Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department (April 19)

[clsvltn]

For the modern TS albums, It already is easily #3 for me ahead of folk and ever. 1989 is #1 period for her disco. Midnights is my #2.. we will see about this. But my initial listen is very likely to maybe be #2.

[Future Captain]

I'm pretty sure that Fortnight is not gonna be the track that people gravitate to for a single. Might become a Slut!/Is It Over Now? situation with one of the other tracks. Maybe My Boy? That one feels like the one with the most single potential to me.

Anyway, I like the album. Not sure yet where I would rank it among her albums, but I think it's on the upper half of her discography, ranking wise. Surprisingly varied sonically, or that might just be the strategic dispersal of the Dessner produced tracks. I like the gloomy vibes, but I do wish that it wasn't so much mid tempo because it makes the whole thing blends together more than it should have

[Choco]

Apr 19, 2024 0:13:59 GMT -5 @pikandru said:

Just gonna put this out there now even though I’m sure this album will grow on me at least a little more than my initial reaction… I will be salty af if this one beats Cowboy Carter for AOTY…

I love that most people assume it to be an either or situation with Bey and Taylor and then someone will Jon Batiste their way to the podium lol.

[Deleted]

Post is so unnecessary and meaningless on Fortnight. Like I straight up wonder if she was hellbent on that song as the lead for some reason and her team wanted to tack a big feature on to increase hit potential, because it’s quite perplexing why he’s there.

[Caviar]

There's a lot of good material here and it works better if you listen in sequence. "loml" and "I Can Fix Him" were surprisingly good.

[Deleted]

I would absolutely have gone with ICDIWABH as the lead, it does seem pretty obvious on an initial listen imo. Though I think BDILH is almost as obvious, surprised more aren’t throwing it out there for why Fortnight over this.

[clsvltn]

ok my early ranking.... its really high up because it is new so we will see where it sits......

1. 1989
2. midnights
3. tortured poets department
4. fearless
5. reputation
6. lover
7. red
8. speak now
9. folklore
10. evermore
11. debut

[MissAmericana]

This is okay. The middle of the album (between track 6 and 11) really drags, but there’s enough here for it to be worth listening to a couple times.

[Future Captain]

Who's Afraid of Little Old Me feels like a more bitter Blank Space for some reason, which I really like.

[RoseColoredGirl]

On first listen it’s not one of my favorite albums from her, but it’s decent. There were quite a few tracks I liked, but I would say there were more tracks on this album that were middling on first listen than any other Taylor Swift album has had for me. "The Tortured Poets Department," "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys," "Florida!!!," "Guilty as Sin?" and "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" were the standout tracks for me.

Here's my rankings so far:

Love
1. The Tortured Poets Department (10/10)
Ooh, I love this! The production sounds so beautiful and this is easily my favorite off the album.

Great
2. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart (9/10)
See, I was going to give this a bit lower ranking because it sounds like a Midnights B-Side at first, but the quirky, spunky chorus really makes this for me lol. Omg, love the chorus energy so much haha.

3. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys (9/10)
Not quite as instant as “The Tortured Poets Department,” but I really like this. These are all feeling Midnights-core to an extent, but of the three I’ve heard so far, this one especially feels like it could have fit on Midnights. Love how dynamic the production is!

4. Florida!!! (9/10)
Ooh, this is interesting! I really like Florence and Taylor’s chemistry on this! The contrast between their voices makes this one really fun and memorable. Love this!

5. Guilty As Sin? (9/10)
The chorus really makes this one stand out for me. It’s definitely one of my faves so far. The production is great! Omg, that ending!

Good
6. Fortnight (8/10)
I was wondering if the production was going to be similar to “Slut!” from some comments I’d read. I wouldn’t say this is crazy instant for me, but I do like this quite a bit. Doesn’t seem like single material to me and seems like it will stall around the same place as “Cardigan” and “Willow” did, tbh. Also expected Posty to have more contributions.

7. Fresh Out the Slammer (7/10)
I’ll admit, I didn’t think this was going to all that good based on how it started, but it did increasingly grow on me as it went on. The production is kind of interesting in this one. The ending is kind of cool, could definitely see this growing more in future listens.

8. Clara Bow (7/10)
This is cute! This is another track that falls into the “potential grower” category for me, but it’s not an immediate standout. Like the ending a lot.

