album Taylor Swift - 'THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT'

[Timeless]

I need this album to be an evil twin of Red. Diverse production and a breakup album like Red, but more cutthroat.

 

Red was too sad and less ruthless (aside from IKWYT, WANEGBT, and maybe All Too Well). Everyone always says that sad Taylor is the best Taylor, but actually angry Taylor is the best Taylor. I need her to use her pen as a weapon again because she hasn't done it since maybe reputation. 

[JasonGosling]

Midnights is actually a good album. The problem with this album is that it resembles a lot of the work she has done before: from 1989, Reputation, and Lovers to the sister albums. As a fan who has been following her from Tim McGraw, I am yearning for something new, something experimental. She's too big to fail now. 

 

I agree that some genres do not look like a good fit for her given what we have known about her for years. But I'd love to see her explore Indie Rock or Alternative Rock. Genres like Shoegaze would suit her, I suppose. I don't mind another Folk album though. There are still subgenres of Folk that she can explore. 

[meredithbenson]

Too big to outright fail, sure. But if she's solely interested in maximizing profits (which she is), then pop is the way to go. I'd also like to see her experiment but I think veering into another genre would yield overall less sales

 

 

[Timeless]

Just now, meredithbenson said:

Too big to outright fail, sure. But if she's solely interested in maximizing profits (which she is), then pop is the way to go. I'd also like to see her experiment but I think veering into another genre would yield overall less sales

 

 

Not necessarily? Mind you, folklore did 846k in its first week which was a surprise folk album. It did only 21k less than Lover (867k) which was a pop album and had tons of promo months prior to release.

[Ruben]

1 hour ago, 1989 said:

I very much reside up Taylor’s ass and have for nearly fifteen years now, and for me Midnights sits at a very comfortable #6 in her discography, right outside her Top 5. 
 

  Hide contents

Also, Question…? is top tier can we STOP disrespecting it 

 

Exactly this. People keep saying that because this isn’t her best album it shouldn’t have won AOTY  it’s not like she was competing with her other albums. A top 6 Taylor album in her discography is still miles better than the offerings of other artists and she rightfully won the awards it warranted. 

[meredithbenson]

Just now, Timeless said:

Not necessarily? Mind you, folklore did 846k in its first week which was a surprise folk album. It did only 21k less than Lover (867k) which was a pop album and had tons of promo months prior to release.

Folklore is closer to soft/indie pop than folk.... like even if it's folk, there's a strong pop influence. Which is not a knock on folklore's artistry, I love that album

[mael]

I was rotting for SOS personally.... hopefully She doesn't submit TTPD for AOTY....

 

[Timeless]

2 minutes ago, meredithbenson said:

Folklore is closer to soft/indie pop than folk.... like even if it's folk, there's a strong pop influence. Which is not a knock on folklore's artistry, I love that album

Critics and literally every music platform says otherwise

[meredithbenson]

1 minute ago, Timeless said:

Critics and literally every music platform says otherwise

girl you really think folklore has no pop influence?

the 1 and tlgad are pop songs... maybe ones like august are pop songs reskinned with a folksier sound. sure the album has a folk aesthetic overall, and i can acknowledge that betty etc are further from pop, but it's not like this was a step into a surprising new genre.

[Mandalore]

1 minute ago, meredithbenson said:

it's not like this was a step into a surprising new genre.

yes it was  folklore literally has no poppy "hooks"

 

you keep lying here it's so fascinating but hugs and love everyone <333 teehee

[Timeless]

4 minutes ago, meredithbenson said:

girl you really think folklore has no pop influence?

the 1 and tlgad are pop songs... maybe ones like august are pop songs reskinned with a folksier sound. sure the album has a folk aesthetic overall, and i can acknowledge that betty etc are further from pop, but it's not like this was a step into a surprising new genre.

3 pop songs and so the entire album is closer to pop than folk? Be serious. Even the 3 songs you mentioned are closer to indie folk than pop

[Mandalore]

1 minute ago, Timeless said:

3 pop songs and so the entire album is closer to pop than folk? Be serious. Even the 3 songs you mentioned are closer to indie folk than pop

imagine calling TLGAD a pop song and expecting to be taken seriously 

Edited February 8 by Mandalore

[folkloreking]

18 minutes ago, mael said:

I was rotting for SOS personally.... hopefully She doesn't submit TTPD for AOTY....

 

She submitted Midnights, 99% expecting not to win… hence why she’s been spending all this time perfecting TTPD. You should be very afraid. 

[Ruben]

Also, Pop literally means Popular. What was popular about 4-minute songs with no catchy hooks Shakesperean lyrics. What was popular in 2020 that resembled or sounded like folklore? 

[Timeless]

 

What if this surprise song combo is a hint that TTPD will have rock songs? 

 

[meredithbenson]

there's no need to be toxic, and saying "everyone on the internet agrees" about something is not convincing. if anything there's disagreement about the genre, it's clear there are pop influences, and i'm not crazy for associating it more with pop.

 

it's not maximalist pop like lover or 1989 but still

 

New Yorker: &nbsp;“Folklore” isn’t a folk record—it feels mostly genre-less, though it drifts toward gauzy, atmospheric pop

WXPN: There’s nothing inherently folk about folklore, either: Swift’s songwriting, though sharp as ever, is purely rooted in pop sensibilities

Pitchfork: classifies at Pop not Folk

[Cleanromantic]

1 hour ago, JasonGosling said:

Midnights is actually a good album. The problem with this album is that it resembles a lot of the work she has done before: from 1989, Reputation, and Lovers to the sister albums. As a fan who has been following her from Tim McGraw, I am yearning for something new, something experimental. She's too big to fail now. 

