yeah i presume the deluxe european edition is what's leaked? if the US version's leaked too do tell me so i can listen to that instead
― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Friday, 22 October 2010 20:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, I've got one with the pop versions on 'disc 1' and the US versions on disc 2 along with some acoustic tracks and bonus tunes.
― abcfsk, Friday, 22 October 2010 20:28 (thirteen years ago) link
they've put handclaps on "speak now"
whyyyyyyyyyyyyy
― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Friday, 22 October 2010 20:30 (thirteen years ago) link
Terrible buzzing synth in the "international" version of "Mine" inspires xenophobia in me forever, God bless the USA.
― Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Friday, 22 October 2010 20:46 (thirteen years ago) link
lol @ "no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity"
― abcfsk, Friday, 22 October 2010 20:48 (thirteen years ago) link
i've just moved the original versions onto Disc 1, and removed the awful Euro mix versions. I hate how they think people outside the US are unable to listen to banjos are steel guitars.
― prolego, Friday, 22 October 2010 20:48 (thirteen years ago) link
*and.
wow @ dear john.
― prolego, Friday, 22 October 2010 20:56 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah holy fuck.
― Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Friday, 22 October 2010 21:05 (thirteen years ago) link
"dear john" is amazing yeah
"never grow up" is...what is going on in that song o_0
― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Friday, 22 October 2010 21:06 (thirteen years ago) link
the album's definitely a LOT denser than she's done before
― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Friday, 22 October 2010 21:07 (thirteen years ago) link
You come out the other side of that song really exhausted and tore up but softly euphoric. It's a motherfucker.
― Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Friday, 22 October 2010 21:08 (thirteen years ago) link
xpost, I was talking about "Dear John"
― Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Friday, 22 October 2010 21:09 (thirteen years ago) link
Ann Powers on "Mean" -- and Taylor in general:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/10/taylor-swift-lessons-in-being-mean.html
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 22 October 2010 21:09 (thirteen years ago) link
Also "Mean" is fucking awesome in the context of the record. Do you still dislike it, lex?
yes that powers piece is really great
do people seriously think "mean" is about rock critics though? i mean really. she couldn't situate it more obviously in her pre-fame days. hey egomaniac critics, you're almost certainly not the only people to have told taylor swift she can't sing in her life.
― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Friday, 22 October 2010 21:12 (thirteen years ago) link
and a second listen to "mean" didn't warm me up to it, it's just so gauche
― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Friday, 22 October 2010 21:13 (thirteen years ago) link
Oh my god "Enchanted."
Hard not to read synth-pop into the keyboard work here but it sure kills me.
― Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Friday, 22 October 2010 21:22 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah Mean is a pretty perfect fit in this context and sound-wise it breaks up a couple of heavier tunes really nicely. I think it's too successfully humorous to be gauche.
― abcfsk, Friday, 22 October 2010 21:23 (thirteen years ago) link
this album feels a lot less country than her previous work.
― prolego, Friday, 22 October 2010 21:25 (thirteen years ago) link
All right, this record's a little long. Which is fine, I'm just emotionally spent after every other song.
― Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Friday, 22 October 2010 21:26 (thirteen years ago) link
Love how effectively she uses breaks, pauses in 'Last Kiss'. Whatever your position, you can't say this is a Fearless retread, that she makes use of the same tricks.
― abcfsk, Friday, 22 October 2010 21:56 (thirteen years ago) link
so which of these songs are the terrible non-US ones? "mine" & what else?
― J0rdan S., Saturday, 23 October 2010 07:08 (thirteen years ago) link
back to december & the story of us.
so i guess they want to make them the singles.
― prolego, Saturday, 23 October 2010 07:18 (thirteen years ago) link
'Dear John' is on some next level.
OFL, this is her best album.
― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 23 October 2010 12:16 (thirteen years ago) link
I thought of the Corrs' great "Breathless" upon hearing the intro to "The Story of Us."
― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 23 October 2010 12:33 (thirteen years ago) link
I agree that "Dear John" is a pretty great point of maturation, but the lyrics are incredibly cliché.
