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Taylor Swift announces new album The Tortured Poets Department out April 19

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deathsaber

deathsaber

Member
Nov 2, 2017
3,102
Just expressing an opinion completely aside from the music (which I'm loving so far)..

I am simultaneously amazed and elated that there's a surprise "2nd album" and also annoyed because it's not on the vinyl I've got on the way.

It would be nice if there was maybe just a "Part two" album eventually sold, with only the new songs, to accommodate the bazillion people who already bought what is now "part 1" (let alone those who buy all the variants) but you know it will probably be an $100 ultra-deluxe set going up for sale soon with the whole shebang on it. Which.... she will sell oodles of, but I don't want to buy the first set of songs again...
 

Glenn

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,299
As someone who hates double albums in general.. this album is a struggle to get through. 2 hours is way too much
 
Dr. Mario

Dr. Mario

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,924
Netherlands
Yeah I'm still the anti-Taylor Swift fan (antihero if you will) it feels like, because the second album does nothing for me, and Evermore is my number 1. But there's nothing as lyrically painterly as Ivy or hauntingly beautiful as Tolerate It, no interesting duets or fun hooks. In general the album is really missing some hooks, and 31 songs about love/heartbreak is a bit boring. The first half at least has some songs that stand out a bit. It's good background stuff but I don't think it'll end up in my top 5.

First listen favorites probably Down Bad, So Long London, and I can do it with a broken heart.
 
Tagovailoa

Tagovailoa

Member
Feb 5, 2023
577
I want to listen again but I also want to play video games and I feel like this album requires too much of may attention to do that lol
 
Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
32,415
Dr. Mario said:
Yeah I'm still the anti-Taylor Swift fan (antihero if you will) it feels like because the second album does nothing for me, and Evermore is my number 1. But there's nothing as lyrically painterly as Ivy or hauntingly beautiful as Tolerate This, no interesting duets or fun hooks. In general the album is really missing some hooks. The first half at least has some songs that stand out a bit. It's good background stuff but I don't think it'll end up in my top 5.
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Tolerate It is one of my favourite songs out of all of her works so don't worry, you're not that anti-fan ☺️
 
Einbroch

Einbroch

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,057
My wife and I actually had a pretty in-depth discussion on this album this morning after listening, and I think we both came to the conclusion that we might have simply out-aged or are in a stage in our life now where these songs don't connect. We're mid-30s and the whole "I'm a tortured soul who constantly has romantic angst" angle just doesn't connect with us anymore. This is very likely a reductive take, but it's just our honest emotional reaction.

I'm a casual listener of her stuff over the years and my wife, who really does like Taylor, doesn't get involved in the goings of her personal life. We were both lukewarm on Midnights and feel similarly here. Maybe we just moved on (me especially).

But I'm super fascinated with her progression from country to pop to her more "indie" sound to this "dream pop" sound. I definitely respect her for not just sticking her lane. And it clearly works for a ton of people.

And The Anthology album is WAY more successful for both of us sonically. We both think that there are just 1-2 tracks from the first album that will actually stick around in our rotation.
 
Ashionok

Ashionok

Member
Nov 7, 2022
570
ngl I feel album 2 is kinda helping the perception of this album lol. The reaction to the first half was a lot more lukewarm it felt like
 
Common Knowledge

Common Knowledge

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,268
Kyuuji said:
It's the full spectrum across the span of it. Coming out of the 6yr relationship with Joe broken and went headlong into a toxic whirlwind romance, not wanting to listen to anyone and generally just be a mess and spiral. Then coming to and realising what you're in, how it's self-inflicted and how it felt to be the other side of it. Then we see the glimpse of how she is with Travis (besotted). There's a lot of reflection across the record as well, including a final pause on Jake before it ends. Still finds time for a deliciously petty diss track to Kim tho.
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Ok nice, should make for an interesting listen later!
 
Landy828

Landy828

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,441
Clemson, SC
Jumped across the list and listened to 6 tracks.

Not my thing sound wise and the subject matter doesn't interest me. I'll try anything once, haha.
 
glow39

glow39

Member
May 4, 2022
306
Mostly thru a first listen of the first album but I am really tired of the Antonoff synth sound since Midnights. Sonically not caring for this half for the most part but this prob needs more listens anyways.

