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

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Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
32,416
The juxtaposition of "your wife waters flowers, I wanna kill her" is so good. Catches my ear each listen.

I think Fortnight is the perfect introduction to the album. My heart sank a bit when I realised it was about Matty but then you listen to the album through and it's like ah, this is the story across the whole period through to Travis. You do get the cathartic knives into him. She's being really open in TTPD imo.

DSync said:
Kyuuji Just finished the whole double album!!

Really enjoyed it! there are some misses sure but overall this is a really really great album!

Very Folklore/Evermore vibes more so than I thought there was gonna be and some Midnights/1989 bits sprinkled in from time to time!

Prefer this to Midnights

Current rankings also shuffled some albums around!

1. 1989
2. Folklore
3. Reputation
4. Evermore
5. The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology
6. Red
7. Midnights
8. Speak Now
9. Lover
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Yesss!!! Ahh I'm glad you had a great time with it and like it! Yeh for me the evermore vibes are the most pronounced, which makes sense why it's now top, where evermore was before. It's got a little bit of most of her other work sprinkled somewhere across the 31 tracks. Really cool. On my 6th listen as I finish up a couple of bits and it really is, for me, everything I could have hoped for from someone who came to midnights wanting more evermore.

Precious Tritium said:
Feels like this is her most personal / honest album.
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Right there with you.
 
Servbot24

Servbot24

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
43,248
This is some of the tamest, most toothless production I have ever heard. It sounds like music that is scared to even exist.

A shame too because I think the songs are pretty great. The production just does absolutely nothing to support them.
 

Gunman

Member
Aug 19, 2020
1,675
Stopped after 24 songs or so, will finish at some point. Boring slog for me atm. Feels likes b-sides from folklore/evermore.
 
Kevin360

Kevin360

OG Direct OP
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,679
The entire thing captivated me sonically. Like, especially the Dressner brother's orchestration in part 2. Incredible.
 
Ashionok

Ashionok

Member
Nov 7, 2022
570
this album imo proves that Taylor needs to move on from Jack and do more stuff with Dessner. The change in quality from the first half to second half was glaring imo.
 
Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
32,416
Coyote Starrk said:
Kyuuji


View: https://twitter.com/chartstswift/status/1781378909059104924
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Incredible, but...
67...
6+7 = 13

giphy.gif


DSync said:
1.5 million of those will be from Kyuuji alone 😂
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lmao, accurate 😂
 
Blake the drunk

Blake the drunk

Member
Sep 3, 2018
2,622
Phoenix, AZ
I legit feel weird I haven't heard a single song from her in my life other than maybe "teardrops on my guitar" when I was in high school, I think? I'll try to give this album a listen soon

does she have any pop-punk type vibe songs? 😂
 
Haloid1177

Haloid1177

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,533
As someone who generally liked her output early, Midnights and this are such misses compared to the masterpiece that is Folklore that I don't even know what to say. Either she's not spending enough time with these knowing they'll do numbers or what, but this album specifically just feels entirely phoned in. Florida is a bit of a banger though.
 
Midnight

Midnight

Member
Jan 5, 2018
793
Been listening to the album all day at work and there is much to unpack here. Even though Folklore and Evermore are my top 2 from her, I became a fan of Taylor's work when she transitioned to pop, so this double album has the best of both worlds (I even hear a bit of her country roots/melodies in some songs from the first half). I'm enjoying both sides of the album, but it is clear to me how much more her voice and lyrics shine in the second half, some stunning songs there.

I'm having a hard time defining favorites, they will change with time for sure.

I also do not get the early Midnights comparisons. Sonically this one reminded me more of Bleachers than anything else (the first half that is).
 
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Scott Lufkin

Scott Lufkin

Member
Dec 7, 2017
1,496
I was listening to it at the gym and then at work, but I turned it off after a bit (to work, not because I wasn't enjoying it). I found it to be slow, melodious, and pleasing, but it's not the banger her last few albums (Midnights, Lover) have been - my daughter put it well when she said it wasn't very "catchy". Someone here a page or two back said all the songs blend together and that's been true for me, for the first 16 or so at least. I'm back to listening to it again and again, I'm happy to be enjoying it - it's a smooth sounding album - and now here at The Black Dog I'm hitting a track that I am digging more.

It may be one that grows on me over time, many albums are like that. In fact, it's rare I like new music on the first listen so records like Midnights is a rarity and the fact I'm enjoying this on first listen is significant, even if it's not as in my face great as her previous records have sometimes been.
 
Piston

Piston

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,184
The first "album" is a lot of songs that are like 5s or 6s out of 10, they have snippets of good production or something interesting but none of them are able to string a good song all the way through. The songs I marked as above average were Down Bad, So Long London, and I Can Do It With A Broken Heart. These are very wordy songs, it feels like she is scared to let instrumental, production, etc to build a vibe for more than a few seconds before singing again. She also moves away from hooks whenever she has a good chance or she doesn't fully commit to a hook and the songs with attempted hooks have weaker bridges or other aspects. Very mixed on it all.

