this new Taylor Swift record

[panoramic]

EDIT mk ii: there are a few songs on folklore that are would-be dream pop classics if the narrative style lyrics were replaced with impressionistic, vague words (a style I also like, obvs)

I agree with this. There are some great moments on that album especially. I genuinely like most of what she’s done (and can appreciate the rest). (Haven’t had the time to dig into the new one yet / spending new record listening time with somesurprises “perseids”)

ABSOLUTELY. I have been listening to topographies lately and i think if you stripped her stuff back you could get into that territory easily. Why would she want to though? She's making more money than any other musician pretty much ever and she's doing it exactly how she wants.

[andy_tchp]

So many references to 60s/70s acts...!



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.

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.

I think you're wrong on this one.

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.

[andy_tchp]

Courtney Love: Also not important nor interesting in any way (artistically or otherwise).

pretty on the inside is a really great dirgey SY inspired record, it's a less hostile babes in toyland.

I might have to give this another chance. I'm mostly familiar with Live Through This which has some great songs.

[crazyzeke]

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.

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.

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).

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.