my first reaction to The Tortured Poets Department 

For reasons I mention in the video, this one is far looser and rambling than any Taylor video I’ve done before. I hope you still enjoy it the same - I look forward to seeing how TTPD sits with us in the weeks and months to come. New DDD should be out next week.

TO TIMP PA DUTTERFLY 🔥

I think the whole release of this just felt so not about the music either from Taylor's end. "let's release 15 different versions with a different bonus track! Then, once you bought them all surprise drop all the bonus tracks on streaming." It's just so clearly money-forward rather than music forward.

I’ve been a fan since Our Song, but I get weary when people obsess about the lore. It really adds nothing to the songs. Like even reputation to me she just had a Disney villain phase and I loved that for her. All Too Well doesn’t need to be about a specific dude to be a good song, y’know? I don’t care who The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived is about, because it’s about me, it’s about how it relates to my life and my feelings. Sucks you went through it too girl but thank you for commiserating and making me feel catharsis through song. 100% if people could be normal about her that’d be great.

Mic The Snare videos are a nice way to hide from the toxic discourse void of online music interaction. Thank you Michael

I'm glad you're taking a stand on how toxic music discourse, especially surrounding the largest artists, tends to be.

I hope that after her tour is over, there’s at least a slow period. I think she really needs a break, Cause this constant churn out sounds exhausting on both ends.

“This should be fun” YES THANK YOU. I swear you’re one of the only truly good take havers on the entire internet. Please do more off-the-cuff things like this between normal video drops.

To me it's not a bad album, it just kind of exists and I don't remember much of it immediately after listening. What has REALLY left a sour taste in my mouth is the business practices associated with it. I have a problem with enticing fans to shell out hundreds of dollars to buy all four vinyl variants on the premise that the four exclusive tracks that wouldn't be on streaming, and then releasing those songs on streaming after that money has been made. It's downright scam behaviour from someone who is already a billionaire and honestly a horrible predatory business practice all aimed a manipulating chart numbers. I would be interested to see the chart numbers for the standard version of this album vs Cowboy Carter, which didn't have variants, and to my mind is a much more ambitious record. Mainly I'm annoyed by fans telling me I'm not intellectual enough to understand this album. I agree with the idea that we need to be normal about her, by which I mean we are allowed to have conflicting feelings. I love some of her music, but just not this record - and that's fine!

Songs that are obviously about the lore (at least for me): - The Tortured Poets Department - So Long, London - But Daddy I Love Him - Fresh Out The Slammer - Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me - I Can Fix Him - Loml - I Can Do It With A Broken Heart - The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived - The Alchemy - Thank You Aimee - Cassandra So, a little more than just 3 songs, obviously. I know more songs relate to real life events, but I guess the messaging is more subtle. I did enjoy this record though, especially the Aaron Dessner tracks that remind me of folklore/evermore (Peter, I Look Through People’s Windows, I Hate It Here).

machine gun swiftie - tickets to py downfall

Taylor never released a physical version of the 3AM edition of Midnights, so I think she just repeated that drop process with ttpd the anthology. And yeah, I have to agree with you, as a swiftie for over a decade now. I’m feeling really exhausted by the FAN reaction to this album. So many of the fans only seem to care about which songs are about who? And I’m tired. I don’t care. I don’t understand why everyone cares. Knowing I’m a swiftie, everyone in my life has brought up either the Kim track or the Travis tracks to me and here’s the hottest take I have in response: idc! The music is what I care about. It’s not like I have some elite music taste, but I’m a swiftie bc I like Taylor’s music, not because I’m addicted to the spectacle. That’s actually why I gravitated to most of the anthology tracks (the ones that were reminiscent of evermore). I don’t want to talk about thanK you aIMee. I want to talk about the prophecy and cassandra and the albatross! And that’s how I feel about it all! So I’m staying off Twitter lol

You make a real good point about her being pigeonholed as just the "relationship" person. I think she's leaned into it, too, but it's seeing people insinuate that it's all she talks about. Yeah, her songs are about relationships, but like half of The Beatles' catalogue (as a lifelong fan here) is about that, too, and I have a feeling those same people who get mad at Swifties defend the Fab Four to hell and back.

out of context "scaramouche scaramouche can you do the fandango" is also pretty weird also yes to so many of your points, thank you for a fair-minded response!!

As someone who loves this album and am exhausted beyond belief at the Discourse, I completely agree with you. Thank you for this.

