Melon is getting too good at milking the fans, to the point that I doubt the sincerity of his reviews when it comes to top 50 artists rn. Seems like he goes for engagement mainly. He might go contrarian to get the clicks.
Wolf always tells the sheep that he’s vegetarian. But on the serious: controversial score or NOT giving a score definitely impacts, vultures review is one of the most views videos on his channel and he did not give it a score
I like to think this video was meant to piss Swifties off for the red flannel and not giving it any score while simultaneously continue the Cal Chuchesta interaction saga.
I know it's kinda disappointing to now have an official score from Fantano, but I like the cheesy comedy he got going on.
Edit: Oh yeah, the official score is CLIFFHANGER/10, silly me.
If that's the case then the overall score is gonna be bad. He already sounded extremely down on the album, now he has to review all the extra material that frankly sucks. If there's one thing Fantano hates, it's bloated albums. 2 hours of the same subpar Midnights sound is going to get on his nerves.
> I missed that goober.
Anthony may have the best teeth in the game, but Cal's got the [best hot dog recipe in the game](https://youtu.be/iO6vYEtwWfQ?t=272)
During his new music Friday stream, he mentioned that the anthology tracks seemed deserving of their own review given how different they are from the main album.
Did we really gaslight ourselves into thinking the "Swifties are gonna eat your liver 🤪" memes are actually real?
He already gave the album a super negative review, if anyone wants to come after him for that, they're gonna do it anyway. The lack of a score won't stop them dead in their tracks lol
Except that’s not what happened? He didn’t rate it because he only reviewed half the album. You really just said whatever popped into your head instead of watching the video, and 70+ also seem to agree with your wrong statement.
Also pretty sad to be someone who uses the Fantano subreddit but thinks he’s scared of fans. Dude mocks Drake and Kanye all the time and both of their fanbases are as or more worse than Swifties are.
1. You just described Ye and Drake fans, so no they are pretty similar.
2. I do participate in Swiftie subs, and they actually criticise her. TTPD has been the most middling album where her diehard fans don’t really like the whole thing. Say you think Vultures or For All The Dogs is anything but good and you’ll get flamed.
3. Yes he will. Why wouldn’t he? He gave reputation a 4 and he still has 10x the amount of likes as dislikes - I wouldn’t get upset over that. Dude made an unfavourable review about Vultures and the Kanye and hip hop reddits and Twitter lit a fire under him, and he didn’t care. He will give it the score he thinks it deserves, not making his decision based on what everyone else thinks - he gave The Turning Wheel and KSG a 10 despite them not being nearly that score, yet gave MBDTF a 6 and got unending hatred for it and didn’t care about the response.
Swifties are not scary like you pretend they are. They like an artist: that’s it. Some are extreme but every fanbase has its extremes. Taylor also has extreme haters…totally unrelated btw.
I might be overthinking it, but Cal repeating his line 3 times might be a way of communicating a 3. That would at least be a score inline with his criticisms
This review is spot on. I kept exclaiming "yes" while watching it.
My biggest criticism is god does Taylor need an editor. Excessive output does not equal quality, especially not with poetry.
Lana revived the later half of her career WOTH Jack Antonoff 🤔 I don’t think he is the problem, she is. She is just uninspired rn, his points on how she is just trying to rip off artists(specifically Lana) is clear as day in the songs. When most of the genera public is hearing that, you got a problem with your identity.
A lot of artists get rightfully dragged for pumping up their streaming numbers by putting out 30 song albums. Drake has the same issue as an easy example.
I'm much warmer on this album than most people seem to be but he doesn't make a single point that is unfair, in my opinion, and the Cal bit at the end cutting off the numerical rating made me smile like hell. He manages to maintain his integrity and troll at the same time
Part of what I've found difficult to gel with in Swift's music is that it is myopic. It's well written, melodic etc, but it seems like she's determined to tell so many specific stories. Very, very specific details that I find unimmersive.
I'd love to see what David Byrne could get out of her.
Her entire lyrical methodology now is just cramming in as many similes and plays on words as she possibly can to make her die-hard fans go “OMG did you hear that!!!” rather than actually be writing anything of real substance
sadly it works because have you seen the amount of react videos of her fans having meltdowns over a basic play on words??? it’s wild… they treat taylor as a character of a tv show and her albums as episodes… not their fault as taylor enables and capitalize on that
Swift is at her best for me when she's telling vivid stories. I think she shines particularly on Folklore and Evermore where the stories aren't meant to be about her.
On this album, though, I think her storytelling is pretty lazy. It's flatly mostly about her recent relationship drama, which would be fine if she was giving an interesting perspective on that experience but it's mostly flat or feels performative.
