base talk The Tortured Poets Department Review Thread | MC - 76

[Letemtalk]

6 minutes ago, scot954 said:

Is there a cut off date for metacritic reviews ?

I'm not sure if they have an official cut-off, but I know the last melodrama review on metacritic came more than three weeks after the album release.

[ttsmu]

Im sure the OP is waiting for this thread to hit 84 pages to change the title.

[Aribiotch.]

A 36 is definitely a reach. The album isn't that bad, but if I had received death threats for giving my opinion last time, then I too would have gotten my lick back this time and give an even more sh*tty score 

Edited April 19 by Aribiotch.

[DougAF]

It's pretty obvious some publications are trying to get clicks to their page. A 36/100 for this is just ridiculous, especially given the scores paste has given other artists.

 

 

[Alex21kw]

I hope that the mixed reviews (for her standards, since this is still well above the "universal acclaim" threshold) will provide a nice wake up call for the next album to invest more in the "music" itself, rather than focussing on how it can fit certain pieces of the Taylor Swift puzzle. 

 

However the last time that happened we got ME! as a lead single so... 

 

[kimberly]

59 minutes ago, Noodles said:

I know I might sound like a OTH on this site, but I've been listening and knowing ALL the words to most of her discography and was stanning down at some points. And I didn't want to post this in the album thread so the stans could have their own space.

 

But it's just so goddamn frustrating to see her lack of growth and lack of focus, and getting rewarded for it. Like I really tried to give it some space to surprise me and wow me. But everything, every note, every melody, every production choice, is nothing new.mp3   She's in dire need of a quality control department, cause there's a good album somewhere in here. But instead it's just a thesaurus.com sponsored novel that boils down into nothing, that says nothing, that leaves nothing.

 

She's resting on her laurels. She could have been so much more.

this is kinda how I feel. I come across as an OTH, but I'm really a hater of Swifties. I became a fan of Taylor in the Speak Now era (before some Swifties on this site were born, probably) and was mindlessly all-in on her music until folklore.

 

folklore really shifted things. 2020 was a big musical evolution year for me, and Taylor evolving to a new height with me was massive. I was floored.

 

then, it's been downhill for me. evermore, while good, feels like folklore leftovers at best. Taylor's Version albums are cheaply produced, with unacceptable errors in mixing and instrumentation. The vault tracks are mostly mediocre to bad, aside from a couple good ones like "Mr Perfectly Fine" and "Nothing New." Midnights was mostly a bore for me, a 7 out of 10 on a good day, and a 6/10 for the standard version. and TTPD (Standard) felt more like a 5/10 -- the only song I enjoyed actively was Florida, and it wasn't because of Taylor Swift. (haven't listened to the deluxe tracks yet -- I've been told I might like them more.)

 

her Lana Del Rey impression, Jack Antonoff's one note production, and the uninspired lyrical dumps sponsored by thesaurus dot com are getting old, very fast.

 

so yeah, 36 might be harsh, but anything above a 75 is too generous of a rating for this album.

[patapon]

44 minutes ago, kimberly said:

this is kinda how I feel. I come across as an OTH, but I'm really a hater of Swifties. I became a fan of Taylor in the Speak Now era (before some Swifties on this site were born, probably) and was mindlessly all-in on her music until folklore.

 

folklore really shifted things. 2020 was a big musical evolution year for me, and Taylor evolving to a new height with me was massive. I was floored.

 

then, it's been downhill for me. evermore, while good, feels like folklore leftovers at best. Taylor's Version albums are cheaply produced, with unacceptable errors in mixing and instrumentation. The vault tracks are mostly mediocre to bad, aside from a couple good ones like "Mr Perfectly Fine" and "Nothing New." Midnights was mostly a bore for me, a 7 out of 10 on a good day, and a 6/10 for the standard version. and TTPD (Standard) felt more like a 5/10 -- the only song I enjoyed actively was Florida, and it wasn't because of Taylor Swift. (haven't listened to the deluxe tracks yet -- I've been told I might like them more.)

 

her Lana Del Rey impression, Jack Antonoff's one note production, and the uninspired lyrical dumps sponsored by thesaurus dot com are getting old, very fast.

 

so yeah, 36 might be harsh, but anything above a 75 is too generous of a rating for this album.

Same here. I was a casual listener of her since Fearless up until Folklore. And loved some of these albums. Have so much respect for her songwriting capabilities and folklore cemented that. But evermore was a lot of boring leftovers and midnights was another let down. Haven't listened to this yet. Not sure if I will.