Decent
9. Loml (6/10)
My first reaction to this reminds me a lot about how I felt about a few of the Evermore tracks that I shrugged off as boring on first listen, but then grew on me later. Her voice is pretty and it’s a nice ballad, but the static production leaves something to be desired. The “loss of my life” switch at the end was cool.

10. Down Bad (6/10)
Doesn’t feel as memorable as the previous three tracks. I’m not sure this is one I’d choose to return to a lot if I wasn’t listening to the whole album, but it’s nice. The chorus gets a bit repetitive by the end.

11. So Long, London (6/10)
I kind of like this for the production, but it’s not super instant for me. It’s still good though and I could see it being a grower.

12. The Alchemy (6/10)
Kinda like this and think it could be a grower for the chorus, but it doesn’t make a huge impression on first listen.

13. Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? (6/10)
This one didn’t make as much of an impression on me. Kind of like the build-up in the production in the pre-chorus/beginning. “Everything is not about me, but what if it is?” really stands out as a lyric, as does “I was tame, I was gentle until the circus life made me mean” Not quite sure how to feel about this one, but it is definitely intriguing.

Meh
14. But Daddy I Love Him (5/10)
The lyrics are great and vivid, but admittedly not really feeling the production here. I’ll admit the “I’m having his baby” line surprised me lol.

15. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived (4/10)
Not really feeling this one admittedly. I suppose it could grow on me. I will admit the somewhat jarring switch in tone between this and "I Can Do It with a Broken Heart" may have brought this down a bit for me.

Don't Care For
16. I Can Fix Him {No Really I Can} (3/10)
Meh, this is a dud. Can’t see any reason to return to this at all unless I’d be listening to the album. Not bad, but it does nothing for me and is boring.

Totally expecting to wake up tomorrow morning and have another disc. I don't think she'd be crazy enough to do this, but I'll admit the thought of her surprise-releasing Taylor Swift (TV) did cross my mind lol. That one definitely had the least hype of any of the re-records, so shocking the fans by releasing it tonight would certainly be a way for her to amp up the excitement for it haha.

[austin]

TN all but confirmed more music in 29 mins.

[Deleted]

Yeah, I would really love a whole album from her of whatever’s going on sonically during the chorus of icdiwabh because that’s fresh and lively and interesting as hell.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

Sounded pretty good on a first listen. Not the best start with Fortnight (very weird single), but picks up from track #3 onward. Definitely better than Midnights overall, even if there's no 'big song' this time around. Sounds like she's found a good balance between personal/storyteller writing styles as well. I'm not sure why I expected differently, but it's pretty sad overall. Dammit Joe.

Songs that stuck out:
My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
Down Bad
So Long, London
Who's Afraid of Little Old Me
I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
loml
I Can Do It With a Broken Heart

[Choco]

Debut TV is her one chance to have all her studio albums reach #1 on the BB200. No way she's gonna block herself like that.

I think this is gonna be much like Midnights, a project she gives her attention and it results on her TVs taking a break for a while (maybe Q4 this year but that's the earliest plausible scenario).

[JamaicaFunk²]

Give me the 2AM tracks now, please

[Deleted]

Apr 19, 2024 0:34:39 GMT -5 Choco said:

Debut TV is her one chance to have all her studio albums reach #1 on the BB200. No way she's gonna block herself like that.

I think this is gonna be much like Midnights, a project she gives her attention and it results on her TVs taking a break for a while (maybe Q4 this year but that's the earliest plausible scenario).

Well, one thing I’ll say is she kinda set herself up nicely here to move onto the remaining TVs quickly since I can’t fathom this album being a multi-smash hit era… especially in the streaming age.

[Caviar]

Praying that a "2am" version will be released on vinyl. Was Midnights ever released as a complete collection?

[RoseColoredGirl]

Apr 19, 2024 0:37:49 GMT -5 Caviar said:

Was Midnights ever released as a complete collection?

Sadly no, "Paris" and "Glitch" still haven't been released on physical media. "Hits Different" also was excluded from the physical edition with the 3am tracks (although it was released on the original).

[adamalterlago]

I’m going to need more time with this. As is always the case w a Swift album, it takes a few listens. Nothing is that immediate but something about it reminds me of how I felt about Folklore, which became my favorite album. Down Bad is my top at the moment.

