at this point. I'll wait a few weeks before attempting the album ranking and maybe some of the songs will finally grow on me.

 

[Gladiator]

37 minutes ago, Bad_vocal_technique said:

Listening to the anthology for the first time now. 
I know this has probably been addressed already but wtf at the Olvia Rodrigo concept being same of the 'Get him back' song.

 

she obviously did not listen to Olivia's Album 

maybe she did

 

[liam13]

2 minutes ago, Prismee said:

  Hide contents

finger me while your friends play grand theft auto

 

Spoiler

it's true, swear, three fingers

 

[Reiner Braun]

But daddy i love him is kinda gay

Let me change some lyrics and direct a music video in my head 

[Starchild]

"It's doing better on AM than Spotify why?": even though Spotify is stil high af and is as stable as midnights  

and some even acting like this album is "just for swifties " when you can clearly see the numbers   Some of you are such a headache during album release week, how much more do you want her to do?

Edited April 24 by Starchild

[Venice B]

GUILTY AS SIN FINALLY CLICKED

 

[vale9001]

Just now, Starchild said:

"It's doing better on AM than Spotify why?": even though Spotify is stil high af  

and some even acting like this album is "just for swifties " when you can clearly see the numbers 

 

yeah i can believe at what i read sometimes 

[chiliam]

You guys misunderstanding But Daddy i love him

Its the song she wrote in that frustration moment and its a valid feeling that im happy she shared it with us.

She just tell it like it is, its not her best moment, she knew that but thats how she feel. She thinks he is not that bad, she can change him... blah blah blah. Its a surprised for you but in real life you dont just cut connection with someone who say problematic stuff right away. And you dont have to be responsible for other people's problematic behaviour, not your friends, not your family members...

And the song is campy from the title. Its dramatic, its beautiful.

 

Never make it right

Never make it clear

Indeed

Edited April 24 by chiliam

[chiliam]

1 hour ago, Safe&Sound said:

Are we surprised on SEA Swifties?

They only use her bops, like Blank Space, Cruel Summer and that same midtempo romantic ballad, like Lover, Perfect 

No one even stood during folklore set in my section

Dont underestimated us, folklore and red is huge over here.

Surely the poppier albums are more popular in the GP but the fans do love all her albums and theres a lot of us.

[Twilish]

Woo lord the crack she put in getyoubacks bridge. CLASSICS only 

 

[wastedpotential]

11 minutes ago, Starchild said:

"It's doing better on AM than Spotify why?": even though Spotify is stil high af and is as stable as midnights  

and some even acting like this album is "just for swifties " when you can clearly see the numbers   Some of you are such a headache during album release week, how much more do you want her to do?

People are clearly just looking at chart positions on Spotify not realizing that if this had been released like six months ago she'd still have the top 20 totally locked up since autoplay has boosted the streams of all the top non-Taylor hits 

 

I swear Swifties used to be better at reading comprehension 

[wastedpotential]

12 minutes ago, Venice B said:

GUILTY AS SIN FINALLY CLICKED

 

Oh what a blessed experience this must be 

[kayliah]

21 minutes ago, NEX said:

I think I'm finally ready to share my thoughts about the Side A of the album now that the dust settled a little.

 

Taylor's greatest strength right from the start of her career was her ability to craft a strong, interesting and beautiful vocal melody to any song she wrote - no matter the tempo. Her lyrics are obviously also great and she has some of the most well written pop songs ever in her discog, but there were many lyrical misses in her music scattered throughout her career. Yet those songs still worked well mainly because they were catchy and the vocal melodies were strong. Production always played support role to her two greatest strengths and pretty much always complimented or enhanced those two talents. 

 

Fast forward to TTPD. After several careful listens in a row I'm struggling to find and connect to those vocal melodies that I've grown to expect from a Taylor Swift album. The majority of the songs barely reach that 4 star level that aren't bad, but at the same time aren't the 5 star melodies that I'm used to with her. I understand that the album was supposed to be more lyrics oriented, but this is not poetry, this is still music. If  those lyrics aren't supported by interesting melodies they don't land the same way, and end up sounding uninteresting. The instrumental melodies are also lacking in quality. loml is a well written song lyrically but that piano melody is very boring (and we already heard something similar on the Evermore title track)

 

Now production. Yes, we are all tired of Jack, and Midnights felt like the last straw, but the production on Midnights still complimented most of the songs (bar a few). The productions on this album do largely nothing positive for the songs, and often either distract or outright drag them down. This applies to both Jack and Aaron's produced tracks on the main album. A lot of the songs could have been so much better with different production. A lot of songs are desperately calling for real drums and guitars to highlight that emotion that she's conveying with her voice and words. Instead we get pastel synths, muted pianos and those weird sparkles that are ever-present and add nothing. 

 

Another thing that kept bugging me on many tracks is their lengths: a good chunk of them didn't know when to end. I don't mind long songs at all, but they need to be able to justify their lengths. The title track, Down Bad, But Daddy, and Who's Afraid should have been 30% shorter for much greater results. Those extended lengths add absolutely nothing and instead take away points. Even "My Boy", which is pretty short seems to drag and could have been much shorter. 

 

Fortnight is easily the best song on the main album. Such a well executed, catchy (even addictive!) pop song. This will be a mega smasha with very long legs. Almost perfect on every level. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart is such a fun and bonkers song, and could be another big hit for her. My only issue with it is the "Masterminded" production that I can hear underneath all the fun parts. Florida sounds fresh compared to most of the rest, and loml is definitely a grower. I Can Fix Him and Guilty as Sin are also the highlights. Looking forward to exploring the Athology side properly, since it sounded better on my first and only listen of it so far. But my impression of the main album so far has been rather midling. I'm not even sure if it's better than the Mixtape at this point. I'll wait a few weeks before attempting the album ranking and maybe some of the songs will finally grow on me.