I actually think the… mixed? reaction to this album is going to be VERY good for her - she’s clearly gotten way too comfortable resting on her laurels, in basically the same creative spaces. The last time she put out an album (or two) that, uhh… didn’t exactly receive rave reviews from fans and critics alike, it pushed her to wake up, pivot, jump start her creative juices again and we got folklore & evermore. Basically, I genuinely kind of hated TTPD - it is such an absurd, overly-long, rote slog in every conceivable manner (musically, lyrically, creatively, and also production-wise as far as having the self-awareness and skill to know when to edit) but I’m thrilled it happened because of what it means for Taylor’s next album… now THAT one is going to be interesting. This whole thing really does remind me of her Reputation/Lover eras, where she put out two pretty polarizing albums back-to-back which caused her to reboot and put out F&E. In this case, it was Midnights that was the first sign of trouble, and now TTPD… I’m sensing another “reboot” in a year or two.

“believing that would require me to believe that twitter matters” hahahahaha

As someone on the periphery of the Swift lore and pokes his head in like every two months, I thought this album was fine.

The taking lyrics out of context reminds me of how during the HIFN era she shared the opening lyrics to "anthems" and how they were panned because it's "I'm so bored, wake up late eat some cereal" but in context of the song it makes perfect sense. I also feel like Charli has a talent for making rather basic lyrics feel like the important thing in the world at that moment. "I feel so unstable, fucking hate these people" sounds like a whiny teenager on paper but in the context of "Gone" you feel the gravity of emotion.

Am I currently being forced to listen to the Pikmin soundtrack which I haven’t heard in 10 years but can somehow imagine exactly what part of the gameplay I’m in? Thanks Mic!

to be fair, i think the negative backlash to taylor is not bc people dont care abt the music but bc for years (and to this day) hardcore swifties have created an environment online where anything less than adoration for her is branded as misogyny. she's one of the most famous people in the world and white (which is always relevant with taylor) and the fatigue around her is understandable! it's a bit odd to frame this pushback as this overwhelming, negative wave growing all over the internet when in actuality she is still beloved, will likely still receive major accolades for this, and swifties are eating this album up. taylor, like all other pop stars, is a brand just as much as she is a singer or an artist-i think the celebrity of it all is worth interrogating just as much as albums and lyrics. that's what i personally enjoy about music criticism, this examination at the intersection of celebrity, music, and culture. also my question about her is just...if taylor swift is asking us to draw these lines between the songs and her personal life, how am i supposed to connect to "but daddy i love him" and divorce it from the racist man it's inspired by?

7:17 the thing about the lore is so true. I mean, this album is lore-heavy actually, but in order to even see that it's there, let alone understand it, you have to be a massive fan of Taylor Swift AND of the 1975 (who are famous, but very far away from Taylor's level of famous). That's how much not in your face the lore is. Obviously it's gonna be there 'cause she's talking about her life, but you don't need it to understand the overall narrative of the album. Even if you don't know the first thing about Taylor Swift, what you get is a heartbreakingly sincere and stunning (imo) portrait of a woman who fell deeply in love, only to be left heartbroken, of an old lost connection long dreamt about that shattered when confronted with reality, of a man who promised a woman the world but failed to deliver and of a woman who went through a very hard, sad time dealing with fame, love, loneliness. It's all there in the lyrics. Anyway, to me ttpd is a 10/10, but really loved your take. Great video!

Came for hearing your thoughtful, nuanced take on this album, stayed for the Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video joke about the Dessners.

Solid takes! Regarding the double album point: I think Anthology is just the “deluxe” version that most artists release after the buzz starts simmering down. Most artists have a surplus to pare down but the “vault” tracks have done so well, I think she decided to respond to the demand in a way that was fun and surprising.

Didn’t love it, didn’t hate. Thought it was fine, some high points, but most of it kinda blends into the wallpaper. But most of all, I LOATHE the “discourse”.

I feel like Taylor Swift is at her absolute best when she’s writing songs that anybody could insert themselves into. That’s the reason something like style or wildest dreams works so well for me. They’re really good songs that just so happen to be propelled forward by the fact that Taylor Swift is singing them. When she starts trying to tell stories that are clearly about herself and the things she’s been going through, I lose interest because it’s very clear that she doesn’t have any more interest. She’s getting older, she wants to write more than just stuff about her relationship drama, but she feels compelled to lean into it anyway because that’s what her fanbase likes. I honestly feel kind of bad for her. And I know I probably shouldn’t. She’s got more money than she’ll ever know what to deal with. But outside of the rare all too well situation it’s very easy to notice the divide in quality between songs that are about the lore and the ones that aren’t.