More excited to check the 2nd half which seems to be a bit more different from what I've read??
 
Ashionok

Ashionok

Member
Nov 7, 2022
570
glow39 said:
Mostly thru a first listen of the first album but I am really tired of the Antonoff synth sound since Midnights. Sonically not caring for this half for the most part but this prob needs more listens anyways.

More excited to check the 2nd half which seems to be a bit more different from what I've read??
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If you liked folklore/evermore the 2nd half will probably be more to your liking than the first
 
Einbroch

Einbroch

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,057
glow39 said:
Mostly thru a first listen of the first album but I am really tired of the Antonoff synth sound since Midnights. Sonically not caring for this half for the most part but this prob needs more listens anyways.

More excited to check the 2nd half which seems to be a bit more different from what I've read??
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It's a bit different, but I wouldn't say it's a massive departure depending on what you're looking for. What it DOES have are some more involved harmonies and melodies. It's not as flat. Which for me, makes a big difference.
 
AHA-Lambda

AHA-Lambda

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,818
Einbroch said:
My wife and I actually had a pretty in-depth discussion on this album this morning after listening, and I think we both came to the conclusion that we might have simply out-aged or are in a stage in our life now where these songs don't connect. We're mid-30s and the whole "I'm a tortured soul who constantly has romantic angst" angle just doesn't connect with us anymore. This is very likely a reductive take, but it's just our honest emotional reaction.

I'm a casual listener of her stuff over the years and my wife, who really does like Taylor, doesn't get involved in the goings of her personal life. We were both lukewarm on Midnights and feel similarly here. Maybe we just moved on (me especially).

But I'm super fascinated with her progression from country to pop to her more "indie" sound to this "dream pop" sound. I definitely respect her for not just sticking her lane. And it clearly works for a ton of people.

And The Anthology album is WAY more successful for both of us sonically. We both think that there are just 1-2 tracks from the first album that will actually stick around in our rotation.
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gotta say this is pretty spot on for me; my gf is a bigger Swiftie than me and she's getting more out of it than me but still seems overall lukewarm on it (prefers second half fwiw)

I've no interest in playing sleuth on the lyrics against Taylor's personal life (says more about me I'm sure but I'd never heard of Matt Healy until a couple months ago, I don't keep up with modern music scene at large) and it is quite one note (I called it all blending in together in an earlier post)

Ah well I'll go back to 1989 again
 
GuitarGuruu

GuitarGuruu

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,509
The Albatross, So High School, thanK you aIMee, Cassandra, Peter, The Bolter, and The Manuscript were my favorites from the second half. I largely preferred the second half to the first! Some really good songs here, the Kim diss track is fucking amazing lol.

Overall a solid album. Not my favorite though and the second half really salvaged it for me. Give us more Pop Taylor or a Rock Album!
 

RockyBalboa_

Member
Apr 28, 2018
1,476
Florida and loml the only tracks that appeal to me. The rest just does nothing for me, not my sound or vibe. Which sucks as I like her music (up to 1989), but as she evolves her "sound" the directions she ventures in is what I stay away from.
 
NotVeryFriendly

NotVeryFriendly

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,675
Sadsic said:
I hate how music works like this, like it's probably true it will be nominated, but there's also probably like 100,000 albums released a year and the most popular and known English language pop albums shouldn't by default be known a year in advance as being what would be labeled as the best album of the year by the grammys
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RedSparrows said:
It's an odd and utterly overbearing thing that people actively embrace. It's to celebrate something, but oddly enough it also necessitates pushing other things away. That's the bit I can't stand.
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I strongly disagree with these viewpoints; this isn't 'how music works', nor does it necessitates 'pushing other things away', this is how entertainment and large industry awards in general work.

Entertainment productions which are commonly viewed as being a 'high quality' and are highly popular are always strong contenders for some of the largest award shows where winners are determined by large volume of voters. Yes there may be very high quality productions which are much more niche, but if people haven't engaged with that production it's obviously not going to be voted for by those people, and acknowledging the impact that popularity of a product has on award success isn't 'pushing other things away', it's a recognition of how awards work.

