celeb news CNN: TTPD unfairly criticized; demands time to be fully appreciated

[Redstreak]

6 hours ago, Devin said:

"maybe the album is just bad, stop forcing it"

– a swifties take on cowboy carter

Stream drop offs seem to agree

[RandomHooker]

Either the cheques have finally cleared or the death threats kicked in

 

 

 

 

 

[Bey'Knight]

3 hours ago, bluebirdsforever said:

Well, yes, but you just tapped into what is inherently wrong with a lot of music criticism these days in the first place.

 

I have no comment on this article itself, but the speed of our news cycle now leaving reviewers no choice but to consume entire albums in the space of a few hours with no sleep to have an article ready for publication by 6am the next morning is absolutely destroying the potential for more genuine nuance in their responses. You can't lambast the culture that has led to Rolling Stone handing out clickbait 100/100 "instant classic" labels to every new album that releases without also lambasting how that same culture is the root of hot-take negativity being posted in place of genuine critique within hours of a 31-song album dropping. It usually takes a few weeks (and sometimes months) before the genuinely insightful and fascinating cultural criticism around new music and films is posted online - and it is usually completely ignored because by that point everyone has already made up their mind about the project and moved onto the next thing.

Yes, "Taylor's music has no depth and isn't hard to digest" bla bla bla, but there is a lot of fascinating lyrical insight hidden in this album about how the biggest pop star on earth views herself and her celebrity - but you have to look past all the low quality Genius screenshots and viral tweets about Charlie Pluth to find it.

True as that may be, every album prior to TTPD was reviewed under the same conditions it was subjected to. The fact that 21 got the MC score as it 2011 and that was as accepted as a critically acclaimed pop album for the time whereas all of Taylor's contemporaries have churned better received bodies of work in the past years says it all. Hell even compared to her annual releases, it doesn't stand to scrutiny.

 

If there's an organic retrospective reception, then that needs to be its own conversation. You can't fast-forward to a favourable consensus. That's disingenuous and shutting down conversation. 

[truthteller]

7 hours ago, OnlyManInTheWorld said:

Swift's new work demands more time to fully absorb. It cannot be assessed in an instant. It's not fast-food. It's a multi-course meal that stipulates the person sit, with undivided attention, and focus on what is before them.

i thought it's an "Instant Classic" per Rolling Stone?

[jonapova]

10 minutes ago, truthteller said:

i thought it's an "Instant Classic" per Rolling Stone?

Right? Instant classic, now we're told it needs time to appreciate it… just because it's Taylor we don't need to lie and say it's a good album. It's not. 

[bluebirdsforever]

34 minutes ago, Bey'Knight said:

True as that may be, every album prior to TTPD was reviewed under the same conditions it was subjected to. The fact that 21 got the MC score as it 2011 and that was as accepted as a critically acclaimed pop album for the time whereas all of Taylor's contemporaries have churned better received bodies of work in the past years says it all. Hell even compared to her annual releases, it doesn't stand to scrutiny.

 

If there's an organic retrospective reception, then that needs to be its own conversation. You can't fast-forward to a favourable consensus. That's disingenuous and shutting down conversation. 

I agree with all of this, but it is also important to note that albums are not reviewed in isolation. Much of the critical conversation I am now seeing around TTPD, even just a week later (and even amongst critics who aren't favourable on the album overall), is that a lot of the extremely positive and extremely negative immediate response to the album critically was at least in part a response to Taylor Swift's public image as a whole. The anonymous 36/100 Paste review that got thrown around on Twitter as a gotcha has had a pretty poor reception in music critic circles because it seemed more concerned with attacking Taylor the person than meaningful engaging with the music and, by doing so, completely drowned out the nuanced criticism that was happening elsewhere. There's no doubt the album is legitimately polarising and not perfect, but I think the perplexing extremes of the reception is worth having a conversation about in the long run.

[The Music Industry]

3 hours ago, raisetheroof said:

I find many of the comments in this thread quite amusing. Statements on truly great art needing to be universally acclaimed upon release are absolutely farcical.

 

Even disregarding Taylor in this conversation, works of truly great art often require time for appreciation to develop fully. Sometimes, the significance, depth, or innovation of a piece may not be immediately apparent upon its creation or initial reception. This is especially the case when said art does not conform to conventional tastes (by, for example, straying away from traditional pop melodies and hooks). This is common sense, I fear?

 

Take the Mona Lisa, for example, arguably the most famous painting of all time. It wasn't viewed as the pinnacle of Leonardo's artistic achievements during his lifetime, much rather was it thought of as a masterpiece. Only later was the Mona Lisa appreciated for Leonardo's mastery in creating that famous enigmatic smile and sfumato (a color blending technique) as well as the symbolism of the painting.

 

I fear that the reception of this album has, truly, revealed once and for all that ATRL is for the charts, not the arts, when people on this thread attempt - with a straight face - to claim that TRULY great art does not need time to ruminate and appreciate. You will not find a single art scholar who will agree with you.

 

Pick up a book, please.

[CoolNebraskaGuy]

CNN putting their name behind something is about as damning an endorsement as anything in today's mediasphere

 

I think TTPD is a Swift album for Swift fans. Can we leave it at that?

[ALA]

I agree.

 

And I think it's funny that so many people have been saying so many opposite things about the album whether it be "bad" or "one of her best". Makes for a very interesting entry in her discography. 

Edited April 27 by ALA

[Rama]

While I agree it is a grower (specially THE ANTHOLOGY part), it's still a 7/10 album at max

[technoprayer]

i would like people to stop pushing this woman down our throats (including herself)........ not everybody has to appreciate this cringe crap and its okay . her face is everywhere for whatttt, like..... enough things would be different if it was another mpg releasing this album. everybody would be criticizing it. but since it's that woman then "she's expressing her feelings through art" "she needed to make 31 songs so she could heal" "she's doing it cause she's a SONGWRITER!" ugh.

