Taylor Swift - new music & album "Reputation" (November 10, 2017)*

Both of these are the font and look of the NY Times, that's the point of each album cover-- a NY Times reference.

 

Someone's got it in for me
They're planting stories in the press
Whoever it is I wish they'd cut it out quick
But when they will I can only guess

 

But there's also a possibility that she could make a better album that Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks".

Not sure why anyone would consider that comical. Are we already so set in our ways where Dylan is on the pedestal and no one could potentially unthrone him, assuming that's how we perceive this / like it's the musical version of GoT?

Btw, I highly rate Blood on the Tracks in my own collection, and I don't particularly enjoy Swift's work so far. That doesn't mean she couldn't potentially surprise me later.

 

It's a boring title. As if the drama of "Taylor Swift" is really that interesting. Not sure if she is trying to progress or just fall back into the safety of the popularity she's already acquired.

 

This is a strange line of reasoning to me. It's not so much that Dylan is unassailable, but Swift is now over a dozen years into her career. Broadly speaking, pop/rock artists tend to deliver their most memorable, definitive work in their 20s (While I can think of some artists that continued delivering strong work later on, I can barely think of any that were poor early on only to become great in their 30s.). If you haven't heard anything from Swift by now that clicks for you, why would you expect her to suddenly surpass Blood on the Tracks out of nowhere. I guess that anything is possible theoretically, but that doesn't make it likely.

The artwork suggests that she's into her self obsessed "the media can't stop talking about me" phase, which isn't a great place for artists to go, IMO. It becomes harder to be a incisive observer of human nature if you can't see past the mirror.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by making a confessional album....Many of her previous albums have been pretty confessional, or had very confessional songs -- I think about a song like "Dear John" or "All Too Well" or "Back to December," etc, all nakedly confessional songs. If she wrote a bunch of confessional songs it would hardly be a change for her. I don't get the thing about songs about boys...Blood on the Tracks, aside from "...Jack of Hearts" is an album of songs about women.

 

Because in the many years that I've been enjoying music, artists that I thought I knew have surprised me more than a few times.

So I keep my options open. Music appreciation is a fluid thing (at least in my case) where things are constantly in flux.

 

I agree, though there are artists -- like your Miles Davises and Bowies and even Madonnas who made a business of continually dramatically changing direction, no one more so than Miles. But, yeah, that hasn't been Swift's path, though I guess a lot of folks would argue that 1989 was a big shift from the prior work. And maybe that's right. So maybe this one will be that kind of shift as well. The Swift hype machine has been conspicuously inactive in hyping this one. It's be kinda the anti-hype hype... There have been no leaks about the direction of it or when it was coming or anything. There were rumors that she was working with Drake, so maybe it'll be an R&B/hip-hop/dancehall influenced record and not the kind of singer-songwritery record some people seem to want from her.

And my guess is that history will look back on Red as the high point of Taylor Swift's career. Certainly it's my favorite of her albums. I always look forward to a new Taylor Swift record and I really like her as a lyricist, but I found most of her albums to be on the spotty side, as I often find is so with pop music -- a lot of great singles, but not always great start-to-finish albums. Red though to me is different. It's not only a terrific album start to finish but is widely varied in terms of sound and style but without ever feeling disjointed. Of course 1989 will be remember too. I thought was her worst album since her debut, but it was her big breakthrough pop conquering moment. I mean, when did someone previously release an cover album of a popular album within months of the pop album's release? 1989 did completely overwhelm the pop charts with smash singles like Thriller or Teenage Dream or one of those records, but it did produce three #1 singles and two other top-10s.

Swift may come along and write some records at some point that are less designed for CHR and AC radio. The reality is that for pop music artists -- and especially for female pop music artists -- once you get into your mid-30s, it's hard to hang on at the top of the pops so to speak. But she has another 10 years before then. She doesn't strike me as someone interested in giving up the throne at the height of her reign, but I don't know her so I'm just basing that on watching a career that has been very focused on popular achievement.

 

For some reason I favored this one from the soundtrack more - but it didn't get any traction.

 

Well, the bar for purchasing can be incredibly low for us Hoffmanites.

 

Well, you know, haters gonna hate...

 

That's exactly kind of what I mean about it being her Revolver.
Prior to Revolver, all but maybe one Beatle song (Nowhere Man) were personal love songs.
Then suddenly and overnight, the next 16 tracks for Revolver and the PPW/Rain single flipped it around and maybe only 4 of those 16 were of that nature.

The majority of Taylor Swift's songs (with only a few exceptions - Never Grow Up, Long Live, Changes, Mean) have been about new love relationships, bad love relationships or ended love relationships.

Confessional/personal songs is what she does so I agree this wouldn't be a change.

Perhaps this album will have kinds of different topics which would be interesting because she is a brilliant lyricist.

 

I'm sure you won't have much of a choice in that.

 

Sorry, bad comparison in hindsight. I don't always articulate myself very well. The track Idiot Wind is what struck that notion. To clarify, I would love this to be something that is bold and shocking. Something that rips into the press, criticizes people's obsession with her, blah blah blah. Confessional as in it tackles these issues head on and how they've affected her personally. Shake it Off flirted around with this idea, but ultimately kept it playful and highly danceable/commercial friendly. This needs to be more overt and abrasive. The album's cover seems to suggest this.

 

Have they given a title for the song that's to be released today yet?

 

I get what you're saying. The comparison was a stretch (if I could delete the post I would, so is the internet). If not done a certain way, this whole thing could definitely seem extremely whiny and self-indulgent. That's why it needs to be spun into a universal message regarding fame, the press, and the average joe that knows just a little too much about their favorite celebs, not just her. Perhaps I should stop typing so I don't dig a deeper hole.

 

I agree She looks beautiful. Glad they are not continuing to vamp/sex her up. Great cover.

 

I stand on no comparison is possible.
It would be like saying it may have the " intricate depth of Sergeant Pepper..."

 

I'm HOPING it's her Blood on the Tracks - she has it in her - and I'll make Dylan comparisons all day with that lady because the shoe fits - but whatever I'm hoping for is never what she does which is why she's Taylor Swift and I'm not....

 

I was let down by 1989 but I realize it was a great success for her.

Red is still my fav. oh hers.

I'm leaving an open mind here.

 

She is consistent...

• Taylor Swift (2006), Fearless (2008), Speak Now (2010), Red (2012), 1989 (2014)

 

Just took a day-lots of online takes on the cover. George Costanza's made me cough some coffee through my nose,though he is out of the contest.

 

So who is the guy that dumped her to inspire this album ?

 

She could always write like an 11 year old like Rock racoon or Obla id olbla da

I find her songs a notch above most pop artist these days , but that's just me ........ very curious what the new song will be .

 

Or.....Putin Oater. Oater being a Hollywood term for a cowboy flick and seeing how Ms. Swift is/was a Country talent...well, she's obviously an agent for....unless, unless with the newspaper type fonts the LP is a statement that the USA cowboy media is in bed with....unless, unless