Whether it's movies, games, theatre, novels, podcasts, music, etc. while yes there are tens of thousands of items created across budgets, levels of popularity, and of differing quality on a yearly basis, not many of them strike the level of popularity and quality required for people to identify when something strikes the balance of popularity and quality that may make them likely to be considered for award consideration (whether it's a Grammy for album of the year, an Oscar for Best Picture, an award for Game of the Year, etc) - the range of items that strike that balance typically is 'significantly' (by orders of magnitude) lower than "100,000 albums released a year".

I think it's fair to lament the idea that awards should be about the quality and popularity should be irrelevant, but it isn't very realistic for that to be the case for award shows which are determined by a large volume of voters where popularity is inherently relevant (because if somebody hasn't engaged with something, of course they can't rightfully consider it), that doesn't take away from the quality of other productions.

Tying it back to this thread, Taylor Swift is a consistently critically acclaimed and hugely popular artist with a massive fanbase. Acknowledging that an album (or two) she released is likely to be considered for album of the year is a pretty natural consequence of that.
 
Mattmo831

Mattmo831

Featuring Mattmo831 from the Apple v Epic case
Member
Oct 26, 2020
3,343
Vector said:
Judging by the quality of those 15 extra songs, I don't think her intention was to boost her already massive numbers. They're far from filler.
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Ill be honest. not sure if it is a hot take on this forum but i think that is EXACTLY what she is doing. boosting her already massive numbers.

Releasing a Deluxe edition 2 hours after the album comes out with 15 more songs, having her fans who already bought the cd / vinyl have to buy ANOTHER edition as now their edition has missing content + all the extra streams. she did the same exact thing with midnights where what it does is intentially inflate the first week numbers.

and like this isnt even hidden she is trying to inflate these numbers. She is already HUGE and will sell 500-800k first week without all this extra stuff but look at the extra shit her team is doing


View: https://x.com/USRadioUpdater/status/1780885520765092296

I heart radio has OVER 850 radio stations which will all be playing this album on repeat

Sirus XM just gave her a station which will be playing the album (all 31 + songs) on repeat for the next 7 days.

she will release 6 more covers for the anthology edition of the course of the week.




so yes i think the intention of releasing these as a deluxe instead of holding these for an entirely separate album (which it should, these second half songs are actually better and should be its own album), is for the sole purpose of inflating these already huge numbers
 
glow39

glow39

Member
May 4, 2022
306
Ashionok said:
If you liked folklore/evermore the 2nd half will probably be more to your liking than the first
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Einbroch said:
It's a bit different, but I wouldn't say it's a massive departure depending on what you're looking for. What it DOES have are some more involved harmonies and melodies. It's not as flat. Which for me, makes a big difference.
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Ohhh that definitely sounds MUCH more up my alley, excited to get into it then!
 
Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
32,415
honestly still worth. thinking the whole album had leaked, then getting to the end of the official release only to be told there was an entire other album to experience was a wonderful surprise.
 
ElectricBlanketFire

ElectricBlanketFire

What year is this?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,906
GuitarGuruu said:
The Albatross, So High School, thanK you aIMee, Cassandra, Peter, The Bolter, and The Manuscript were my favorites from the second half. I largely preferred the second half to the first! Some really good songs here, the Kim diss track is fucking amazing lol.

Overall a solid album. Not my favorite though and the second half really salvaged it for me. Give us more Pop Taylor or a Rock Album!
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Which song is the DISS track?
 
grang

grang

Member
Nov 13, 2017
10,094
Kyuuji said:
honestly still worth. thinking the whole album had leaked, then getting to the end of the official release only to be told there was an entire other album to experience was a wonderful surprise.
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I'm not even a big fan and it was still kinda delightful to wake up and read through this thread, with everyone's hyped reactions lol
 
TheAquaticApe

TheAquaticApe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,076
I'm up to "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" and I'm really enjoying it.

Also, if this the "weaker" album, I'm very excited to get to the Part 2, because I think Part 1 has been fasntastic.
 
Johnzyboi

Johnzyboi

Member
Nov 10, 2018
2,536
After 2nd listen, I'm not the biggest fan of it. The 2nd half is definitely better.