I'm liking the Anthology part more but it still has some of the same issues, I'll have to update thoughts on it once I get all the way through it. Actually,, just got up to So High School in the Anthology as I'm writing this and easily the first song to truly stick out as something I would purposely come back to.

Edit: For reference, I think folklore is her best album by far followed by Speak Now and 1989.
 
DSync

DSync

Member
Oct 27, 2017
681
Kyuuji what's your stand out tracks at the moment?

Mine are (In no order)

Fortnight
My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys
So Long London
But Daddy I Love Him
Florida!!!
Guilty As Sin?
Loml
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
The Black Dog
The Albatross
So High School
I Look In Peoples Windows
The Prophecy
The Manuscript
 
Piston

Piston

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,184
Second half of the album is so much better wow. Cassandra, Peter, The bolter are three songs in a row that are better than anything in the first half. imgonnagetyouback, The Albatross, and So High School also probably better than anything in the first half.
 
Oozer

Oozer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,844
Blake the drunk said:
I legit feel weird I haven't heard a single song from her in my life other than maybe "teardrops on my guitar" when I was in high school, I think? I'll try to give this album a listen soon

does she have any pop-punk type vibe songs? 😂
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She basically aped Paramore on a couple of songs on Speak Now.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN6VR92V70M
Story of Us


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH70M5OeS4o
Better Than Revenge

"Electric Touch" on Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is vaguely pop-punk and has the added bonus of featuring Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMPK2vNXr-E
 
Ashionok

Ashionok

Member
Nov 7, 2022
570
Piston said:
Second half of the album is so much better wow. Cassandra, Peter, The bolter are three songs in a row that are better than anything in the first half. imgonnagetyouback, The Albatross, and So High School also probably better than anything in the first half.
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Aaron Desner practically saved this album for me with the second half lol.
 
D23

D23

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,854
'So high school' is absolutely such a fun song! Oh man shes in love love with kelce!

If this track is any indication to what her next album is going to sound like, im beyond hyped!!!
 
Coyote Starrk

Coyote Starrk

The Fallen
Oct 30, 2017
53,319
D23 said:
'So high school' is absolutely such a fun song! Oh man shes in love love with kelce!

If this track is any indication to what her next album is going to sound like, im beyond hyped!!!
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And all of this seems to have come about because Travis decided to bring up on his football podcast with his brother that he wanted to try to get his number to her at a concert but wasn't able to.


Talk about shooting your shot and hitting it lol
 
Nightwing123

Nightwing123

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,416
2nd half is better but the first half being so mediocre makes this an overall miss for me. Some of these lyrics are just not it. Hope her next album is better. Unlike some of her other work I don't see myself revisiting this.
 
OP
OP
kalindana

kalindana

Member
Oct 28, 2018
3,184
spookyduzt

spookyduzt

Drive-In Mutant
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
10,871
TheAquaticApe said:
Ok. I'm not gonna lie. I'm an old man. I still purchase MP3 albums. I don't subscribe to any streaming services.

I totally bought TTPD on Amazon MP3 before reading about Anthology lmao

I own both now. Just started on my first listen.
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Yeah, that was a pretty scummy thing to do. I bought the album for my wife last night so she'd have it in her email when she woke up this morning. Then they drop the double album a few hours later for $1 more? Wtf.
 
OP
OP
kalindana

kalindana

Member
Oct 28, 2018
3,184
Already over 200 million streams on Spotify, according to Variety:
variety.com

Taylor Swift Makes Spotify History as ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Becomes First Album to Surpass 200 Million Streams in a Single Day

Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' has broken the Spotify record for most streams in a day, surpassing 200 million listens.
variety.com variety.com

Taylor Swift has made Spotify history with her new release "The Tortured Poets Department," becoming the first album to exceed 200 million streams in a single day, Variety can exclusively reveal.

The feat comes less than 24 hours after its release, signaling that the numbers could stretch even higher once the final figures are tallied. Swift now has the top three most streamed albums in a single day, with previous records held by "Midnights" and "1989 (Taylor's Version)."

Additionally, with "Poets," Swift has become the most streamed artist in a single day in Spotify history. She previously broke her record as the most streamed artist in a single day when "1989 (Taylor's Version)" dropped in October last year.
 
Coyote Starrk

Coyote Starrk

The Fallen
Oct 30, 2017
53,319
Walked my dog around the block just now. I heard "So High School" and "The Black Dog" coming from cars or garages twice each. The UPS guy had some local music station on and they were debating the lyrics to another song. And I'm in Texas in a thoroughly Red neighborhood.


She is inevitable lol
 
MinusTydus

MinusTydus

The Fallen
Jul 28, 2018
8,207
spookyduzt said:
Yeah, that was a pretty scummy thing to do. I bought the album for my wife last night so she'd have it in her email when she woke up this morning. Then they drop the double album a few hours later for $1 more? Wtf.
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So, do I have this correct?

There are four different CD versions, each with a different bonus track-- none of which are the complete "anthology."