 

I agree that some genres do not look like a good fit for her given what we have known about her for years. But I'd love to see her explore Indie Rock or Alternative Rock. Genres like Shoegaze would suit her, I suppose. I don't mind another Folk album though. There are still subgenres of Folk that she can explore. 

It's an album reflecting on all of her past work and an amalgamation of all of her past selves. That's literally it's purpose.

[Cleanromantic]

21 minutes ago, meredithbenson said:

there's no need to be toxic, and saying "everyone on the internet agrees" about something is not convincing. if anything there's disagreement about the genre, it's clear there are pop influences, and i'm not crazy for associating it more with pop.

 

it's not maximalist pop like lover or 1989 but still

 

New Yorker: &nbsp;“Folklore” isn’t a folk record—it feels mostly genre-less, though it drifts toward gauzy, atmospheric pop

WXPN: There’s nothing inherently folk about folklore, either: Swift’s songwriting, though sharp as ever, is purely rooted in pop sensibilities

Pitchfork: classifies at Pop not Folk

Taylor's melodies have always had pop sensibilities, but the album is also composed by Aaron and was intended for his own alternative band. To associate the album more with pop is disingenuous because the lyrics and instrumentals are so far away from how she writes when she's doing Pop . Also, let's not act like a lot of people calling it Pop are doing it in bad faith so they could say "all her music sounds the same" and she "never tries something new". It's so far away from the sounds of 1989/ Lover/ Reputation, and we see her adapting its lyrical style to Midnights and both albums still sound nothing alike.

[Arrows]

Folkmore is definitely not pop, but it’s not pure folk either, since the definition of that as a genre is pretty narrow.

 

It’s just alternative. Same genre as Lana, Bon Iver, The National, Phoebe Bridgers, Sufjan Stevens, Beck, Hozier etc.

[Mandalore]

2 minutes ago, Arrows said:

Folkmore is definitely not pop, but it’s not pure folk either, since the definition of that as a genre is pretty narrow.

 

It’s just alternative. Same genre as Lana, Bon Iver, The National, Phoebe Bridgers, Sufjan Stevens, Beck, Hozier etc.

it's definitely alternative imo which in itself is an all-encompassing label. But to insist it's a Pop album is just disingenuous. But let's not be toxic guys for pointing out the obvious teeheee hugs and love everyone <333 

Edited February 8 by Mandalore

[meredithbenson]

Just now, Mandalore said:

it's definitely alternative imo which in itself is an all-encompassing label. But to insist it's a Pop album is just disingenuous. But let's not be toxic guys teeheee hugs and love everyone <333 

why so committed to twisting my words... i never said it's a pop album, i said it's closer to pop than folk

[Mandalore]

1 minute ago, meredithbenson said:

why so committed to twisting my words... i never said it's a pop album, i said it's closer to pop than folk

because you're disingenous  still hugs and love though

[beckyswift]

god the theatrics of this thread…

 

first of all she is nowhere near as hated as she was in 2016. do we need to revisit 2017 where she got dragged for filth after saying she had a great year? 2018 when her cover of september was treated like an act of terrorism? 2019 when ME!th and yntcd made the start of lover an internet punching bag? there are people on here who are clearly falling for the echo chamber. to be quite honest, i don’t think this past week has been any worse than the lashings she was getting in may for the whole ratty healy mess. cruel summer is smashing, it’s her most liked album announcement, the whole line for pre-orders…she’s not anywhere close to pre-folklore.

 

second, the midnights disrespect!! why do we continue to buy into the narrative that no one likes it? it spent its first 50 weeks in the top 10, has had two big hits (one a career smash), has the second highest metacritic score for all her new albums (not counting re-records) and just won aoty…clearly it’s an album that has resonated with a lot of people. i hate being told “even swifties didn’t like MID that much” when i’ve been a swiftie since 2007 and it’s in my top three taylor albums.

 

and MAROON SLANDER!! CLEAN YOUR EARS CLEANSE YOUR SOUL MY GOD 

[kexin]

20 minutes ago, Cleanromantic said:

It's an album reflecting on all of her past work and an amalgamation of all of her past selves. That's literally it's purpose.

This is so overlooked, considering that she was in the process of re-recording while making Midnights. 

[beckyswift]

24 minutes ago, Cleanromantic said:

It's an album reflecting on all of her past work and an amalgamation of all of her past selves. That's literally it's purpose.

exactly. it’s actually such an interesting album when compared to her previous works. every prior taylor album has been a time capsule, a snapshot of what her life looked like while she was writing the album (folkmore is somewhat an exception since they’re largely fictional, but both are deeply inspired by what was happening in her life while writing). midnights is more of a time portal - she’s jumping around the timeline and visiting various memories and moments from her life with a new perspective. 

 

for me, this really expands our perception of who “Taylor Swift the Narrator” is. by going back throughout the timeline of her life, she’s revealing more about herself as both person and artist than she ever has before. 

 

but people hear a synth and immediately overlook the complexity of midnights - i stand by it being her most complex album!