 

All the songs would have benefitted from shorter lengths even My boy which is a pop hit waiting to happen and fortnight too could have used a shorter length. The long songs could have been cut shorter there are no change in instrumentation or something that adds to those long songs. Also after the fans and the curious gp made the album a smash for the first few days the album is not clicking with the GP at all. A lot of the commentary has been too much songs,too long, too boring. It is what it is. Hope the tour helps the album on the charts. Taylor's very smart though releasing another album and making money. The album is too depressing though.

[chiliam]

23 minutes ago, liam13 said:

  Hide contents

it's true, swear, three fingers

 

When i watch the tik tok about that boy scout line. I thought they were joking but then a quick search on urban dictionary and i was shocked lol. Miss girl is really taking it.

[NoOneDiesFromLove]

So people ask for "different" when it comes to Taylor but the moment they get something that's "slightly different" people start shitting on it too? I really don't get it. I was able to connect with TTPD instantly, whereas with Midnights… 

This actually feels authentic to Taylor and these kind of songs is where she shines her most  her magnum opus

[RobynYoBank]

3 minutes ago, NoOneDiesFromLove said:

So people ask for "different" when it comes to Taylor but the moment they get something that's "slightly different" people start shitting on it too? I really don't get it. I was able to connect with TTPD instantly, whereas with Midnights… 

This actually feels authentic to Taylor and these kind of songs is where she shines her most  her magnum opus

It comes with the territory of being the biggest artist of all time

[kayliah]

3 minutes ago, NoOneDiesFromLove said:

So people ask for "different" when it comes to Taylor but the moment they get something that's "slightly different" people start shitting on it too? I really don't get it. I was able to connect with TTPD instantly, whereas with Midnights… 

This actually feels authentic to Taylor and these kind of songs is where she shines her most  her magnum opus

Opposite actually i connected with Midnights instantly and loved the production. AOTY for a reason.

[Gladiator]

26 minutes ago, Starchild said:

some even acting like this album is "just for swifties " when you can clearly see the numbers

I'm in a Swiftie Discord and the amount of people who say that and believe it wholeheartedly absolutely boggles my mind. 

[RobynYoBank]

It's crazy, as flat as this album can come off on first listen, it's so rich. So many more songs with single potential than Midnights too.

[liam13]

5 minutes ago, chiliam said:

When i watch the tik tok about that boy scout line. I thought they were joking but then a quick search on urban dictionary and i was shocked lol. Miss girl is really taking it.

she is re-living the i'll do anything you say if you say it with your hand fingers

good for ha, good for ha

[Squall]

The fact UK charts will ignore half of the album's streams  

[Klein]

3 minutes ago, Squall said:

The fact UK charts will ignore half of the album's streams  

? Why?

[vale9001]

21 minutes ago, kayliah said:

All the songs would have benefitted from shorter lengths even My boy which is a pop hit waiting to happen and fortnight too could have used a shorter length. The long songs could have been cut shorter there are no change in instrumentation or something that adds to those long songs. Also after the fans and the curious gp made the album a smash for the first few days the album is not clicking with the GP at all. A lot of the commentary has been too much songs,too long, too boring. It is what it is. Hope the tour helps the album on the charts. Taylor's very smart though releasing another album and making money. The album is too depressing though.

 

 

Just tell you don't like It cause everything Is showing differently from this. 

[Squall]

1 minute ago, Klein said:

? Why?

They only count the 16 most streamed songs, other songs are simply ignored  I mean, not only this is stupid but they also ignore the fact more songs = lower average of streams

[Magickarp]

1 hour ago, NEX said:

If  those lyrics aren't supported by interesting melodies they don't land the same way, and end up sounding uninteresting. loml is a well written song lyrically but that piano melody is very boring (and we already heard something similar on the Evermore title track)

 

a good chunk of them didn't know when to end. I don't mind long songs at all, but they need to be able to justify their lengths.

Ur right, it was something i only noticed after i relistened to Fearless & Speak Now, & realised her melodies are much stronger there. TTPD is carried by the lyrics. Your LOML example is the best one. Lyrically a T10 discog, but puts me to sleep. It goes nowhere melodically, like she's reading a poem over a beat. Same thing could be said for Smallest Man pre-bridge. I love ha, but only cuz everything bridge onwards is a career highlight.

 

Another thing i noticed going back to SN, is that she doesn't really have as much "emotion" in her vocal delivery. It's likely a purposeful choice to sing more emotionally muted, to fit the MID soundscape, cuz there are songs like Afraid, Daddy, Dog where u can feel the emotion. But unfortunately for most of TTPD she's clearly holding back. That muted delivery AND melodies, I think, is where the GP is getting the "It all sounds the same" criticism from. I don't read any critic who says the lyrics are bad  but the melody I can at least understand.

 

But Daddy I Love Him is definitely an outlier. It has SN melody & emotion. I don't agree with u saying it & Who's Afraid need to be shortened tho  but i do agree some songs do not know when to end. 

 

1 hour ago, NEX said:

A lot of songs are desperately calling for real drums and guitars to highlight that emotion that she's conveying with her voice and words. Instead we get pastel synths, muted pianos and those weird sparkles that are ever-present and add nothing. 

Say it LOUDER. Thank god SOME of it comes back in The Anturnoffy, but not as much as i'd like. Nathan needs to ditch BM, & come back.