Currently in my rankings
1. Evermore
2. Speak Now
3. Folklore
4. 1989
5. Reputation
6. Red
7. Fearless
8. TTPD
9.Taylor Swift
10. Midnights
11. Lover
 
Humidex

Humidex

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,266
A word or two from Aaron Dessner:

View: https://www.instagram.com/p/C58OCiBAVSZ/?igsh=ZXVxZXEyN2MzOGN1
I'm so excited and honored to share that I have contributed to my dear friend and collaborator @taylorswift's brilliant 11th album -- a 31 song double album / anthology called The Tortured Poets Department. We started working on these songs over two years ago and it feels like they have kept us company and evolved in beautiful and unexpected ways through so much life lived during this process. It's hard to believe Taylor and I have now recorded over 60 songs together (17 across this anthology!!) in the 4 years since we began working together on Folklore in 2020. I am forever grateful to Taylor for sharing her insane talents with and trusting me with her music. I believe these songs are some of the most lyrically acute, intricate, vulnerable and cathartic Taylor has ever written and I am continually astonished by her skills as a songwriter and performer.

I also want to thank the incredible @jackantonoff for his open hearted and open door collaboration with me through all these many projects and all of my talented friends who continue to contribute generously to my work. I could never have made all this music without a village of friends supporting me -- especially the engineering talents @heyjonlow @bellaicecream and @sharp_stick and as always my brother @brycedessner made many vital contributions and other friends like @900x @tingalayo @lanzprojects and @mooserob who have helped me so much over the years. Thank you to @serbangheneamixes for mixing these songs and @randymerrill_sterling for mastering. And all of these friends for their amazing contributions: @glennkotche @jt_bates_ @notfastbutslota @lcorchestra @robertamesmusic @jeremymurphymusic @spacemoth__ @beaunoise

It's not lost on me how lucky I am that this is my job and I feel so grateful to be a part of creating this vast, magically detailed and symbolic world of songs Taylor has crafted that we all get to inhabit and enjoy. Keep searching and you'll find some new detail, layer or sliver of meaning with each listen.
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Ambient80

Ambient80

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
4,642
It's simply wonderful. Nothing more to say at the moment but I very, very much enjoy this.

Kyuuji Glad you're loving it, as well! 😄
 
Hootie

Hootie

Member
Dec 25, 2017
1,338
do we know if she will incorporate any of the new songs into her eras tour?

i am going with my gf this summer but we went to a show last year too, so it would be cool if she changed things up and added new stuff
 
Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
32,415
Dr. Mario said:
Nearly broke my marriage tbf it was that real for me.
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🫂
"you assume I'm fine but what would you do if I, break free and leave us in ruins, took this dagger in me and removed it, gain the weight of you and lose it, believe me I could do it" is probably my most played piece of any of Taylor's music at this point.
 
Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
32,415
Humidex said:
How did not twig that the prologue poem was written by Stevie goddamn Nicks?!
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Yup!

the-poem-by-stevie-nicks-v0-7uacf8mxbfvc1.webp


 
Kevin360

Kevin360

OG Direct OP
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,679
Kyuuji said:
Ok yeh. Nail my colours and me to the mast because I'm putting this one in stone. This is Taylor at the top of her game and the best record she's put out to date. A rich album that spans a plethora of events and emotions across its 31 tracks, detailing a point of whirlwind romance and toxic impulses following the breakup of a 6 year relationship she'd built her dreams around. Then the realisation, resentment and healing off the back of cascading out of that storm, eventually finding her way into the arms of true love again.

There are echoes of other songs, albums and sounds from her past but they feel so much more confident here. This is as much a culmination of her career so far as the Eras tour is.

She seems in a really good place, I'm happy for her.
  1. TTPD
  2. evermore
  3. Red TV
  4. folklore
  5. Speak Now TV
  6. 1989 TV
  7. Midnights
  8. Lover
  9. Reputation
  10. Fearless TV
  11. Debut
p.s. How Did It End? clean breaks me in half when I'm listening to it.
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After the double album drop, this definitely soars to the top for my ranking too. Just being up experiencing it all with my wife, the drop, the songs. Really memorable.
 
Ambient80

Ambient80

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
4,642
Kyuuji said:
Yessss 🙌🫶✨ enjoy however much of it you have left. It's such an amazing album.
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I've made it through the first album. I'm kinda listening to the second at work but I'm not able to concentrate on it, so it's mainly just for vibes in the background. I'm gonna have a two-day date with my high-end headphones this weekend and maybe I'll post some thoughts then!
 
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