nortonandreev

If it was me, this would have been the OG album: The Fate of Ophelia Opalite Honey Wood Elizabeth Taylor Father Figure CANCELLED! Patient Zero Pink Clouding Ruin The Friendship The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter)

She needs a new team… new sound. Different direction. The life of a showgirl was my biggest disappointment for this decade LOL I had such high expectations…

Pink Clouding > Patient Zero > Babylon > Cleveland! I actually like only the first two… not even sure about patient zero, but it has the potential to grow on me.

A swiftie, but getting prepared to be dissapointed.

What a boring album...

I don't like the video at all (a swiftie here).

Hopefully the deluxe will be out on a CD. I've been postponing buying it because of the deluxe.

For context: Taylor has been my favourite artist for 11 years, and Max Martin my favourite producer for about the same time. 1989 is still my all-time favourite pop album. I wouldn't call myself a crazy fan… but I did go to the Eras Tour three times, so take that as you will. I've been getting bored with Taylor's post-Reputation sound. I'm much more into up-tempo songs with heavier production; otherwise things start to feel flat, boring, even cheap. So I was really excited for this album, hoping for a more joyful 1989 — something closer to Opalite. That's what I had in mind for the whole project. End-of-year reality check: 8 songs from this album made my Apple Music Top 100. The highest are #25 and #26 (Opalite and The Fate of Ophelia), while 3 others barely scrape in at #90–100. By contrast, in 2024 alone, 21 songs from TTPD landed in my Top 100, many in the top 25. I was tired of Aaron and Jack and with very high hopes for Max Martin. To be fair, he still delivers – Opalite, The Fate of Ophelia, CANCELLED! prove that. What I struggle with is the album's success. Honestly, for me, about 6 songs are good and 6 are straight-up unlistenable. Worse, the weaker tracks sit back-to-back in the middle, which makes the album hard to get through. I'm not someone who listens just because I'm a fan... So I genuinely don't get what people love about this sound, beyond the few universally liked tracks. That said, I am happy she's succeeding with a Max Martin–produced album, especially since many had written him off. And as a businesswoman, it makes sense that she's often chosen collaborators who are cheaper and give her more ownership. As for what's next, I'm not sure. Apparently I didn't hate her mid-tempo era as much as I thought, judging by the numbers. Would I want another 1989/Reputation-style album? Absolutely. Would I be excited for a totally new team and a completely different sound? Probably even more. Am I missing something obvious here, or is this simply a case of personal taste outweighing production and energy? I'm genuinely curious how others experience this album — especially since I produce music myself, and that gap in perception really makes me question what I'm not hearing. 👀

Not my cup of tea.

No. It's very useless.

Stereo master is not much better.

What a stupid video… song is okay, but I expected more…

3

One of my fave albums!

Yeah, let you go is my favourite, I think. I also almost cried on "ghost".