Edited April 20 by patapon

[Roberto]

3 hours ago, Virgos Groove said:

That Paste review is lowkey bad journalism, but the same could be said about the endless "instant classic!!1!", "100%", "5 stars!!1!" reviews so... it evens out, I guess!

 

You forgot "her most personal album yet". 

[kwek_kwek]

I think this will end up in high 70s. There are still harsher critics that hasn't reviewed the album. P4K, Slant, and Sputnik will likely give this album a 70 score at best. 

[KevinKDC]

2 hours ago, Mezik said:

The Paste Magazine review seems like the writer just had a personal vendetta against Taylor, and did not want to offer a non-bias opinion. It's fine, but in no way is the album that bad that only a third of it is enjoyable. I understand it's a bit stripped pack and not as catchy as Midnights, but it's definitely not a 38..  

 

 

This is exactly how a lot of people are feeling about the Rolling Stones review; only instead of the vendetta, just kissing ass, because this album is definitely not a 100

[cat1867]

1 hour ago, Alex21kw said:

I hope that the mixed reviews (for her standards, since this is still well above the "universal acclaim" threshold) will provide a nice wake up call for the next album to invest more in the "music" itself, rather than focussing on how it can fit certain pieces of the Taylor Swift puzzle. 

 

However the last time that happened we got ME! as a lead single so... 

 

I don't think Taylor cares about critics anymore.

[PoisonedIvy]

2 minutes ago, cat1867 said:

I don't think Taylor cares about critics anymore.

I don't think she cares about anything but the pen in her right hand and the glass of wine in her left  (and swapping the pen for a pen15 whenever Travis is free)

[Papi Juancho]

[Brikenbur]

2 hours ago, KevinKDC said:

This is exactly how a lot of people are feeling about the Rolling Stones review; only instead of the vendetta, just kissing ass, because this album is definitely not a 100

[Bewitched]

But "Fortnight" unmasks itself quickly as a heady vat of pop nothingness, though it isn't all Swift's fault. "I was a functioning alcoholic, 'til nobody noticed my new aesthetic," she muses, attempting to bridge the gap between a behind-the-scenes life and on-stage performance—only for it to occur while propped up against the most dog-water, uninspired synth arrangement you could possibly imagine. Between producer Jack Antonoff's atrocious backing instrumental and the Y2K-era, teen dramedy echo chamber of a vocal harmony provided by out-of-place guest performer Post Malone, "Fortnight" chokes on the vomit of its own opaqueness. "I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary," Swift muses, and it sounds like satire. This is your songwriter of the century? Open the schools.

 

[Starshine]

The hate bombing on albumoftheyear.  

 

I don't think this album deserves a 100, but that 36 score is just as ridiculous as Sputnik's score of 50 for CC trying to farm engagement. Edgy and probably bald!

[Taylor fanboy]

I remember handling the Midnights review thread, when the score went up, the title was immediately changed without my doing. And now a reverse Warholian expedition.

 

 

 

[Taylor fanboy]

2 hours ago, PoisonedIvy said:

I don't think she cares about anything but the pen in her right hand and the glass of wine in her left  (and swapping the pen for a pen15 whenever Travis is free)

[V$.]

5 hours ago, Park Jinyoung said:

OMG

[V$.]

5 hours ago, Park Jinyoung said:

OMG

[Taylor fanboy]

5 hours ago, 4Real said:

The last time she received a negative (40<) review was in 2017 with reputation

And they RECANTED it, feeling embarrassed.

 

[FailSafe]

I told you @wastedpotential it's all Charlie Puth's fault 

 

[4Real]

8 minutes ago, Taylor fanboy said:

And they RECANTED it, feeling embarrassed.

 

Tell that to metacritic cuz it's still there

[Taylor fanboy]

Just now, 4Real said:

Tell that to metacritic cuz it's still there

Not really a problem,  I just want to defend Taylor's best album, reputation — casual.

 

[velocity]

i don't have a problem with bad reviews but the paste review is so obviously biased it's ridiculous. the disdain for taylor as a person in every paragraph is beyond obvious. the reviewer clearly has a vendetta against her and tried their absolute best to **** on anything they could while avoiding praise like the plague.

 

i think the anthology part is fantastic and there's good songs on the standard version as well. i think the fact that she firmly stayed in her lane so to say and not tried anything new is a valid point of critique. but she still delivered a good body of work and a 36/100 is ridiculous.