Really enjoyed this video. Although I disagree that it’s not an album bogged down in lore. If you’re a swiftie and know the lore (as I am) it’s realllly hard to listen out of that context and it was also a big part of the marketing. I find it frustrating that she seems very tired of speculation and judgement about her personal life, yet she plays into it every time. I think there’s a lot of good in both parts of the album, but it needed editing

This album (like most if not all double albums) is 2/3 good songs and 1/3 filler songs. Wouldn’t mind her working with different producers and songwriters in the future and switching things up. Make more straight forward, feel good pop songs like “This is what you came for.”

Honestly the whole fandom and adoration surrounding Taylor makes it almost impossible for me to want to listen to her music. And from the outside this constant need to make everyone know who she is talking about in her songs just make me want to roll my eyes. That is why people who are not 'swifties' jump to criticize her music, because we can't escape everyone around us telling how brilliant her songs are and the numbers that she has. It just seems like all everyone cares about is the drama behind the music and how much she is selling and that justifies why people are not talking about music, because everything surrounding her just feels like another thing to sell and make money

Fully agree regarding the discourse. And agree - I really prefer TTPD to Midnights already. There’s just more to it to sink my teeth into, musically, lyrically, everything. Maybe this is a moment where the wheat is cut from the chafe of people, either loving or hating, bandwagoning onto her unparalleled star power of the moment. That “downward” trajectory you describe is so normal and inescapable for all big artists. Maybe it’ll just keep freeing her up to make whatever the hell she wants. That’s definitely what I can zoom out and see here: she just gets bolder and weirder even when “confined” with producers she clearly loves and trusts. I’d rather this than a hundred Shake It Offs or Bad Bloods any day.

Unfortunately i didnt have the same experience. I was actually really excited for the album, but as i listened to it i became really disappointed, the lore seemed to consume her in this one, at least that was my feeling in the first half with all the synths and underwhelming bitter lyrics. for me the aaron dessner cuts where the only good thing about this

To Dimp a Dutterfly? Talk about the Tortured Puns Department!

Mr Snare, I think more of this down to earth video suits your analysis incredibly well, very Professor Skye but actually edited! (no diss at Skye obviously). I’m glad you could find more to enjoy about this album than most (including myself; I found it very one note and similarly drab throughout; and being terminally online didn’t help me). But I appreciate the thoughts as always!!

this album comes out after a year where people who don't take any interest in taylor swift can name 2 guys she was constantly linked to, and that's not because they want to know. she's had 3 articles on the BBC news front page this week. so any "lore" stuff at this point was going to tip it past the critical point where people are like "ugh no." it's too much, she needs to go away for a while.

TO TIMP PA DUTTERFLY lmao got me within the first 10 seconds!! You silly goose

As a swiftie who was not the most satisfied with midnights, TTPD was a breath of fresh air for me, it felt like the album knew what it was trying to be this time. Seeing this video and the online discourse presented was quite surprising to me, I guess logging off of twitter a couple months ago and not going back since certainly helped my experience with the album.

I enjoy Taylor Swift's music to varying degrees. She may be a ubiquitous pop culture juggernaut, but I find it helpful to separate the music from the media narratives surrounding her - who she's dating, the supposed feuds, the clickbait and overwrought adoration (or hate) from some quarters, and so on. I'd rather relate to a song from my own inner life, never mind that it's about Taylor's ex #1 or ex #2. When you strip away the artifice, you're left with a prolific, talented, ambitious artist who writes her own music and is constantly evolving, sometimes for better and others for worse. By cross-pollinating folk, electronica, pop, country, and more, she helps broaden the musical palate of her young fans. I admire the way she connects to that fanbase in creative ways, including 3+ hour live shows, and how outspoken she is about loving heritage artists that came before her, inviting the likes of Mick Jagger, Steven Tyler, and Johnny Rzeznick on stage with her. She spreads the artistry of such legacy acts to new generations that may otherwise never hear it by talking to her legion of fans about Don Henley or Tom Petty with authentic reverence before covering one of their songs. The albums can be hit or miss for me. Some, like Reputation and Midnights, haven't been especially memorable in my book (though "You're on Your Own, Kid" is great), while others like Red and the pair of folk albums represent wonderful leaps forward in terms of substance, sonics, and style. 1989 really advanced her identity and sound as well. This new one is more or less on par with Midnights; it has a handful of cool tracks but is not one of her groundbreaking albums. Sonically, it feels like more of the same and there's lots of barely-okay tracks that bored me. I like that Taylor is so prolific, tirelessly churning out one album after another, but wonder how that affects quality control when it comes to conceiving the musical direction and paring down the tracks to a truly essential collection. It feels like she’s not whittling away her B-sides like other artists but indiscriminately dumping her whole musical diary onto the market as a “double album” but that level of padding skews one's perception of the album's overall quality. I enjoy my Taylor fix as much as anyone else but, precisely because I appreciate her potential to reach even greater artistic heights, I'd rather she take another year or two off to fine-tune the material, explore and deconstruct, re-write, find collaborators beyond Antonoff, and create a new masterpiece. Twelve tracks will do, we don't need the padding. But what do I know, she's clearly doing fine of her own accord, and I’m sure Taylor’s fans appreciate her “more is more” approach.

