awong918 Posted 8 hours ago Posted 8 hours ago She doesn't have a Crazy in Love / Umbrella / Bad Romance / Poker Face / Oops / BOMT for sure but I think her singles are fine overall? Everyone has released duds like YNTCD and WANEGBT, it's just that Taylors' were somehow successful so they stick out more. I thought Cruel Summer was going to join the ranks because I absolutely loved it for a while but then it just became intolerable after some point.
Illuminati Posted 8 hours ago Posted 8 hours ago Not really, her lead singles are a hit or miss quality-wise but other than that they're fine. Fortnight was great imo, whereas I didn't like Anti-Hero, despite loving the album. Glimpse Of Us is also a great song, so that top 5 is not a great indicator of what qualifies as the worst songs on US pop radio
Mezik Posted 6 hours ago Posted 6 hours ago The only poor single choices were WANEGBT, End Game, ME!, and YTNTCD. For every single artist out there you can pick four singles from their discography that aren't great. Not every song is gonna be absolutely massive and culturally explosive like Love Story, Blank Space, Anti Hero or Cruel Summer - and that's okay.
Moonlight Nation Posted 6 hours ago Posted 6 hours ago 1 hour ago, Illuminati said: Glimpse Of Us is also a great song, so that top 5 is not a great indicator of what qualifies as the worst songs on US pop radio Agreed. I also love Halsey's "You should be sad". While major spin/audience losses are often connected to poor callouts, there are other factors which can contribute to this, most notably labels abruptly pulling the plug to make room for a new single. I imagine that's what happened with "Fortnight" in particular, since Taylor's team has frequently taken this approach unless the 'older' single is still going strong across all metrics (e.g. "Anti-Hero" and "Cruel Summer" vs. the "Lover" singles, "Lavender Haze", and "Is It Over Now?"). As for the callouts themselves, they are hardly indicators of objective quality. Since mid 2022 these are unfortunately no longer available for public access in a transparent manner, but I remember songs like AJR's "Bang!" doing amazing there while both "Break My Heart" and "Levitating" by Dua Lipa struggled. It's easy to see why "Look What You Made Me Do" didn't click with radio listeners, but based on its lowkey stability prior to getting dropped, I'm assuming "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart" did well on callouts until it eventually got a high burnout rate. No idea why they didn't vibe with Joji or Halsey, though. 4 minutes ago, Mr.X said: Her last good single was Cardigan I'd say "cardigan" was her last excellent single, but "willow" and "Lavender Haze" were both really good in my opinion. Ditto for "Cruel Summer" by technicality, since it only got the official single release in June 2023.
sugarysunflower Posted 6 hours ago Posted 6 hours ago I feel I remember an interview somewhere where she explains her team's strategy was to release a lead single that is catchy and radio-friendly (LS, WENEGBT, SIO, LWYMMD, Me!) to entice GP appeal, but then save the better quality material on the album or as follow-up singles. Does anyone else remember this?
JoeAg Posted 6 hours ago Posted 6 hours ago (edited) nah, no way she's honestly got some really amazing singles in her wheelhouse. though yes, she has atrocities like Shake It Off, Bad Blood, Me!ss, You Need to Clam Down, and Karma Forgot Its Kiss for Me, she has masterpieces like Mine, Back to December, Sparks Fly, Eyes Open, Begin Again, I Knew You Were Trouble., Red, The Last Toymm, Style, Wildest Dreams, New Romantics, Delicate, Lover, Cruel Summer, Cardigan, and "****!" so there's no way I could put her at the worst of the MPGs singles discography wise. idk who I'd say has the definitive worst, but I prefer Taylor's singles discography to those of the likes of Doja Cat, Katy Perry, and Selena Gomez for example Mariah's, Gaga's, Kesha's, Bey's, Britney's, Madonna's, Kelly's, Kylie's, Rih's are all obviously better than Taylor's and are all elite, but Taylor has some true classics, which I'd never deny even if I'm not a stan like I used to be Edited 6 hours ago by JoeAg
Edge Of Glory Posted 5 hours ago Posted 5 hours ago i do think up to 1989, her single choices were p sensible and top notch. a few missed opportunities here and there, but that's like every pop star ijbol. rep didn't necessarily have AWFUL choices but def some bad snubs + a bad rollout. lover only had 1 good single until CS got its moment years later. "cardigan" and "willow" were good lead singles imo but both eras being truncated led to some snubs unfortunately. midnights i think was actually p well done? i think the karma hate is overblown, i would just say she should've done another single like YOYOK or hits different, but considering the length of eras now, they did a good job. TTPD is a weird case, nothing screams SMASH to me, but ig they could've done smth other than fortnight + been quicker to the punch w the post album singles, but then again she wasnt doing shite for the album so it would've been useless lmao the TV singles have also been p on point imo except for YAOM being released over MPF
kimberly Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago 8 hours ago, Achilles. said: I give those two a pass because they're just so ******* good, much more natural than tryhard like some of the others. And I do think my tears ricochet makes sense as the track 5 because it does speak to the concept of the album: ostensibly fictional storytelling that is actually still based on her personal experience. Not sure what else would really work as the track 5 of evermore; it's a cohesive body of work, but not as easy to summarize in a sentence or a lyric as some of her other albums. Maybe happiness or cowboy like me. But then, if happiness were the track 5 it would still get your "I can write a song you can all cry to" criticism. I was thinking "cowboy like me" as an option, or maybe "champagne problems"... I'd even suggest "long story short" as a left-field pick. as for folklore, I'd have gone with "mirrorball." I've always felt like she considered it but ultimately went with "my tears ricochet" for the Taylor's Versions narrative.
ATRL Moderator MissedTheTrain Posted 1 hour ago ATRL Moderator Posted 1 hour ago It truly is something that some of the worst songs on their respective albums are the singles (mainly reputation forward), Lover being the biggest offender She has some great ones, but definitely some duds like End Game, ME!, You Need to Calm Down, etc. But I think these are all great songs: -Look What You Made Me Do -Delicate -cardigan -willow -Anti-Hero -Lavender Haze -Fortnight Karma is corny and cheeky but in a slightly more self-aware way that actually works in my opinion. I still bop to it.
byzantium Posted 55 minutes ago Posted 55 minutes ago She does not have the worst singles but she has some of the most notable deltas between the quality of the single and the quality of the album. Lover might be the most extreme example where the album itself is pretty good, but the singles are quite lacking. It really makes you scratch your head as to why.
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