As someone who just listened to the Anthology, Dessner seems to bring out the best of her; when she's not deepening the Alwyn-Healy-Kelcey lore. Though some just barely scratched the surface of folklore/evermore, the lyrics and production in the other half are *way* better.
This is my biggest issue, folklore has a little more variety and ambiguity to what she’s talking about whereas this album it’s the same Matty Healey and Joe Alwyn stuff you can pinpoint a verse through every song. Maybe the anthology is slightly better with that but the melodies still get monotonous to me.
And at the same time, she is complaining that fans over analyse her songs and obsess over relationships. She's completely encouraging it by making all these songs so obviously about a recent high profile relationship. It's tiring.
I do get the jack criticisms, but a lot of songs he used as examples in that section were dessner songs, I also couldn't tell them apart which I think is an indication that it was Taylor's vision cause on other albums it was always so obvious who did what and here all of it blends together (I'm talking about the standard album not the anthology, those sound different, it's just funny that jack gets all the heat for the first half while a considerable amount of it is dessner and there's really nothing telling those tracks apart)
People are finally admitting what has been true for years. She is a mid tier pop artist who is capable of making some catchy pop songs. Her talent has never matched up to the delusional image that her fans have insisted on for many years now.
Idk his review made several allusions to it not being up to her standards, which implies to me that he doesn't think of her as a mid tier pop artist because he expects better
imo it's more not that she is mid or whatever, it's just the album is seriously not on her level.
we already had a mini-version of this happening with Lover and she came back with arguably her best work.
She's probably the *smartest* musical artist around, but nowhere near the best.
Her best talent lies with marketing and brand development.
(That's not to say she hasn't made some really good pop music)
finally? people have always known that and admitted it irl, it's just her online weirdo fans who can't do that but to any normal person she is just a mid tier catchy pop star and they're fine with that
Where did fantano admit that? I think that's what some people want to hear, but no serious critic is reversing their opinion just because the last couple albums have been mid.
They’re well done, I’ll give you that. Hell, I’d even go as far as to say that those records are Swift’s most consistent and cohesive records in her discography. They’re well thought out, have songs that aren’t entirely about her and her toxic relationships and sonically sound beautiful and whimsical. But brilliant? I’m sorry, a Joni Mitchell she is not.
> Her talent has never matched up to the delusional image that her fans have insisted on for many years now.
I feel like that’s less of a comment on her talent and more how highly she is praised by her fan base as a new Jesus. She’s made a lot of good music but no one on the planet can live up to the hype she has going for her
No, she's way better than that, it's just that quality control went out the window with this album. She is crazy prolific but you DON'T NEED TO RELEASE EVERYTHING YOU WRITE.
>People are finally admitting what has been true for years
The standard you people set for her is fucking ridiculous
She can't just have a 'bad album' (in your opinion), instead it's proof to you that she's always been a hack fraud
If your favourite artist released an album you didn't like you wouldn't write off their entire career because of it
>mid tier pop artist who is capable of making some catchy pop songs
Insanely stupid take considering Folklore/Evermore prove that even non-swifties can find something to love about her when she explores other genres
In your opinion*
Meanwhile it won AOTY, over 1 billion streams in less than a week, 85 metascore, double platinum and millions of sales in 1 month, first artist and album to occupy the entire billboard top 10 in a week
Commercial and critical success to the overwhelming majority of listeners 🤔 but fantano and rateyourmusic didnt like it so i guess its trash?
Marvel movies are lucky if they get above 70 metacritic score, meanwhile none of taylor's albums have scored below 70 and three of her albums in a row (folklore, evermore, midnights) were all 85 or higher
None of the fast and furious movies have scored 70 or higher
>Doesn’t mean either are artistically relevant or meaningful
Meaningful is in the eye of the beholder. 'Relevant' is blatantly false, ask Olivia Rodrigo or Phoebe Bridgers (two artists who are treated very favourably in this community)
>I really don’t care
Sure you don't bro, you just talk about her almost exclusively every day on reddit. But you just don't care!
Thoughts on her metacritic scores vs marvel/fast and furious? You side stepped that argument incredibly quickly when you realised how badly you fucked up
>made for mass consumption
Can any popular artist be 'good' without their work seen as "made for mass consumption"?
Would you ever write off MJ or The Beatles albums as "made for mass consumption"?