We got physical copies very early at my workplace, I think the reason for not manufacturing/selling the double album was more to prevent the reveal from leaking. It also has been interesting watching it (not) sell. I work at *that* grocery store (that gets all her exclusives) in the middle of a college campus, we got a big cardboard display that went up Friday morning with 100+ CDs and maybe 50 records on it. I was anticipating us selling out rather fast, but in the last four days we sold less than 10 CD and records total.

i like the album! i like how unhinged it is haha. i was disappointed with midnights so i went into this album with way lower expectations and it's really a hit for me so far

I might be in a happy Swiftie algorithm bubble because I have only seen people loving the record. With the exception of people on Twitter, but people on that platform hate absolutely anything that exists

I eagerly await the Reputation TV video whenever that album comes out! Great video as always

TTPD is literally all lore. I can hardly think of any songs that don't have atleast some lore attached to them. Moreover, she has trained her fans to focus on the lore by putting 'easter eggs' everywhere so of course swifties are more interested in talking about the lore than the music

This album was a 5/10 for me. And Spotify tells me I’m at the top 1% of TS listeners so yes I like my Taylor lol. There was very little variation and even words were repeated throughout the album. Some were just very specific stories about herself but not done cleverly enough for me to want to sing to. (Definitely more than 3 were lore based) Folklore is similar in some ways and done so much better

I get your point, but I feel that the person who doesn't care about the music is Taylor herself. Midnights was a step down and this one feels like she's running out of ideas, not the she has found a sound she's comfortable with. I had to listen to it by chunks because I got extremely bored after 5-6 songs. I feel like she needs to take a hiatus, but she is advised by her team not to, or maybe that one quote in her documentary about feeling terrified of being forgotten and replaced is painfully true.

Reminds me of that one doja cat line: you follow me but you don’t really care about the music. I have plenty of criticisms towards TTPD but I also liked quite a few of the songs. There’s a big difference between discussing how the album fell flat in a healthy manner and “let me just dogpile in here real quick.”

I really like your style! "You do not like music" Dang! And BTW, I agree. Most of these reactions are about celebrity. That's also why most miss the fact that these are artworks, not diary entries.

I wish people would just relax. Good lord. It’s an album. Let people like things. Let people not like things. Not everything has to be taken to the largest possible extreme. Stop doxxing people for criticizing Taylor, and also stop making fun of people for enjoying her work.

Yes I think you're the reviews I trust the most because most people just simply hating on this album like 3 hours after it was release like there's no way u can digest 31 songs so fast lol I agreed this may not be her best album for me it's her best lyrics wise it was dark, unfiltered and raw

with every day that passes I realize just how beneficial not being a Taylor Swift loremaster has been for my well-being. I fully agree on your point about the "monolith" thing - you really _do not_ have to know anything about Taylor Swift. you really don't. you can avoid this stuff extremely easily. I don't even know how Lucy Dacus ties into any of this, and I don't have to at all. I get people being overexposed on Taylor, and I know that the whole "oh just log off" retort is usually overly dismissive, but, like, genuinely, just log off. you do not have to know anything about Taylor Swift if you don't want to. it's like sitting out in the sun all day without sunblock and then complaining that you got a sunburn

OMG OMG OMG You literally speak out of my soul for the whole video. I also like it more than Midnights and my god the discourse around her makes me think half the people don't even listen to the music and just say what they think about Taylor.

