Taylor Swift - Midnights (October 21, 2022) Album • Page 41

Yeah, this is it for me. I'm not, like, mad that people are enthusiastic about something. It's more that I feel like so much of the discussion around new music is clustered around those first 1-3 days, and then everyone moves on to the next thing. And if the predominant takes during those first 1-3 days are either "LOL this sucks" or "GOAT! Run me over with a truck Taylor!", that bums me out as someone who'd like to have more nuanced conversations about this shit.

 

I think you’re taking this criticism more personally than the spirit in which it was offered.

 

To be clear, Anti-Hero is one of my favorites on the album. Just lyrically, for someone who can write at her caliber, that one couplet is just not it

 

It really comes back to… I want to talk about music and have nuanced discussions. It’s fun to rank things and be excited/dismissive and theorize endlessly. But that’s the most common way folks do it, and it’s primarily because by next week a majority of listeners will have moved on to something else.

 

Not gonna lie, I really love "Vigilante Shit"

 

Related: my least favorite phrase in art right now is “{X} is mid” because 99% of the time it’s a criticism leveled at something you didn’t devote enough energy to in order to even say WHY it doesn’t move you.

 

I can hardly stand by my year-end top ten lists, let alone my immediate takes when an album first drops, haha. But it’s fun to go back and look at the arc of how my opinion has changed, as I’m sure it is for everyone.

 

only 4 tracks in, and imo, this is what Lover should've sounded like. lots of its best elements here.

 

See also: "boring," "bland," "snooze," etc. Broad, unspecific criticisms to stand in for a lack of thoughtful opinion.

I do not even remember what my mid-year list looked like, other than my number 1 (which, to be fair, is still my number 1).

 

I mean yeah, I frequently post that I think new albums by bands I love are fucking amazing and great and the best shit ever and that was specifically called out? should I not be defending myself?

 

I really like the first 5 songs and the last - the songs in between are where I am mixed on

 

I really only get annoyed when people say “it’s good but it’s not my AOTY” as though that’s a bad thing like yeah duh only one album can be your album of the year, albums can still be good even if it’s not your favorite

 

I agree with this too, I often find myself trying to talk about albums a few weeks after they come out and outside of a few people the threads are dead lol. Even the 1975 thread is dying down a ton already and the other day I felt like I was talking to myself lol

 

this is me in the wild pink album thread haha

 

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about. The initial burst of enthusiasm can be fun, I'm mostly bothered that it seems like the only form of music discourse now. I feel like I'm just now ready to hop into those threads to discuss those albums and it's like the buzz is wearing off for everyone else already? Especially with the Wild Pink album, I did not think my first impressions could do justice to how dense and emotionally raw that album is.

 

It's a fuckin snooze what more do you want me to say!

 

I haven’t even listened to the wild pink album lol I’ve been pretty late to stuff lately other than super important shit (the 1975, this, etc.) so by the time I get around to an album the threads are dead and it’s like…I wanna talk about this. Or if I’m revisiting something from a previous year and wanna talk about it there’s very little discussion to be had. Feels like back on absolutepunk there was way more discussion surrounding albums that had been out for some time and not just that initial burst on the release week.

 

I welcome all four word long hot takes and 10 paragraph long dissections

 

yeah I guess my whole point is I’ll take what I can get in terms of music discussion since this is the last place on the internet where good discussions actually take place lol

 

I agree with alllll of this.

 

What stage of sleep is this putting you into? Light sleep? Deep sleep? REM cycle?

It just seems like the entire speed of internet discourse has accelerated tenfold since the AbsolutePunk days. We’d dissect albums for weeks. I remember we’d sometimes review things way later and there would still be discussion and interest. Now, it’s just on to the next thing. I’m sure streaming is a factor there. There was just a different kind of buy-in with music back then.

 

Page 41 now… fully expect at least 12 more pages by the time I wake up in 8 hrs.

 

Just got an order processed update for my vinyl, maybe get it by Wednesday?

 

While we're complaining about online cultural discourse, I also just want more "why do you feel this way" in my music and film conversations.

 

Gotta check out WP! That and the 1975 have all I’ve listened to really.