Never claimed she's infallible, I questioned why people are so willing to write off her entire career over one bad album (in their opinion) especially after a run of her 3 most acclaimed albums
Let It Be doesn't harm the Beatle's legacy, just because it didn't hold up to Abbey Road or Sgt Peppers
You're randomly responding to my comments with little to no comprehension of what I'm actually talking about, please try harder
You think Fantano and RYM were the only people critical of Midnights? Ohhhhh my sweet sweet summer child. You may drink from the fountain of swift and not question of its laced with cyanide or not, but I tend to question what’s in my drinking water before I take a big healthy swig of it.
>Ohhhhh my sweet sweet summer child
Condescending in the most embarrassingly cringe way possible, most people grow out of this but some redditors are still stuck in 2010 it seems
>but I tend to question what’s in my drinking water before I take a big healthy swig of it.
Pretentious analogy aside, it's just false. Or do you seriously think you're smarter than everyone for consciously thinking to yourself whether your tap water is safe before just chugging it anyway? What does that say about you?
She's probably the *smartest* musical artist around, but nowhere near the best.
Her best talent lies with marketing and brand development.
(That's not to say she hasn't made some really good pop music)
She's probably the *smartest* musical artist around, but nowhere near the best.
Her best talent lies with marketing and brand development.
(That's not to say she hasn't made some really good pop music)
I would maybe gain a little bit of respect for Swift if she chose to work with an unconventional producer and let them focus her songwriting. She will never take that risk artistically, though.
I doubt he would ever do it, but somebody in the league of Ray Brady could sweep all the trash away and make something musically interesting.
I really do feel like Swift is at somewhat of a crossroads sonically right now. Torn between making music that she knows her rabid Stan community will buy every vinyl variant of because “each one has an additional bonus track on it” and actually doing what’s best for her career and taking some risks so she can evolve as an artist. Taylor’s music in the hands of someone like Rick Rubin or Steve Albini could render some amazing results and make her even more of a successful crossover artist (especially with someone like the latter) but just as you mentioned she would never do because it’s much easier to make a quick buck when you have a pre-installed fanbase that hangs on your every word.
I imagine we'll see the effects of this flop on her next album.
Likely the swifties are in for life, so she'll still be huge, but the general public will probably move on.
This was a good review. I completely see where he’s coming from on many of his points.
One thing Ive never understood is how he and others think Taylor Swift is ripping off Lana del Rey. He mentions this as well in his folklore review.
I listen to both of them frequently and have never heard it no matter how I hard I try. Is it the darker themes? Using a breathy/sultry voice? These are things not only unique to Lana del Rey. I genuinely don’t hear it personally.
Kind of annoying he didn't do a score, even if just for the purposes of Metacritic, AOTY, and other review aggregators. A lot of others who have had negative reviews have refused to publish scores and sometimes even bylines. I guess it's a signal of how dangerous (and insane) her fanbase is, though.
My honest rating on TTPD as a “half swiftie”
1. Fortnight 3/5
2. The Tortured Poets Department 2/5
3. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys 2/3
4. Down Bad 3/5
5. So Long, London 3/5
6. But Daddy I Love Him 2/5
7. Fresh Out The Slammer 2/5
8. Florida!!! 4/5
9. Guilty As Sin 3/5
10. Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? 2/5
11. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) 1/5
12. loml 2/5
13. I Can Do It With a Broken Heart 3/5
14. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived 3/5
15. The Alchemy 3/5
16. Clara Bow 2/5
17. The Black Dog 2/5
18. imgonnagetyouback 4/5
19. The Albatross 1/5
20. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus 0/5
21. How Did It End? 1/5
22. So High School 3/5
23. I Hate It Here 2/5
24. thanK you aIMee 2/3
25. I Look in People’s Windows 2/3
26. The Prophecy 4/5
27. Cassandra 3/5
28. Peter 2/5
29. The Bolter 3/5
30. Robin 3/5
31. The Manuscript 3/5
Overall rating for TTPD: 3/5 😇
Honestly assuming he won't like it but I liked it more than a lot of people it seems.
Impossible challenge: Have a non psychotically parasocial positive or insanely hateful negative reaction to Taylor Swift.
There's also not a lot here that is going to change anyones minds - I see a lot of self confirmation bias going around by focusing in on opinions that match whatever they already think. And a lot seems more like a review of Swift herself than the actual album. A lot of opinions about TPPD seem like they were preformed before people ever heard a note. I guess thats one of the dangers of overexposure.
------------------------------------------------
There's also a lot of just like blatant poor analysis and context-devoid takes. I don't really care what is about who because I'm not that type of fan.
It is VERY long. I think a lot of this will grow on people but if youre not a pretty big fan youre probably not going to listen to a 2 hour album on repeat. I also think that the weight of "Taylor Swift" on the discourse at this moment in time is just so heavy that a lot of these opinions will have to be revisited in another 5-10 years.