Late to the party but 11:08 I think a big part of that was also how burnt out she was in her relationship and even when trying to write apart from that, you can never divorce the tone/feelings fully from the music. It just sort of seeps in. TTPD makes me feel like she’s looking for the new, she’s exploring, she’s actually trying to just be and knowing what I know about her life, I think that progression makes perfect sense. But that’s coming from a swiftie of course, and it’s even harder for swifties to separate the music from the lore but I did not feel like this album relied heavily on knowing the lore. Even the person-specific songs, for the most part, are vague enough and focus more on feelings rather than story (down bad and fresh out the slammer for example). I really agree with your assessment of the album! It’s nice to see a critic not just hating 😊

Seeing Two Gay Matts' reaction to TTPD after this weekend was refreshing. Sure, they care a lot about celebrity but they also care so so much about the music in a way that makes me enjoy it more by hearing their thoughts. They also gave it a 7; this is the correct score to subjectively give it lmao. A lot of fans are obsessed with her being the best and treat it as a truth, which I find weird, the same way I find it weird when people are so pissed off about the fact people thinking so exist. I just like her songs sometimes. That's all it should be. I like it more than Midnights too. How much more, I don't know yet. Might be my favorite since Folklore.

I’m one of those stereotypical swifties, but I too crave some normalcy when it comes to discussing her. The initial reviews were wild, to see respected publications turn to Stan wars essentially. There’s plenty to talk about, and even critique with TTPD but instead everyone is talking about over exposure. I appreciate your normal take!

"dont listen to it if you dont like it" yeah but its on every single Iheart radio station and that's like 75% of the non green spesfic radio stations where i live

This was the best take thank god someone spoke with honesty soo many people planed on hating it like the reviews are about Taylor’s personal life not about the music for me i only care about music and the album was very legnthy but had some good tracks this is definitely not the worst thing this year not even close to it feels like we are all back to the whole mid 2010s when all u could talk about her was her relationships friendships idgaf

Thank you for actually being reasonable and level-headed unlike what feels like the rest of the internet. The past couple of days after this album's release have been so exhausting, especially because I really enjoyed this album. I've been a fan of Taylor's music for a very long time, she's kinda the reason I got into music in the first place I kinda fell off when Midnights came out, this album brought me back, its definitely in my top 5 of her records, I love how long and messy it is, such a stream of consciousness kind of album. I get that the overabundance of lore in this album can be a detractor for people, but I personally didn't feel that at all, I enjoyed these songs' lyrics so much because I related to a lot of them personally, not so much because of the references to Taylor Swift's life. I think the fact that I related to this album so closely is the main reason why I hated the discourse around it so much, it felt like a personal attack. And also, as a person from a non-english speaking country, I can confirm that she's definitely not as popular here, and our country's Taylor Swift fandom is just a small chill place, it's just an America thing for sure (or an English-speaking country thing, I heard people from the UK and Australia complain about her popularity too). And I also agree SO MUCH about how people don't really care about the music, but for the celebrity. And that includes both the Swifties and the haters. Like, most of the fans are freaking out about the lore and Taylor as a media personality since this album came out and don't really analyse the actual album at all. Like, they'll call her an amazing lyrical genius but won't actually engage with the songs besides just a surface level look at them. So it's really hard to find someone to talk to about the music, the lyrics, the production and how it made me feel, and that is really important to me because I love music and I'm incredibly passionate about analysing it. And with the haters, like you said, they didn't even need a reason to tear this album, they started to do it immediately when it was announced, without waiting for it to actually come out. And now they're trying to stir up some controversy by uploading these out of context song lyrics and it's working and I'm just so tired... And by all means, bash her as a person, I don't care. What I do care for is the music. And I feel like most people don't engage with music like with art anymore, they're just too terminally online to do it. I think I just need to log off, stop reading bad takes and getting worked up about them, mind my own business and just enjoy the music. And I'll try to do it as much as I can. Sorry for the incoherent rambling, I just really needed to get this off of my chest

Idk if I'm just delusional, but the lore is very much present. I saw this post on the ts subreddit called "analyzing the matty/joe of it all" that kind of helped with the experience. made some lyrics make more sense

Hey Mic

i always enjoy listening to your thoughts since you're pretty down to earth with the artists and works you explore and it's nice to hear. finally someone mentioned aaron too, i love the production he brought to this album!!! it feels like the people would rather just focus on mentioning how jack's producing has long reached its peak and needs to go, or the other 300 topics surrounding themes of her life which don't have to relate to every single thing that she releases - but people will relate it anyway. it feels as if with most artists the horse dies off and they'll beat it every now and then but with swift they will feed the horse AND beat it. it's exhausting. i'm excited for the rerealease of reputation, especially for any new tracks. ttpd doesn't really feel like it's trying to outdo anything, it's another dive in what can be considered a folklore/evermore sound but the lyrics surely feel less poetic and aesthetic, which is fine. it felt a lot like... sitting in sadness and just being there. i'm disappointed but i'll live