[cloudbusting]

While I agree that sometimes you need time to fully appreciate something - not in a "forcing yourself to like it" kind of way but more so to pick up on details that might be missed on a first pass - it feels a bit... dramatic to have this kind of response. This isn't some Somethin Bout Kreay-level panning - it's still largely well-received.

[Venice B]

Oh wow this is coming earlier than I expected lol I knew some of them would switch 

[Richie.Valdez]

8 hours ago, Jeremiah said:

This could be said about any other album too. Why the need to defend this one exactly?

Because that CNN reporter received a check for this one… Ts will probably post this review today and is probably filming a documentary as we speak about the bad reviews and how she is still a victim of misogyny. Same ol same ol

[awesomepossum]

11 hours ago, 305 said:

Yep. It really took me a few listens to really understand and get into the bulk of it, now I can't stop listening

What do you see now that you understand it? What are we not getting?

[Born to Run]

10 hours ago, theoghon said:

The way I SCREAMT  

 

OT: everyone plsss take a break from your faves and EXPERIENCE what real music means:

 

 

 

Ok you ate with this post @Katamari

[awesomepossum]

Not some of you acting like all albums aren't reviewed in this way. Most albums are reviewed before they are even released, at least in some publications (including major ones like Rolling Stone and The New York Times). How is it unfair to review this album along the same timeline as literally every other album that has ever been made? This is the stupidest most pathetic temper tantrum from the most famous person who ever lived. And if you think she and her publicist aren't pushing for this 'narrative,' I have a bridge to sell you. It doesn't even make sense, why is it only the negative reviews that were too hasty, and not the positive ones? So, so dumb and entitled. 

 

Edit: This CNN article doesn't even make sense either. They said they 'rushed through' the 120-minute album. How do you 'rush through' 120 minutes? 120 minutes is 120 minutes. Did you listen to it on 2x speed??

Edited April 27 by awesomepossum

[thequeenofpopmadonna]

At last people have started realizing and seeing the bubble of taylordom.

I knew it a long ago already.

No one remembers her song title and they are disposable and like instant food. Mcdonalds. 

No one remembers after days and weeks except her swifties.

 

Now not everyone has a luxury of accompanying CNN being spokesperson for underwhelming reviews. And they realized her chances at the grammys might be dimming. I swear to god that her team and her are so driven by winning more grammys and records.

So cnn was paid by her pr team and started depending her bland and mediocre music now. They felt endangered. Lol 

How typical the media inflate her stardom.

And a desperate move.

 

just Don't preach people what to do, swiftie CNN. 

[Folklore89sm]

2 hours ago, Rama said:

While I agree it is a grower (specially THE ANTHOLOGY part), it's still a 7/10 album at max

I agree but the 1/10 review was ridiculous

[Redstreak]

3 hours ago, technoprayer said:

i would like people to stop pushing this woman down our throats (including herself)........ not everybody has to appreciate this cringe crap and its okay . her face is everywhere for whatttt, like..... enough things would be different if it was another mpg releasing this album. everybody would be criticizing it. but since it's that woman then "she's expressing her feelings through art" "she needed to make 31 songs so she could heal" "she's doing it cause she's a SONGWRITER!" ugh.

Ok but what other girlie would be willing to put out an album like this

[Blue Rose]

The real tea is that all her albums since Lover should've been panned

[The Music Industry]

2 hours ago, Richie.Valdez said:

Because that CNN reporter received a check for this one…

Me when I'm a conspiracy theorist and refuse to simply admit a lot of people actually like the album

[suburbannature]

7 hours ago, raisetheroof said:

I find many of the comments in this thread quite amusing. Statements on truly great art needing to be universally acclaimed upon release are absolutely farcical.

 

Even disregarding Taylor in this conversation, works of truly great art often require time for appreciation to develop fully. Sometimes, the significance, depth, or innovation of a piece may not be immediately apparent upon its creation or initial reception. This is especially the case when said art does not conform to conventional tastes (by, for example, straying away from traditional pop melodies and hooks). This is common sense, I fear?

 

Take the Mona Lisa, for example, arguably the most famous painting of all time. It wasn't viewed as the pinnacle of Leonardo's artistic achievements during his lifetime, much rather was it thought of as a masterpiece. Only later was the Mona Lisa appreciated for Leonardo's mastery in creating that famous enigmatic smile and sfumato (a color blending technique) as well as the symbolism of the painting.

 

I fear that the reception of this album has, truly, revealed once and for all that ATRL is for the charts, not the arts, when people on this thread attempt - with a straight face - to claim that TRULY great art does not need time to ruminate and appreciate. You will not find a single art scholar who will agree with you.

 

Pick up a book, please.

That's cute, but TTPD is not "truly great art" and time will not reveal it to be.

[Richie.Valdez]

13 minutes ago, The Music Industry said:

Me when I'm a conspiracy theorist and refuse to simply admit a lot of people actually like the album

Me when I am forcing myself to enjoy something just because I developed a parasocial relationship

 

[The Music Industry]

9 minutes ago, Richie.Valdez said:

Me when I am forcing myself to enjoy something just because I developed a parasocial relationship

You keep trying (and failing) to gaslight Taylor Swift fans into somehow admitting that we're only pretending to like this album for an odd reason   Why do you care what we like in the first place? This album is factually smashing and has more stability on streaming than any of her previous album releases. Clearly people are tuning in and no amount of fuming from you will change that, my good sis!

 

Edited April 27 by The Music Industry