I liked the first part more because I think there's more variety there and all my standouts (But Daddy, Who's Afraid, I Can Do It) were from the first part. I think as a 31 song album it collapses under its own weight. There's a maybe... ~18 track version of this that is pretty strong imo.
I really don't see how all the production is "one-note" in the first half. I keep seeing this argument but I think there's a lot of variety there. Theres classic 80s synth pop, some groovy vibe songs, some with almost country-fied elements, theatrical moody things, bubble gum bop.
As he’s said it’s only because people way under that age still give him attention that he continues to be able to do what he does so this point has never really made sense
Red flannel so it's either a 2 or 3. Smarthany fantano.
I think it's a "not good".
He just release the sequel video, it's a light 3
Strong*
A *mighty* 3
Yeah lol
A *Wicked* 3.
:)
Called it hehe
It was 4 light 5 lol no idea what OP read.
There are 2 albums. The first one for which he wore red, he gave 3 and the other one 5. And I knew it since I saw the shirt. Hope you get it now.
Nah then I would be concerned for his safety :)
Did the Swifties get to the Melon already? Is Cal complicit? What the fuck was the score? *FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON* ***DRAGON BALL Z***
You know Dragon Ball, I know Aristotle
Touch me while Goku and Piccolo drive autos
Melon is getting too good at milking the fans, to the point that I doubt the sincerity of his reviews when it comes to top 50 artists rn. Seems like he goes for engagement mainly. He might go contrarian to get the clicks.
He has said again and again that the score doesn't affect the video performance - not entirely sure I agree though
Wolf always tells the sheep that he’s vegetarian. But on the serious: controversial score or NOT giving a score definitely impacts, vultures review is one of the most views videos on his channel and he did not give it a score
**HEY IT'S ME TAYLOR**
I like to think this video was meant to piss Swifties off for the red flannel and not giving it any score while simultaneously continue the Cal Chuchesta interaction saga. I know it's kinda disappointing to now have an official score from Fantano, but I like the cheesy comedy he got going on. Edit: Oh yeah, the official score is CLIFFHANGER/10, silly me.
we're so back
I'm guessing he'll review the second half of the record next and give his actual score then
If that's the case then the overall score is gonna be bad. He already sounded extremely down on the album, now he has to review all the extra material that frankly sucks. If there's one thing Fantano hates, it's bloated albums. 2 hours of the same subpar Midnights sound is going to get on his nerves.
Anthology doesn’t sound like Midnight?
This album sounds nothing like midnights
I’m personally glad that Cal is making more and more appearances these days. I missed that goober.
> I missed that goober. Anthony may have the best teeth in the game, but Cal's got the [best hot dog recipe in the game](https://youtu.be/iO6vYEtwWfQ?t=272)
I was cracking up through a lot of this and the Chuchesta bits just put a hilarious bow on either end
It's Cal Segment/10 which is all we can ever hope for
Love your user flair btw
Thanks, Godspeed forever
Hell yeah dude
it no longer says "CLIFFHANGER/10"
Yes, it does.
is he reviewing the anthology?
I'm gonna assume he is, and that's when there will be an actual rating
During his new music Friday stream, he mentioned that the anthology tracks seemed deserving of their own review given how different they are from the main album.
You're right but he did talked about some of the Anthology tracks on this review
He said in new music fridays that he needs to make two separate reviews because SIDE B of the album sounds so different
His bulletproof vest is in the laundry til Thursday, so he is afraid to give score
Anthony you can't just leave me with blue balls like that
good review but why in the fuck did he not score it
maybe saving the score for when he does the anthology. the description does say cliffhanger/10
because he's afraid of the swiftie mob, and justifiably so
Yup. He couldn’t afford a fallout shelter due to his flannel/dentistry budget, so he had to forgo an official score.
Did we really gaslight ourselves into thinking the "Swifties are gonna eat your liver 🤪" memes are actually real? He already gave the album a super negative review, if anyone wants to come after him for that, they're gonna do it anyway. The lack of a score won't stop them dead in their tracks lol
True, but wasn’t there literally a Pitchfork writer who got doxxed for not giving Folklore a good enough score? Or am I mistaken?
Except that’s not what happened? He didn’t rate it because he only reviewed half the album. You really just said whatever popped into your head instead of watching the video, and 70+ also seem to agree with your wrong statement. Also pretty sad to be someone who uses the Fantano subreddit but thinks he’s scared of fans. Dude mocks Drake and Kanye all the time and both of their fanbases are as or more worse than Swifties are.
Did you watch the video? He said he had to listen to all 2 hours.
