andy_tchp wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:30 am
That Spice Girls comparison is a really weird take. She's released 11 albums over an ~18 year career so far and has been some level of 'famous' for most of that time, not exactly a flash in the pan.
You're missing my point a bit... neither were the Spice Girls, they had a decently long run, but retrospectively people don't go back and hold their work up as standing the test of time etc. I imagine when Taylor finishes her run and the dust settles a bit, it'll be much the same.
andy_tchp wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:30 am
And no credibility? This is OSG, a bunch of middle-aged music geeks/snobs with some pretty varied tastes discussing her current and previous albums, with many of us identifying ourselves as fans.
This made me laugh, although I don't really see anyone here as particularly snobby, more people who like what they do and know why.
andy_tchp wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:30 am
I think you're wrong on this one.
Subjectively not as it's my opinion, but I appreciate you going about this in a polite way that made me smile.
In the interests of fairness, she was a bit more bearable to my tastes earlier in her career when she was in her "America's sweetheart" phase and played acoustic guitar on most every song, closer to an Avril Lavigne overall than a Beyoncé (not ragging on Bey, more saying Taylor's most famous stuff is closer to pop diva than pop sugar).
andy_tchp wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:30 am
I mean, she's definitely released some pretty shitty songs/albums, but that's bound to happen with that much output. Even SY released a couple of outright stinkers, as have a lot of the other
credible bands that come up frequently in discussion here.
Run long enough and you'll make crappy songs or albums, it's true. I love QOTSA but honestly after
Lullabies To Paralyse which is excellent other than
The Blood Is Love (a crappy song about period sex, I think, could be wrong) I considered them a bit of a spent force. Having said that, there is some gold in their latter era, including
My God Is The Sun which is one of the bass player in my originals band's absolute favourite songs. I'd say he puts it up there with
Everlong in terms of modern rock that's now aging out as classic rock over time, and I see why, it's pretty magnificent. But listening to their albums cover to cover as I can with the first half a dozen? Not so much. First album still absolutely kills it and
Rated R arguably improves on it by diversifying the formula a bit.
I don't know, some of the Sonic Youth albums people don't like as much really appeal to me - it might have changed now but I recall
NYC Ghosts & Flowers was panned and held up as crappy, but I like the different approach and the deliberate self-conscious wannaBeat poetry weirdness of lyrics like "Death poems for the living gods of America / Plastic saxophones bleat / Bleed for nothing, nada".
My overall point is I'm just not fond of her, and having to cover
Shake It Off probably doesn't help that, but as mentioned elsewhere I did at least get to rearrange it and add major 9ᵀᴴ chords and the like to the chorus so it's not a straight three chord minor/major/major thing.