If you want to "own" that, it's a digital exclusive, you can't even get that on CD.

And they set it up so people who pre-ordered the vanilla versions to listen at launch, waited until those transactions went through, and then a couple hours AFTER went, "Oh, hey. Want everything? Buy THIS version now."

Without diving into the Swiftieverse, what is the general defense for this? Or is it just being ignored? Please tell me there is at least some push back against this.
 
spookyduzt

spookyduzt

Drive-In Mutant
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
10,871
MinusTydus said:
So, do I have this correct?

There are four different CD versions, each with a different bonus track-- none of which are the complete "anthology."

If you want to "own" that, it's a digital exclusive, you can't even get that on CD.

And they set it up so people who pre-ordered the vanilla versions to listen at launch, waited until those transactions went through, and then a couple hours AFTER went, "Oh, hey. Want everything? Buy THIS version now."

Without diving into the Swiftieverse, what is the general defense for this? Or is it just being ignored? Please tell me there is at least some push back against this.
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I don't think most people know or care because they've all moved to streaming.
 
Ashionok

Ashionok

Member
Nov 7, 2022
570
MinusTydus said:
So, do I have this correct?

There are four different CD versions, each with a different bonus track-- none of which are the complete "anthology."

If you want to "own" that, it's a digital exclusive, you can't even get that on CD.

And they set it up so people who pre-ordered the vanilla versions to listen at launch, waited until those transactions went through, and then a couple hours AFTER went, "Oh, hey. Want everything? Buy THIS version now."

Without diving into the Swiftieverse, what is the general defense for this? Or is it just being ignored? Please tell me there is at least some push back against this.
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its mostly been ignored
 
nilbog

nilbog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,220
MinusTydus said:
So, do I have this correct?

There are four different CD versions, each with a different bonus track-- none of which are the complete "anthology."

If you want to "own" that, it's a digital exclusive, you can't even get that on CD.

And they set it up so people who pre-ordered the vanilla versions to listen at launch, waited until those transactions went through, and then a couple hours AFTER went, "Oh, hey. Want everything? Buy THIS version now."

Without diving into the Swiftieverse, what is the general defense for this? Or is it just being ignored? Please tell me there is at least some push back against this.
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If it came out at launch it wouldn't have been a "secret double album". It sucks for fans that paid for the vinyl/cd, but they only paid for the first half anyways. Can always return it and wait for the impending Anthology release.
 

Karsha

Member
May 1, 2020
2,529
On my second listening and I don't know what people are liking on the second half, I feel like the first one is fare more inspiring and well written, the second one has some cool lyrics but the tunes are very minimal in some of the songs with the piano and its far slower and "boring" . This is a reverse situation for me when I loved the deluxe/second part of Midnight but in here I feel like the first half is the strongest
 
Oozer

Oozer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,844
TheAquaticApe said:
Ok. I'm not gonna lie. I'm an old man. I still purchase MP3 albums. I don't subscribe to any streaming services.

I totally bought TTPD on Amazon MP3 before reading about Anthology lmao

I own both now. Just started on my first listen.
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If you're an old man, I don't know what that makes me. I still buy CDs! lol As such, I'm a little annoyed because there's no way to purchase the Anthology version on physical media. She did the same "drop additional tracks a couple of hours later" thing for Midnights and there's still no way to purchase the full version of that on physical media either.

MinusTydus said:
So, do I have this correct?

There are four different CD versions, each with a different bonus track-- none of which are the complete "anthology."

If you want to "own" that, it's a digital exclusive, you can't even get that on CD.

And they set it up so people who pre-ordered the vanilla versions to listen at launch, waited until those transactions went through, and then a couple hours AFTER went, "Oh, hey. Want everything? Buy THIS version now."

Without diving into the Swiftieverse, what is the general defense for this? Or is it just being ignored? Please tell me there is at least some push back against this.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

She did nearly the same thing for Midnights and there was definitely frustration then. There's less now because of that precedent and because no matter what it does at least mean more music. And like others were saying, it doesn't matter for people who stream.
 
Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
32,416
DSync said:
Kyuuji what's your stand out tracks at the moment?

Mine are (In no order)

Fortnight
My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys
So Long London
But Daddy I Love Him
Florida!!!
Guilty As Sin?
Loml
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
The Black Dog
The Albatross
So High School
I Look In Peoples Windows
The Prophecy
The Manuscript
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Oh lord. Literally every song is favourited on Apple lol. I'll need another full listen to think on it, when I get time to do it I'll tag you.

Vector said:

View: https://x.com/Spotify/status/1781444540999831575

I believe these records were already held by her/Midnights. She keeps breaking her own records because no one else can keep up lol.
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Amazing. You love to see it
 
andymcc

andymcc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,346
Columbus, OH
Taylor Swift's albums accounted for roughly 14 percent of ALL vinyl records sold in the U.S. last year. There's a reason why she produces so many variations of her records. I won't get into the specifics about how it impacts smaller artists (who are much more dependent on record sales since they make diddly of streaming) but it is a valid thing to criticize.
 
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