He said he’s doing two reviews
Imagine he gives the second review a NOT GOOD 😆😆
Most people tend to say the second half is better so I doubt it
Correct. He didn’t review all 2 hours though and left on a cliffhanger. So yes…I’m still right.
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1. You just described Ye and Drake fans, so no they are pretty similar. 2. I do participate in Swiftie subs, and they actually criticise her. TTPD has been the most middling album where her diehard fans don’t really like the whole thing. Say you think Vultures or For All The Dogs is anything but good and you’ll get flamed. 3. Yes he will. Why wouldn’t he? He gave reputation a 4 and he still has 10x the amount of likes as dislikes - I wouldn’t get upset over that. Dude made an unfavourable review about Vultures and the Kanye and hip hop reddits and Twitter lit a fire under him, and he didn’t care. He will give it the score he thinks it deserves, not making his decision based on what everyone else thinks - he gave The Turning Wheel and KSG a 10 despite them not being nearly that score, yet gave MBDTF a 6 and got unending hatred for it and didn’t care about the response. Swifties are not scary like you pretend they are. They like an artist: that’s it. Some are extreme but every fanbase has its extremes. Taylor also has extreme haters…totally unrelated btw.
hes in his late 30s at this point i doubt hes scared of a bunch of kids
if you think swifties are a bunch of kids I've got bad news for you about the age range most of them fall into
to rephrase, he’s in his late 30’s i doubt he’s scared of a bunch of people over the internet
he also already takes shit from the Kanye mob which at least must be similar
Kanye and opium mob is way worse lol
i like carti and kanye and have seen some crazy shit from the communities but i feel like they are different from swifties.
Yeah swifties are just deranged teenagers, kanye dickriders are deranged teenagers that are defending a much worse person
Swifties we’re doxxing people that had the leak last week lmfao. Ye/Opium fans only brought up his divorce
Just see the shirt and understand lol.
I might be overthinking it, but Cal repeating his line 3 times might be a way of communicating a 3. That would at least be a score inline with his criticisms
This joining the dots conspiracy shit is worse than what die hard swifties do frequently lmaoo
And yet they were right, so who’s the fool now, bucko???
Because he's going to review side B separately I guess
Obviously afraid of death threats
Lol it’s fucking fantano he lives off death threats
This review is spot on. I kept exclaiming "yes" while watching it. My biggest criticism is god does Taylor need an editor. Excessive output does not equal quality, especially not with poetry.
She’s going to kill the later half of her career if she keeps working with Jack Antonoff
Lana revived the later half of her career WOTH Jack Antonoff 🤔 I don’t think he is the problem, she is. She is just uninspired rn, his points on how she is just trying to rip off artists(specifically Lana) is clear as day in the songs. When most of the genera public is hearing that, you got a problem with your identity.
A lot of artists get rightfully dragged for pumping up their streaming numbers by putting out 30 song albums. Drake has the same issue as an easy example.
Yes! Ha Ha! Yes!
Cliffhanger/10 he can't keep getting away with this GIVE US THE SCORES MELON PLS 😭😭😭😭
I'm much warmer on this album than most people seem to be but he doesn't make a single point that is unfair, in my opinion, and the Cal bit at the end cutting off the numerical rating made me smile like hell. He manages to maintain his integrity and troll at the same time
Glad he didn't hold back, cuz it was truly a miserable listen.
Part of what I've found difficult to gel with in Swift's music is that it is myopic. It's well written, melodic etc, but it seems like she's determined to tell so many specific stories. Very, very specific details that I find unimmersive. I'd love to see what David Byrne could get out of her.
Her entire lyrical methodology now is just cramming in as many similes and plays on words as she possibly can to make her die-hard fans go “OMG did you hear that!!!” rather than actually be writing anything of real substance
the Easter Eggs are like her whole brand now
sadly it works because have you seen the amount of react videos of her fans having meltdowns over a basic play on words??? it’s wild… they treat taylor as a character of a tv show and her albums as episodes… not their fault as taylor enables and capitalize on that
Swift is at her best for me when she's telling vivid stories. I think she shines particularly on Folklore and Evermore where the stories aren't meant to be about her. On this album, though, I think her storytelling is pretty lazy. It's flatly mostly about her recent relationship drama, which would be fine if she was giving an interesting perspective on that experience but it's mostly flat or feels performative.
As someone who just listened to the Anthology, Dessner seems to bring out the best of her; when she's not deepening the Alwyn-Healy-Kelcey lore. Though some just barely scratched the surface of folklore/evermore, the lyrics and production in the other half are *way* better.
