valleyofthedolls

Zara saying this after the VMAs hate train. I knew she was real one. I'm glad Madge has at least been getting showered with praise and respect from people in the industry.

taydaughter

OFF Danceteria

Here I thought that Christina look was inspired by Madonna at JPG's AIDS benefit fashion show albeit a censored version

Specifically the Fame & Glory coachella remix

Another convert to the House of Goddison Rae 🙏 Welcome child!

That's actually Addison herself. Everyone who has worked with her has noted that she is a true student of pop music and has excellent curatorship.

I just don't find this culture war rage-bait schtick cute. I gave Sydney Sweeney grace in the beginning and she played in my face. I do not care if it is really a girlboss anthem in disguise. I'm sure anyone who doesn't gag will be labeled a feminist wokescold who "doesn't get it". I hate it here.

I'm kind of confused because what you describe was the general critical consensus of the album? I could perhaps agree that scoring systems are often reductive but that's systematic and outside the critics control. Though Rolling Stone actually did stop giving numerical scores for a while and it was widely derided. I vehemently disagree that criticism should lead the listener to a natural starting point. If anything it should challenge your natural state and force you to engage critically with the work of art. If only to justify your own opinion. The lack of subjective taste, personality and connoisseurship is what has made modern criticism so dull. Nobody reads a Pauline Kael review for impartiality, her subjectivity was the point.

But you yourself admitted that that doesn't work with this album because it demands prior knowledge of "the lore" and Taylor Swift as a "character"? None of this makes the initial criticism invalid because the flaws are still inherent within the album. In some ways those flaws can make the album more interesting but only if you have a vested interest in Taylor Swift the character. Again the album only benefits from her existing status as a pop culture figure that it would not if it was released by Gracie Abrams. Both things can be true and it can exist on both levels.

Honestly I find this hostile attitude towards critics and media criticism a sign of growing anti-intellectualism. Criticism isn't always stagnant and it isn't uncommon for critics perception of the thing they are analyzing to shift over time. The point of well-written criticism is to make you engage with the thing on a deeper and cultural level. Historical context can in fact change your perception or evaluation of it for better or for worse. I'd argue TTPD actually becomes more interesting with analysis because of how it relates to Taylor as a cultural figure and her personal life but that doesn't make some of the writing any less clunky, the album less bloated or the production less repetitive. If anything the album benefits from our prior knowledge of Taylor Swift as a celebrity because it becomes a fascinating character study. Without that added context it wouldn't be getting this reassessment in the first place. The context is important to evaluating the album and context can change over time.

This isn't even the critic that reviewed TTPD so what baring does this have on the actual critic's review?

A generational talent. In a just world she would be given a blank check to do whatever she wants but unfortunately we rarely allow women to be temperamental geniuses.

Off Danceteria

I see more comments about how the woke mob is gonna cancel her than the woke mob trying to cancel her. Btw how did remaining "politically neutral" work out for Ed Sheeran?

She better. Get her ass off of twitch and back in the studio.

First they came for Taylor Swift, and I did not speak out because I was not a Swiftie. Then they came for Ariana Grande, and I did not speak out because I was not a Arianator. Then they came for Lady Gaga, and I did not speak out because I was not a Lil' Monster. Then they came for Madonna...

Thank goodness the Swifties are distracted right now.

The only people who are "performative virtue signaling" are the people attacking her because they want to justify their own favorites remaining politically neutral. I'm sorry you are not going to convince me to purity test the people who actually do speak out against injustices versus the people who choose to stand for nothing at all.

Basically just means pop stars singing about being pop stars.

From Pitchfork's review of "Popstar": "Maybe you've noticed recently how evergreen pop-song subjects like love and fantasy have been supplanted by the "reality" of hustle and a meta-narrative. The inspirations and tribulations of life as a full-time entertainer are the subjects of many a recent female pop album, from debutantes and establishment icons alike: ADÉLA's PRIMA; JADE's THAT'S SHOWBIZ, BABY!; Ariana Grande's petal; Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl; every Charli xcx album since Crash. I think this emergent phenomenon is like fifty percent a function of late-capitalist anxiety and fifty percent stan culture wagging the stars, but maybe it's one and the same thing. "The American Dream is outdated/Now they sittin' on the internet hatin'," as Tinashe puts it on "Crash Out," one of the dozens of brilliant little moments on Popstar, her new pop meta-narrative album to end pop meta-narrative albums. After this, hang it up." Do you think "Popstar" is the inevitable culmination of the pop meta-narrative album and logical endpoint? Discuss.

Ok now where is the Encore review Rolling Stone?

side by side comparison

Noooooo they took it down!! Edit: Ok yay, it's back up. This cut is SO much better omg.

ACAB