"Mean" is the standout for me after a couple listens--glad to hear her stick to her roots when she could have made a Kelly Clarkson album. Without a doubt, this is an excellent record, and maybe her best. Certainly not a disappointment.
― Indexed, Saturday, 23 October 2010 14:10 (thirteen years ago) link
"sparks fly" is a banger
― J0rdan S., Saturday, 23 October 2010 18:15 (thirteen years ago) link
firing this up now, kinda excited
― The Saga of the Unkillable Mr. Poppins (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 23 October 2010 21:06 (thirteen years ago) link
mine still suckssparks fly is niceBack to December is great!
― The Saga of the Unkillable Mr. Poppins (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 23 October 2010 21:14 (thirteen years ago) link
wow back to december is really great
― The Saga of the Unkillable Mr. Poppins (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 23 October 2010 21:21 (thirteen years ago) link
so, so in love with "enchanted".
― prolego, Saturday, 23 October 2010 22:21 (thirteen years ago) link
swag me out
http://i54.tinypic.com/qyzsyc.jpg
― J0rdan S., Saturday, 23 October 2010 22:40 (thirteen years ago) link
fucker! How'd you get it?
― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 23 October 2010 22:41 (thirteen years ago) link
ha, i don't actually have it :(
that's my record store employee friend's copy
― J0rdan S., Saturday, 23 October 2010 22:43 (thirteen years ago) link
Took me a while to notice the banjos in 'Story of Us'.
― abcfsk, Saturday, 23 October 2010 22:56 (thirteen years ago) link
they think people outside the US are unable to listen to banjos
Bangos are not sexy.
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 23 October 2010 23:45 (thirteen years ago) link
record of the year! luv this 4eva!!
― mo radalj, Saturday, 23 October 2010 23:50 (thirteen years ago) link
"Back to December" and "Dear John" are both jawdropping, perhaps her best attempts at ballads yet (the latter in particular being like a much much better version of "White Horse" - as a general rule she is so much better working in specifics rather than archetypes).
"Back to December" in particular though is just... A++ songwriting. Like (and it may be counter-productive to break it down) the shift between "I go back to December..." and "I'd go back to December" is so subtle and yet so important to the narrative arc of the song, and she's so good at picking up on things like that.
― Tim F, Sunday, 24 October 2010 21:34 (thirteen years ago) link
dear john is fucking DEVASTATING
― The Saga of the Unkillable Mr. Poppins (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 24 October 2010 23:04 (thirteen years ago) link
Been writing essays and haven't found time to listen to this properly yet, but on background listens...initial thought:
Back to December took some time to hit me, but once it did it was completely devastating. Dear John is a tad overlong, but equally affecting. The Story of Us is wonderful - all backbeat and sass, and Better Than Revenge....wow. Didn't know she had it in her. It's like some Kelly Clarkson 'My December' shit but with a proper dancebeat and that random hip hop drum bit at 2:20 or so.
― The SBurbs (Alex in Montreal), Sunday, 24 October 2010 23:45 (thirteen years ago) link
has the us version leaked yet?
― dayo, Sunday, 24 October 2010 23:48 (thirteen years ago) link
the deluxe has the US versions on it
― J0rdan S., Sunday, 24 October 2010 23:51 (thirteen years ago) link
eh, think I'll just wait a day for the retail.torrent
― dayo, Sunday, 24 October 2010 23:59 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/arts/music/24swift.html?pagewanted=all
― J0rdan S., Monday, 25 October 2010 00:02 (thirteen years ago) link
I love this.
― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 25 October 2010 00:02 (thirteen years ago) link
but Caramanica's insistence on autobiographical parallels is bullshit.
― prolego, Saturday, October 23, 2010 6:21 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
― Moreno, Monday, 25 October 2010 03:03 (thirteen years ago) link
All those songs with one-word titles in the back half blur together.
― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 25 October 2010 13:57 (thirteen years ago) link
The back half is surprisingly intense! Rock opera-ish.
― Tim F, Monday, 25 October 2010 14:26 (thirteen years ago) link
"Better Than Revenge" is terrific though.
― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 25 October 2010 14:27 (thirteen years ago) link