Almost every review I’ve seen is talking about her fame and not the music itself! Thank you for making this

Hey! I appreciate this video. I'm a newer Swiftie and I *really* loved this album. I loved the way she twisted her usual formula and focused very inwardly on herself and her mistakes and feelings. I will admit that I am likely biased - I was extremely excited for this album and loved the way it subverted a lot of my expectations as a fan. I share a lot of your feelings on the discourse surrounding it. I put out a small review on my own personal blog analyzing some of the themes and immediately got some weird comment from someone accusing me of "calling everything she does perfect" and demanding I account for the fact that "everyone else" hated it. It just felt... weird. Like, it's a dense and imperfect album and I don't expect everyone to love it, but isn't it weird when you're pounding down someone's door and demanding they halt analyzing the themes and talk about how it's bad because everyone else said it was. Anyway, though I don't always agree with you on your Taylor takes, I've always appreciated hearing them and I love your channel!

I saw a Twitter comment that was along the lines of Babe that's what happens when you sit on music instead of trying to form a full fledged opinion on 31 in 3 hours.

Thank you for calling out the negative kinds of parasocial relationships. Those things thrive off of blind hatred as easily as blind devotion, and the former is far more destructive to discourse than the latter, imho. As for reputation, I've said it many times about rep: the lore is a ruse. That record is about the phenonemon *of* reputation construction and destruction (in the social media era) as much as it is about *her* reputation. Also, the front-half is a crucial prequel to the second, but again, a conspiracist's board of string is not required to appreciate it. It's simply about being misunderstood to such a degree that you fear any future partner will innately mistrust you (maybe some rumor got spread about you at work, maybe you had a messy breakup in which you were cast as a villain), then finding someone who actually "likes you for you". What I loved most about it was that even though half the songs were essentially from behind an alter-ego mask, the emotional throughline was from an honst place of hurt, resentment and isolation. It was, as one critic put it, "a song cycle about how it feels when you stop chasing romance and start letting your life happen." It was her most intimate record until TTPD, in my opinion.

I truly believe she has a very peculiar relationship with her fans (which are probably significantly more than any other pop star's atm) that is not going to go away. Those who jumped on the hype of the eras tour will go, probably, but her fans will stay and she will continue to be massive. I don't believe she will fade out unless she wants that (like she did between 1989 and reputation) and even then, the moment she came back, she was massive instantly. Idk, she's quite a particular phenomenon that should be studied by itself because there's no other thing like it.

can always count on Mr. The Snare for a nuanced, down to earth take on taylor and her music! Very excited about your Rep TV video and if the new versions will shift your opinions on the album overall!

You think only 3 songs are lore, because you aren't knee deep in it. I'm relatively new to the Taylor-verse and I can hear the lore on almost all of the songs.

Glad to see an actual nuanced take around here. Thank you Mr. Snare. I honestly share a lot of the same opinions on the album and am honestly surprised by the hate for it. I enjoyed it way more than I expected.

I think people are still treating her like she's still in her rep era, desperate for approval and calculating how to manage every aspect of her image when i really doubt that. I think Taylor didn't write this to gain critical acclaim. It's emotional vomit.... well written emotional vomit with producers that did an excellent job helping it to sound cohesive. It's the end of a period of her life that she's ready to close and it's just how she processes things, and with how productive a writer she is when her life is chaotic, they might as well put it out there. She writes what she knows so her career chronicles her past, and the rerecording process has been a giant review of her life. With the size of her life and career and the critical acclaim she received for her past few albums i think she's unconcerned with criticism at this point since her fans will support her regardless. Not sure what's next for her but this in particular was definitely an exercise in catharsis.

I had no idea people didnt like this album. I guess having no social media has its perks.

You should be allowed to dislike any music you want without being gatekeeped. Just don’t act like a crazy person and you should be fine.

I... Really don't like how the criticism of lyrical content from this album was all boiled down to "being out of context" because like, I've seen a lot of people critique the 1830s line and the verse it's contained in within the context of the music? I agree with the rest of the discussion about how people are talking about this album, but like, we should be allowed to call out insensitive songwriting?