[Choco]

Apr 19, 2024 0:37:31 GMT -5 @pikandru said:

Apr 19, 2024 0:34:39 GMT -5 Choco said:

Debut TV is her one chance to have all her studio albums reach #1 on the BB200. No way she's gonna block herself like that.

I think this is gonna be much like Midnights, a project she gives her attention and it results on her TVs taking a break for a while (maybe Q4 this year but that's the earliest plausible scenario).

Well, one thing I’ll say is she kinda set herself up nicely here to move onto the remaining TVs quickly since I can’t fathom this album being a multi-smash hit era… especially in the streaming age.

What even is a multi-smash hit era these days? Midnights barely got three singles and "Karma" was like 7 months after album release? 7 months now puts us into November which is a month where she has dropped a lot of projects to capitalize on holiday sales. I could see the next TV dropping then but that's the earliest.

[Future Captain]

I Can Do It With A Broken Heart feels like the Karma of the album. Great single potential but hoo boy is it gonna be polarizing. Very strong Taylor-ism that will make people either love it a lot or never want to listen to it more than once

[𝓲𝓽'𝓼.𝓰𝓿]

My Top 5 favorites off the album in no particular order:

Fortnight
The Tortured Poets Department
Fresh Out the Slammer
Guilty as Sin?
I Can Do With a Broken Heart

[JamaicaFunk²]

Wait is Reputation coming at 2am?

Remember the Karma video had her black finger nail at the 2 on the clock???

[Deleted]

BDILH seems to be generating lots of early buzz on the artist formerly known as Twitter. Idk, with a good single edit I’m not entirely convinced that isn’t the smash of the album. But ICDIWABH feels more surefire.

[Deleted]

Apr 19, 2024 0:46:32 GMT -5 JamaicaFunk² said:

Wait is Reputation coming at 2am?

Remember the Karma video had her black finger nail at the 2 on the clock???

The way I would be SO pressed with her since I have long had fantasies of Rep TV basically getting a “do-over” treatment of a full album era where DBM, IDSB, and Getaway Car all become the massive career smashes they were always meant to be lol.

[austin]

Apr 19, 2024 0:46:32 GMT -5 JamaicaFunk² said:

Wait is Reputation coming at 2am?

Remember the Karma video had her black finger nail at the 2 on the clock???

No way she would do that. She wants them all to hit #1.

[#brayden]

Apr 19, 2024 0:25:48 GMT -5 @pikandru said:

I would absolutely have gone with ICDIWABH as the lead, it does seem pretty obvious on an initial listen imo. Though I think BDILH is almost as obvious, surprised more aren’t throwing it out there for why Fortnight over this.

"ICDIWABH" was a standout for me on first listen because it's one of the more upbeat songs on the album and has a catchy chorus. I really like it.

Something about it sonically feels a bit 'been there, done that' though. It's cute but I'd be surprised if she made it a single.

[Deleted]

Apr 19, 2024 0:44:06 GMT -5 Choco said:

Apr 19, 2024 0:37:31 GMT -5 @pikandru said:

Well, one thing I’ll say is she kinda set herself up nicely here to move onto the remaining TVs quickly since I can’t fathom this album being a multi-smash hit era… especially in the streaming age.

What even is a multi-smash hit era these days? Midnights barely got three singles and "Karma" was like 7 months after album release? 7 months now puts us into November which is a month where she has dropped a lot of projects to capitalize on holiday sales. I could see the next TV dropping then but that's the earliest.

3 singles. That’s kind of our cap for number of singles where big hits are viable in an era this decade until someone sets a new precedent.

[👑 Eloquent ™]

Amazon advertising an "Anthology" version of the album.

[Choco]

Apr 19, 2024 0:53:50 GMT -5 @pikandru said:

Apr 19, 2024 0:44:06 GMT -5 Choco said:

What even is a multi-smash hit era these days? Midnights barely got three singles and "Karma" was like 7 months after album release? 7 months now puts us into November which is a month where she has dropped a lot of projects to capitalize on holiday sales. I could see the next TV dropping then but that's the earliest.

3 singles. That’s kind of our cap for number of singles where big hits are viable in an era this decade until someone sets a new precedent.

Three but last one needs a remix. Kinda sad but it is what ot is. It's why fans are already clamoring for Ariana to remix "the boy is mine".