I sat down a bit with some of the anthology tracks tonight: The Black Dog - incredible. One of the best songs on the entire collection. It was worth the price of the 2xLP for this song imgonnagetyouback - Decent but I don’t love it. The similarity to “Get Him Back” overshadows the whole thing and makes me remember the shifty nonsense she pulled on Olivia The Albatross - this one is great. I had checked it out on day 1 and liked it and I like it even more now. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus - very good! It doesn’t stick in my head just yet. But I think it will. That chorus hurts How Did It End - This is where the anthology starts to sink for me. I don’t remember much about this at all musically and the lyrics are her following her worst tendencies. The first verse makes me feel like I’m grading English homework again So High School - I want to like this so much more than I do. The music is excellent. But it’s not particularly dynamic and her vocals don’t take it anywhere. I want this to have a huge chorus that just soars. It never does. And the fact that it never takes off makes me zero in on the lyric, which I think are very bad I Hate it Here - another forgettable one. Is this actually forgettable or do I need to take these songs in in smaller chunks? This is why I think the length works against the songs individually. It just feels overwhelming. Thank You Aimee - no thanks I Look in People’s Windows - fine but forgettable. This kind of song would be a great b-side. It feels kinda pointless on the album. The Prophecy - ok now we’re talking again. I really like this one. But I had to stop listening after this to finish some housework and get a shower
https://www.reddit.com/r/TaylorSwiftVinyl/s/qUf6fjaMfC Interesting thread here. This aligns with what I heard from a local store, that after this latest shipment they can’t order the variants anymore. Maybe just an initial indie exclusive blitz? It would be wild if any of the variants turn out to be actually somewhat limited
I agree about So High School. I like it a lot, but it does feel like that soaring chorus that is imminent never quite hits. I do think taking the songs in smaller chunks is extremely helpful at the outset. I struggled with quite a few songs at first when trying straight through listens, but had much more success once I tackled a handful of songs at a time. I didn't really get into The Black Dog until yesterday.
Thanks for posting this. after reading it I hunted down a vinyl copy of the variant w. The Bolter, as it's my fave "bonus" track out of the bunch. I might give my copy w. "The Manuscript" to my niece, who, at the age of 9 has a (proper) turntable and a small but growing vinyl collection (mostly Taylor.)
I just checked, and the only Japanese release that includes “You’re Losing Me” is The Late Night Edition, which is musically identical to the one sold on the tour. According to Discogs, all other Japanese Midnights CDs are musically identical to the US Target-exclusive Lavender Edition (with “Hits Different” and two remixes as bonus tracks). Putting that all together, either: A) You bought the legit Late Night Edition and, in your post above, you said “You’re Losing Me” when you meant “Hits Different,” in which case you’re missing “Paris” and “Glitch,” or B) You bought a counterfeit CD that included “Paris” and “Glitch” but not “You’re Losing Me” and then bought the Late Night Edition from Japan to get ”You’re Losing Me,” in which case you may be missing “Hits Different” and the two Lavender Edition remixes (assuming your counterfeit didn’t include them).
My CD of the regular edition arrived so I got to listen on my good system instead of streaming on headphones. That was nice! As expected I enjoyed the second listen even more than the first, and look forward to digging into it further.
Some breaking news suitable for a Friday night: Taylor Swift has made Australian music history, becoming the female artist with the most No 1 albums in Aria history. Her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, is her 13th album to reach No 1 on the Aria album chart, surpassing the record held by Madonna. She is also now the first artist ever to hold the entire top 10 on the singles chart, and currently holds 29 spots in the top 50 singles at once – a feat that has never been achieved before. Swift remains the only artist to replace themselves at No 1 on Aria album chart, and has done so three times. from the guardian
So how many times do I have to listen to listen to this record (been listening to the vinyl) until all the songs stop sounding like each other?
13 times. But Fortnight, But Daddy I love him, loml, So high school, The prophecy, to name a few, dont sound Like each other...
I assume with her dropping The Anthology, they don’t need the bonus track version anymore so hopefully that means a 4LP set is coming sooner than later.
It’s so tough to tell. Midnights never got a full vinyl release so I’m torn on whether I think this will or not. And, if it does, that’s crappy of her to offer these bonus track variants when a version with every song is on the way.
I listened to the 'Midnights' album a few months ago and was surprised at the amount of 'naughty words' in her lyrics considering how popular she is and the age of her listeners. Not even a band like Oasis swore that much in their music.
It's interesting, why so many young girls are 'listening' to her music, considering she's an adult artist now of 34 years of age... I'm only guessing, but I doubt her last few albums are aimed at teenagers, when in fact, they are probably more aimed at the women in her age bracket, which is natural. Also, with Taylor's increasing 'colorful' language, are parents even aware of the fact? Just the same, nobody seems too bothered.
This was posted by @aseriesofsneaks earlier in the thread re: the demographics of her fandom Here's an interesting bit of reading from Forbes about the demographics of Taylor's fan base. “Some 45% of avid fans are millennials, people between the ages of 27 and 42, while 23% are baby boomers, 21% are Gen Xers and just 11% are members of Gen Z—those 26 and under.”
I wonder how they calculated those stats... ages of people buying tickets/albums/merch? Because strictly based on what you see at her concerts, it would seem that there is a larger percentage of under-26 than that... in the case of the teen component, I suspect that parents are actually buying tickets, etc. And in many cases could be attending with their children.
Since a few folks mentioned New Order earlier in the thread… does the Black Dog/Anthology cover art remind anyone else of the Love Will Tear Us Apart 12”? I was filing my LP away today and that struck me
Yep, I think this goes back to the point about this being a grower. Much of the album was definitely a blur to me on the first listen, but once I was a handful of listens in, not only did the songs come out and show me how good they were, but the differences between the many songs became much clearer. This is like her anti-1989 (an album loaded with insanely catchy songs that hook you instantly). I'm not sure why some get so hung up on target audiences or stuff like that. Is is to shame those who listen who aren't part of it? Who knows. I saw Rush 12 times between 1991 and 2015, and I can say confidently that probably 90-95% of the people at those shows were men, and I, when seeing the women there, never thought, "jeez, what are they doing here?" The more fans, from any demographic, the better!
There are “clean versions” available (though I think the clean version of Tortured Poets is digital only).
Most of the listening I've done to date has been streaming from Amazon Music into headphones. Today is the first time I'm listening to vinyl on my main system with loudspeakers. The vinyl is.. disappointing. That "Made in Mexico" means Vantiva, located in Guadalajara. The mastering is ok, but there is crackle throughout. Between tracks, it sounds exactly like a VG+ used record. The problem, of course, is that this is an album of quiet, atmospheric songs, so that crackle is ALWAYS there. This isn't a minor issue for me. She had been using MPO in France for her recent albums, and those were never quiet. I was hoping that she'd make a move to Optimal or Pallas, an improvement commensurate with the status of the artist. But no, she took a step down, and I'm guessing that it's all these (frankly, stupid) variants that pushes her towards these B-list pressing plants. With the bonus track, it means 5 records must be pressed to satisfy all the variants. The packaging on this thing is really spectacular but what's the point if the pressing doesn't live up to it? I'm going to keep following Swift, but until something changes I'm not buying any more of this sub-par vinyl. Edit: An idea..press the album at Optimal, and if you need a variant, just throw in a 7", and press that wherever you like. You know, like in the old days.