I love it when smart people talk about Taylor. Thank you!

I can second the fact that its actually really easy to avoid taylor discourse. Like, I work at a college radio station. Everyone there is obsessed with music, possibly to an unhealthy degree, including myself. But I have not heard a word about this album that isn't just "yeah i listened to some of it. its alright i suppose". And outside of that, I'm still chronically online and all, just not on social media. And even when I was still an active social media user basically before 2024, I hung around music circles and still saw very little taylor discourse surrounding, for example, midnights or folklore. You absolutely can stay involved with music without getting caught up in the celebrity of it all

I love this review even though I think I'm more positive on the album than you, it's one of those works that I absolutely understand why people don't connect with but I think it's some of her most interesting songwriting since evermore and best jack production since folklore, all in service of some frankly startling honesty allowing the audience a view of herself that doesn't make her look the best (this is her first record where she actually feels like an anti-hero). But I really agree that people were waiting to have permission to hate a Taylor Swift album and this one gives people a lot of things to hate if that's what you're looking for.

man i love you mic the snare. thank you for the great observations as always

I really appreciate your nuanced take! There always feels like such extremes when it comes to Taylor’s music. It’s also frustrating to see lyrics taken so completely taken out of context, and I’m glad you touched upon that. I personally like the album and have found it growing on me more as I listen to it, which is the case for a lot of music. It takes time to settle. It’ll be so interesting to see how this album ranks in peoples ratings of her albums, as the years pass.

Mr. Snare, how your cousins, Ms. Hi-hat and Mr. Tom-Tom do?

Talking about the inescapable discourse and such, I LITERALLY didn't even know Taylor was dropping an album until it was out. Idk when it was released. I think it was yesterday but idk. And I'm CHRONICALLY ONLINE, and I am a huge music guy. I watch album reviews and reactions and even make my own. I think I saw the album art first and I don't even remember where, and I didn't even know what it was when I saw it. I think I thought it was an album for a different artist, idk. I didn't have to "try to not look for it" I literally just didn't hear about it.

Hi Mic, I️ am a very very big swiftie and I️ have been so disappointed and overwhelmed with the discourse online of 1. People not liking TTPD and 2. Swiftie vehemently defending it. I️ wish we could just listen to the music. The Jack Antonoff discourse may be fair, but then it's turning out that his songs are everyone's favorites from the record. I️ wish I️ could just enjoy it

im in a weird in between where i feel like ppl need to relax abt her, while simultaneously agreeing w all of the criticism of this album. its so mind numbingly dull its barely even wallpaper cuz at least wallpaper has a fun pattern on it sometimes. its like a blank sheet of printer paper.

I freaking loved this album. I absolutely understand why people aren’t connecting with it, but I REALLY liked it. I liked it because it’s messy and bloated at times. It feels intentional in a way that Taylor’s music hasn’t since folklore and evermore (excluding the Taylor’s Versions)

Tortured jet user department

8:57 just to answer this question. taylor made 6 shows here in brazil, in the middle of an heatwave, in one of the shows the tempeture on the stadium was so high, that one fan died. so i dont know, if she is bigger on US, but she is huge in others places too.

video fire as always, youve gotten so much better a commentator over the years its been great also bonus points for using ttyd music

11:00 Holy shit that's a deep cut reference, it's not even to the more popular (and honestly way funnier) Cleveland tourism song, it's from the first one. I tip my hat to you good sir.

You were able to summon up my thoughts on all this very well especially with the discourse. The album wasn’t too bad. Wasn’t the best thing she’s made. Wasn’t a hit maker. But the worst thing about it is everyone around it losing their goddamn minds

thanKs Mike Snare /j

just wanted to come into the comments and say i’ve been watching your videos for a while now and i’m always so charmed by your way of speaking. even when we have differing opinions i always enjoy hearing what you have to say! thanks for sharing these videos with us

Hi! I am from Spain and I really liked what you said about the Taylor Swift phenomenon being very American centered. I will say that in Spain, because our first language is Spanish the most popular artists are reggaetoneros: Bad Bunny Karol g, etc. When you go to a club you are not going to listen to Taylow Swift lol. However, Taylor Swift has definetly reached a new peak overseas too, in no small part bc of the Eras Tour. It had been years since I had heard one of her songs in the radio and when Midnights came out Antihero did not stop playing. She has entered again the cultural conversation here, to the point that my 49year old aunt asked me last week if Taylor Swift was daiting some footballl player bc she had seen someting in the news about it. However, she definetly hasn't swallowed the musical market in the same way that she has done in USA.