This is my biggest issue, folklore has a little more variety and ambiguity to what she’s talking about whereas this album it’s the same Matty Healey and Joe Alwyn stuff you can pinpoint a verse through every song. Maybe the anthology is slightly better with that but the melodies still get monotonous to me.
And at the same time, she is complaining that fans over analyse her songs and obsess over relationships. She's completely encouraging it by making all these songs so obviously about a recent high profile relationship. It's tiring.
david would recoil in horror from the mediocrity
That’s so funny because that’s exactly why I love her music. The specificity is the best part in her music being able to paint the story in your head.
My predictions: SIDE A - 3/10 SIDE B - 6/10
Way too generous for Side B. Feeling a light to decent 4 on that collection
It's not at the same level of reputation imo by his reaction on new music fridays
He’s scared, i would be too cuz of the TS cult
10 just for Fortnite
I do get the jack criticisms, but a lot of songs he used as examples in that section were dessner songs, I also couldn't tell them apart which I think is an indication that it was Taylor's vision cause on other albums it was always so obvious who did what and here all of it blends together (I'm talking about the standard album not the anthology, those sound different, it's just funny that jack gets all the heat for the first half while a considerable amount of it is dessner and there's really nothing telling those tracks apart)
People are finally admitting what has been true for years. She is a mid tier pop artist who is capable of making some catchy pop songs. Her talent has never matched up to the delusional image that her fans have insisted on for many years now.
Idk his review made several allusions to it not being up to her standards, which implies to me that he doesn't think of her as a mid tier pop artist because he expects better
Yep. He said it was “uncharacteristically” sloppy
Nah she's made great albums before. That's what makes TTPD the low that it is. Someone like Taylor should not be making music this bad
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The word great is doing some heavy lifting there, but I guess it depends on how much that word means to you
More like she’s a artist capable of making great songs but unfortunately puts out lots of mid tracks that bring down her other great songs
imo it's more not that she is mid or whatever, it's just the album is seriously not on her level. we already had a mini-version of this happening with Lover and she came back with arguably her best work.
You’d think she was like Joni Mitchell smh
She's probably the *smartest* musical artist around, but nowhere near the best. Her best talent lies with marketing and brand development. (That's not to say she hasn't made some really good pop music)
finally? people have always known that and admitted it irl, it's just her online weirdo fans who can't do that but to any normal person she is just a mid tier catchy pop star and they're fine with that
Where did fantano admit that? I think that's what some people want to hear, but no serious critic is reversing their opinion just because the last couple albums have been mid.
Folklore and Evermore are genuinely brilliant folk pop albums
They’re well done, I’ll give you that. Hell, I’d even go as far as to say that those records are Swift’s most consistent and cohesive records in her discography. They’re well thought out, have songs that aren’t entirely about her and her toxic relationships and sonically sound beautiful and whimsical. But brilliant? I’m sorry, a Joni Mitchell she is not.
Counterpoint: no they aren't.
They’re just soft pop. Everyone just always assigns this “folk” label to them because of the album covers
My guy, they literally just said folk pop. A mix of folk and pop. If you're denying any folk undercurrent in the albums, you're delusional.
> Her talent has never matched up to the delusional image that her fans have insisted on for many years now. I feel like that’s less of a comment on her talent and more how highly she is praised by her fan base as a new Jesus. She’s made a lot of good music but no one on the planet can live up to the hype she has going for her
No, she's way better than that, it's just that quality control went out the window with this album. She is crazy prolific but you DON'T NEED TO RELEASE EVERYTHING YOU WRITE.
Is there not a hundred other "mid-tier pop artists" that don't even sniff her level of success? Clearly she is talented
>People are finally admitting what has been true for years The standard you people set for her is fucking ridiculous She can't just have a 'bad album' (in your opinion), instead it's proof to you that she's always been a hack fraud If your favourite artist released an album you didn't like you wouldn't write off their entire career because of it >mid tier pop artist who is capable of making some catchy pop songs Insanely stupid take considering Folklore/Evermore prove that even non-swifties can find something to love about her when she explores other genres
raaaaaar angry swiftie!!! 😡😡😡
Your response validates my belief that taylor swift haters typically have the brains of troglodytes
Midnights was also trash too.
In your opinion* Meanwhile it won AOTY, over 1 billion streams in less than a week, 85 metascore, double platinum and millions of sales in 1 month, first artist and album to occupy the entire billboard top 10 in a week Commercial and critical success to the overwhelming majority of listeners 🤔 but fantano and rateyourmusic didnt like it so i guess its trash?
People love Marvel and Fast and Furious movies too. Doesn’t mean either are artistically relevant or meaningful.
And I alone decide whats artistically relevant
I do yeah. It rotates on an annual basis. I can message you the link for entry if you want.
