Paste Magazine writes scathing review of Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets album

[thisboyisamonster 741]

8 hours ago, Bronco said:

Honestly this is my main critique. Not everything needed releasing.

But as someone who's gone through a traumatic breakup I can also imagine how carthatic and healing being able to just write down your feelings in a song and release it to the world would be. So I understand why it didn't get edited down. 

I also hope this is the last Antonof synthpop output she does. That said, given her account of how 2023 went, I'm not surprised she's stuck with what's comfortable and stable in her work with Antonoff. When a 6yr relationship explodes, I don't think my first thought would be "lets drop my close friends and go hang out with strangers" lol.

This actually makes a lot of sense. But tbh I think jack probably has wider range than what we got (if I'm not wrong he did a lot of 1989)... I think the whole thing was also slightly rushed and most of it probably written/recorded last year as opposed to over 2 years

[StrawberryBlond 13,985]

This review pulled no punches. Very smart (but sad) that the magazine chose to omit the name of the reviewer for fear of Swiftie retribution. This is getting ridiculous, have the police taken any of these threats seriously, by the way? I appreciate them having the guts to be contrary against all the other critics (they're after my heart), to be the one outlier is tough in that industry but needed. Get ready for a takedown of this anonymous reviewer in a future song, possibly with a line like "you hid your identity like a thief in the night, you'd put your name on it if you truly thought you were right." 

They included a good few lyrics to quote, but here's my personal rundown of some of the oddest/nonsensical/unhinged ones:

"And for a fortnight there, we were forever, run into you sometimes, ask about the weather, now you're in my backyard, turned into good neighbours, your wife waters flowers, I want to kill her." - Fortnight

"You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate, we declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist, I scratch your head, you fall asleep like a tattooed golden retriever." - The Tortured Poet's Department

"What if I roll the stone away, they're going to crucify me anyway." - Guilty As Sin

"So I leap from the gallows and I levitate down your street, crash the party like a record scratch as I scream who's afraid of little old me? You should be." - Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me?

"Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead? Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed? Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy? In 50 years, will all this be de-classified?" - The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

"You look like Taylor Swift in this light, we're loving it, you've got edge she never did, the future's bright. Dazzling." - Clara Bow

"Whether I'm gonna be your wife or smash up your bike, I've not decided yet, but I'm gonna get you back." - imgonnagetyouback

"My beloved ghost and me, sitting in a tree, d-y-i-n-g." - How Did It End?

"Brand new, full throttle, touch me while your bros play Grand Theft Auto." - So High School

"My friends used to play a game where we would pick a decade we wished we could live in instead of this, I'd say the 1830's but without all the racists and getting married off for the highest bid." - I Hate It Here

"When I picture my hometown, there's a bronze, spray-tanned statue of you and a plaque underneath it that threatens to push me down the stairs at our school." - thanK you aIMee

 

If this were any other artist, this kind of songwriting would not be getting praised, so good on this reviewer for stating what a lot of us are thinking. I'm starting to think her songs don't go through any kind of editing process and there's nobody on her team who ever tells her no. I'm all for artists being given the freedom to express themselves but your team are there to make you come to your senses when you're too in your feelings.

[salty like sodium 1,035]

20 hours ago, gumzy3000 said:

They might sound just "okay" today but she released her first album fearless when she was 18 years old in 2008. She then went into full pop successfully 6 years later with 1989 and continued to improve her songwriting until Folklore. I think it was a big deal at the time because she was so young yet she kept getting better musically while also making music the masses could connect with. I can see why some people will see those albums as overrated and that's okay. 

swiftie spotted 

the album actually isn't bad. actually it's consistently ok – there aren't any songs that are unlistenable unlike past albums like lover that had ACTUAL trash on them like "Me!" ...

It's just not a great album either, most of the songs sound like the forgotten, less attractive siblings to songs from folklore, evermore, midnights, 1989, and the vault tracks of her last few rereleases. so seeing 100 scores on some websites is annoying af and i'm glad there are reviews like this one aiming to challenge her and get her off that pedestal the culture has mistakenly collectively thrown her onto (without any protest on her side)