It's funny you say that you're not supposed to separate the lyrics from the music when I think that's exactly what people do and what she seems to want people to do. The music itself is like backing tracks to the real star of the show: The Main Character lyrics. I don't think it's just her, either--I'd say the same thing about Drake, Lana, etc. The music itself has taken a back seat to celebrity, lore, meme-able lyrics, etc in modern pop.

I still have to listen to The Anthology, but the fact that songs are getting stucked in my head in just a first listen it's a sign that this album is good and I keep finding good things lyrically. This is how I like to analyze Taylor's music lore, I see it as the story as primary and the celebrity and her dating life as secondary, this is what I did with Red, I saw it as the story of a heartbroken girl instead of the album Taylor dedicated to Jake Gyllenhaal after breaking her heart, is Red inspired after Jake? Yes, but I see it more as a story and not what happened to the celebrity. That being said, I did saw this album as "oh, this is about Matty" and while it was interesting, I think it ruined my experience, it was just trying to find the clues about who is the person she dedicated this song to and to me it wasn't fun, it's more fun to realize what's going on the song rather than trying to find the inspiration for it. And the ending really says my feelings on the general Taylor's discourse, it's just like, if you really love her haters will come saying "she's overrated" or "this artist is better", if you say something bad about her the stans will come at you with "you're a hater", "you don't understand her" or "you're misogynistic", you have to be neutral or not engage with it at all. I'm not the type of guy of being "fuck swifties, they're the worst fanbase" I don't hate them but sometimes they can be really toxic at times but all big fanbases are toxic and swifties are as bad as the Smash Bros. and videogame community, which are communities I do engage a lot even before becoming a swiftie, but seriously right now debating about Taylor Swift is... Complicated.

It'll be really interesting to see if TTPD become a turning point in her career. Reputation was maybe the album that polarized fans and critics most, but this record seems to be on its way too. Personally, i didn't like that much, it's not the top 5 in her discography, but it's a grower for some songs definetely. What to expect from her in the future? Certainly we don't know at this point, the announcement of TTPD was shocking because she said she worked on this project for almost 2 years, most fans were expecting reputation TV that night. Finally, I hope she takes a break after The Eras Tour, not because the overexposure many people say, but for take some time off and experience another ventures. I still remember she said during the Lover era that it was maybe her last chance to be relevant because her stardom started to fall after rep, but 5 years later here we are

This video called me out a little because right after I listened to the first seven tracks and feeling extremely underwhelmed, i googled negative review articles to read🤭

As someone who is in high school and does music, I know a lot of swifties (including the band director), and they all love the record for what its worth. They're swifties so its worth taking that with a grain of salt but by contrast I don't know a single person in real life who doesn't like the album. Which isn't to say it's good, I haven't listened to it because I am so uninterested it hurts, just to compare my real life experience with "The Discourse"

we freaking love u mic the snare

thanK you MIc

Could not agree with this thumbnail more! I may not be her biggest fan anymore, but I will never understand why anyone would feel the need to bash her for (checks notes) making an album that sounds boring at times? Is this really what our world is coming to?? (Side note: Loving the new glasses btw! Have to say, they're rather stunning 😊)

I think the public is just a bit tired of her and they're lashing out. TTPD is legitimately really solid, but she was in everyone's face all last year cause the Eras Tour so people are bitter and just want her to fail. It's the typical "people are sick of her and want to her fail for the Schadenfreude dopamine hit" that's all it is.

I think it's a good album. Not as good as folklore, and a little messy since it's a double album of some sort... But I think the storytelling is extremely well done, with all her trademark internal and external references to this album and others. It's clearly got a lot of guts spilling in it, and I respect that! It's also got a more lively and interesting sound than Midnights. But mostly it's a pretty decent tragic narrative. I think it's something that I have to be in the mood for a tragedy to put on, and maybe I'll go through and trim some of the fat myself (thanK you aIMee 🙄), but I will definitely come back to this. She makes nice music that are interesting short stories... I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

At this point I’m unironically scared of openly enjoying Taylor Swift or even allowing myself to enjoy her music because people are so fucking awful and cruel about music taste these days, especially when it comes to pop, AND EVEN MORE SO when it comes to Taylor. Maybe it’s dumb that I care but I know for a fact large chunks of my friends would groan if I told them I thought this album was okay (which from the parts I listened to, it was)