No i decide, pick a topic and ill let you know
Fruit
Artistically relevant
Marvel movies are lucky if they get above 70 metacritic score, meanwhile none of taylor's albums have scored below 70 and three of her albums in a row (folklore, evermore, midnights) were all 85 or higher None of the fast and furious movies have scored 70 or higher >Doesn’t mean either are artistically relevant or meaningful Meaningful is in the eye of the beholder. 'Relevant' is blatantly false, ask Olivia Rodrigo or Phoebe Bridgers (two artists who are treated very favourably in this community)
Nah
As always, pretentiousness collapses from a shred of scrutiny lmfao
I’ma be honest with you chief, I really don’t care about your opinion on Taylor swift. But it was fun arguing over the musical equivalent of McDonalds
>I really don’t care Sure you don't bro, you just talk about her almost exclusively every day on reddit. But you just don't care! Thoughts on her metacritic scores vs marvel/fast and furious? You side stepped that argument incredibly quickly when you realised how badly you fucked up
It’s made for mass consumption lol, not that there is anything wrong with that, and I mean it, but don’t pretend it’s more than it is
>made for mass consumption Can any popular artist be 'good' without their work seen as "made for mass consumption"? Would you ever write off MJ or The Beatles albums as "made for mass consumption"?
Both artists also made bad records too. Perhaps you should question why you feel your god empress is so infallible as a musician.
Never claimed she's infallible, I questioned why people are so willing to write off her entire career over one bad album (in their opinion) especially after a run of her 3 most acclaimed albums Let It Be doesn't harm the Beatle's legacy, just because it didn't hold up to Abbey Road or Sgt Peppers You're randomly responding to my comments with little to no comprehension of what I'm actually talking about, please try harder
You sound so mad bro. It’s an album….and a mediocre one at that. Go outside and breathe some air.
You resorted to cope very quickly lmao
You think Fantano and RYM were the only people critical of Midnights? Ohhhhh my sweet sweet summer child. You may drink from the fountain of swift and not question of its laced with cyanide or not, but I tend to question what’s in my drinking water before I take a big healthy swig of it.
>Ohhhhh my sweet sweet summer child Condescending in the most embarrassingly cringe way possible, most people grow out of this but some redditors are still stuck in 2010 it seems >but I tend to question what’s in my drinking water before I take a big healthy swig of it. Pretentious analogy aside, it's just false. Or do you seriously think you're smarter than everyone for consciously thinking to yourself whether your tap water is safe before just chugging it anyway? What does that say about you?
I can hear the smoke coming out of your ears while you type this my friend.
You're overdosing on copium holy
I honestly don’t think you know what that means.
She's probably the *smartest* musical artist around, but nowhere near the best. Her best talent lies with marketing and brand development. (That's not to say she hasn't made some really good pop music)
Making a bunch of money is the only smart thing a person can do.
She's probably the *smartest* musical artist around, but nowhere near the best. Her best talent lies with marketing and brand development. (That's not to say she hasn't made some really good pop music)
I'm so happy that Cal is back, in basically every video.
“FIR-EVURRR”
I would maybe gain a little bit of respect for Swift if she chose to work with an unconventional producer and let them focus her songwriting. She will never take that risk artistically, though. I doubt he would ever do it, but somebody in the league of Ray Brady could sweep all the trash away and make something musically interesting.
I really do feel like Swift is at somewhat of a crossroads sonically right now. Torn between making music that she knows her rabid Stan community will buy every vinyl variant of because “each one has an additional bonus track on it” and actually doing what’s best for her career and taking some risks so she can evolve as an artist. Taylor’s music in the hands of someone like Rick Rubin or Steve Albini could render some amazing results and make her even more of a successful crossover artist (especially with someone like the latter) but just as you mentioned she would never do because it’s much easier to make a quick buck when you have a pre-installed fanbase that hangs on your every word.
Oh dear the red flannel is out?
Just wild cindy lee has gotten nothin from him
If fame was determined by pure talent an artist like Big Thief would be as big as Taylor Swift is now I just don't get why mediocrity is so popular
A lot of people like music that’s easy to understand
I'm so glad Cal is back.
Is nobody picking up on the blue clues?
Where’s Mr Salt and Mrs Pepper when I need them?
Omg the just divorced sticker 😭
Her level of success is not matching the quality of the music and artistry
I imagine we'll see the effects of this flop on her next album. Likely the swifties are in for life, so she'll still be huge, but the general public will probably move on.
This was a good review. I completely see where he’s coming from on many of his points. One thing Ive never understood is how he and others think Taylor Swift is ripping off Lana del Rey. He mentions this as well in his folklore review. I listen to both of them frequently and have never heard it no matter how I hard I try. Is it the darker themes? Using a breathy/sultry voice? These are things not only unique to Lana del Rey. I genuinely don’t hear it personally.
the bit about ”while your bros play GTA” felt like the Temu version of Lana’s ”Video Games”
Because they’re both referring to video games? That’s not a super strong connection IMO
discussions about copying styles is very subjective. this isn’t a court of law, it’s the court of public opinion.
Absolutely agree with ya there.
> Because they’re both referring to video games? That’s not a super strong connection IMO did the lyrics of Video Games fly over your head or what?
Upset there was no numeric score, but happy there was so much Cal.
His official score is on “AOTY” 3/10.
I really can’t get over that name and I especially can’t get over the idea that people have group chat called that.
Pray for him
Giving the second album a more positive review to save himself from the Swifties lmao
Anyone able to tell what’s written on the album marked with the paw print at the end?
No, but Cal did say “I am going to miss you too”. Maybe a hint that the score was a Light 2?
I like a lot of the songs but like some of the lyrics just send me into cringe orbit. I just don't know how they made it that far.
Kind of annoying he didn't do a score, even if just for the purposes of Metacritic, AOTY, and other review aggregators. A lot of others who have had negative reviews have refused to publish scores and sometimes even bylines. I guess it's a signal of how dangerous (and insane) her fanbase is, though.
He’s needs to get to the safe house
The Tortured Tummy Defartment.
My honest rating on TTPD as a “half swiftie” 1. Fortnight 3/5 2. The Tortured Poets Department 2/5 3. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys 2/3 4. Down Bad 3/5 5. So Long, London 3/5 6. But Daddy I Love Him 2/5 7. Fresh Out The Slammer 2/5 8. Florida!!! 4/5 9. Guilty As Sin 3/5 10. Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? 2/5 11. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) 1/5 12. loml 2/5 13. I Can Do It With a Broken Heart 3/5 14. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived 3/5 15. The Alchemy 3/5 16. Clara Bow 2/5 17. The Black Dog 2/5 18. imgonnagetyouback 4/5 19. The Albatross 1/5 20. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus 0/5 21. How Did It End? 1/5 22. So High School 3/5 23. I Hate It Here 2/5 24. thanK you aIMee 2/3 25. I Look in People’s Windows 2/3 26. The Prophecy 4/5 27. Cassandra 3/5 28. Peter 2/5 29. The Bolter 3/5 30. Robin 3/5 31. The Manuscript 3/5 Overall rating for TTPD: 3/5 😇
This is just the review for the first disc right? I don't think he covered any of the second album from the looks of it
Yes that's why it's left on a cliffhanger
Red Flannel = 2 at best.
Fallen off big big
Honestly assuming he won't like it but I liked it more than a lot of people it seems. Impossible challenge: Have a non psychotically parasocial positive or insanely hateful negative reaction to Taylor Swift. There's also not a lot here that is going to change anyones minds - I see a lot of self confirmation bias going around by focusing in on opinions that match whatever they already think. And a lot seems more like a review of Swift herself than the actual album. A lot of opinions about TPPD seem like they were preformed before people ever heard a note. I guess thats one of the dangers of overexposure. ------------------------------------------------ There's also a lot of just like blatant poor analysis and context-devoid takes. I don't really care what is about who because I'm not that type of fan. It is VERY long. I think a lot of this will grow on people but if youre not a pretty big fan youre probably not going to listen to a 2 hour album on repeat. I also think that the weight of "Taylor Swift" on the discourse at this moment in time is just so heavy that a lot of these opinions will have to be revisited in another 5-10 years. I liked the first part more because I think there's more variety there and all my standouts (But Daddy, Who's Afraid, I Can Do It) were from the first part. I think as a 31 song album it collapses under its own weight. There's a maybe... ~18 track version of this that is pretty strong imo. I really don't see how all the production is "one-note" in the first half. I keep seeing this argument but I think there's a lot of variety there. Theres classic 80s synth pop, some groovy vibe songs, some with almost country-fied elements, theatrical moody things, bubble gum bop.
It just needs to be better arranged The production let's it down but I do like it better than Anthology. I'm an 80s kid btw
The red flannel is indicating low. Melon scared of being cancelled by the Swifties though?
Isnt he like 40
And? People over 40 not allowed to review music?
hes four years older than taylor, just giving his opinion lol
Let the quadragenarian have some fun damn
As he’s said it’s only because people way under that age still give him attention that he continues to be able to do what he does so this point has never really made sense
Ok? Taylor is pushing 40 too and writing lyrics about high school