gf wandering through the room while I'm listening to You All Over Me: This song is gross.me: you don't like her voice?gf: it sounds like she's complaining he came on her and she can't get it off.
― G.A.G.S. (Gophers Against Getting Stuffed) (forksclovetofu), Friday, 2 April 2021 21:16 (two years ago) link
Gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean
― take it to the pre-chorus (morrisp), Friday, 2 April 2021 21:47 (two years ago) link
So the “codes” were titles of the unreleased songs, which I guess Swifties would know:https://www.instagram.com/p/CNNbIrsDkKn/
― take it to the pre-chorus (morrisp), Saturday, 3 April 2021 16:28 (two years ago) link
Yes to Maren Morris & Keith Urban duets
― Indexed, Saturday, 3 April 2021 16:48 (two years ago) link
I'm guessing she won't be getting Nathan Chapman to come back to do the backing vocals
― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Saturday, 3 April 2021 17:40 (two years ago) link
Colbie Caillat is back!
― come along you starbucks lovers (taylor’s version) (morrisp), Saturday, 3 April 2021 18:16 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFjJs6ZjPe8
for the most part i think taylor's b-sides are not great so i'm a little blown away by how much i like the vault tracks. maybe it's bc they allow me to see new angles on an era of her songwriting that i kind of miss
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 14:27 (two years ago) link
this isn't a mindblowing song or anything but i love everything the chorus melody does
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 14:29 (two years ago) link
Featuring the debut of the phrase "casually cruel," before she re-used it in "All Too Well."
― come along you starbucks lovers (taylor’s version) (morrisp), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 16:29 (two years ago) link
I like it!
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 16:32 (two years ago) link
I've pre-ordered the new CD, and I look forward to hearing it - but I still feel like there's a "going through the motions" quality to her vocal performance on each of these preview tracks.
― come along you starbucks lovers (taylor’s version) (morrisp), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 16:54 (two years ago) link
honestly despite making her best and most mature work last year, there is a part of me that has missed the gleefully petty teenage aspect of her/her voice, and it's a testament to her growth as a singer/songwriter/performer that she can inhabit that former self in 2021. i would have gone absolutely feral if i'd heard this in a claire's in 2008.
― billy, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 17:11 (two years ago) link
i love the production on that, really dreamy
― ufo, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 21:09 (two years ago) link
Rerecorded version out today
― groovypanda, Friday, 9 April 2021 06:54 (two years ago) link
i think i might genuinely prefer this to the original, simply for minor changes in some of the timbres
― ufo, Friday, 9 April 2021 10:30 (two years ago) link
"Fifteen" was the one I was most curious about, because it's one where she doesn't have to change a thing for it to feel very different — and it does, in obvious ways. I think the vocal is sweet, you can hear all the affection for her younger self. Also the lyric video has a nice slideshow with a whole lot of who I assume is the real-life Abigail.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLCol1C3ouc
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Friday, 9 April 2021 12:49 (two years ago) link
p sure if i watch that i will cry
― horseshoe, Friday, 9 April 2021 13:32 (two years ago) link
the new “fifteen” is good but this project mainly just reinforces how much i hate faithful rerecordings
can’t tell if it’s because i listened to it through streaming but the dynamics felt more squashed too
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 9 April 2021 13:34 (two years ago) link
i did listen to evermore right after and got to marvel at how far she's come
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 9 April 2021 13:47 (two years ago) link
Yeah overall I can't see myself reaching for this one rather than the original. But I think she's done it about as well as she could.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Friday, 9 April 2021 14:02 (two years ago) link
the vault stuff is uniformly excellent afaict tho
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 9 April 2021 14:05 (two years ago) link
i think the song that suffers most for not being sung by a teenager is "forever & always"
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 9 April 2021 14:18 (two years ago) link
I haven't had a chance to listen to it on good speakers because my bluetooth isn't pairing for some stupid reason, but via a cursory listen through my phone, I think I might agree. That one is my absolute favorite on the album too.
― peace, man, Friday, 9 April 2021 14:21 (two years ago) link
Is Abigail a real person(?)
― Yawnsomely Literal Cover Band (morrisp), Friday, 9 April 2021 16:41 (two years ago) link
"Breathe" sounds great. I'm enjoying this more than I expected to, based on the advance tracks. I still think her vocals lack a certain "commitment," and the overly faithful musical settings feel like a missed opportunity; but it still sounds good!
― Yawnsomely Literal Cover Band (morrisp), Friday, 9 April 2021 17:07 (two years ago) link
(Her singing has improved (technically) in a big way since 2008, which def. helps)
― Yawnsomely Literal Cover Band (morrisp), Friday, 9 April 2021 17:11 (two years ago) link
abigail is extremely real
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 9 April 2021 17:25 (two years ago) link
Abigail makes an appearance in the Miss Americana documentary, iirc
― Lily Dale, Friday, 9 April 2021 17:28 (two years ago) link
listening to this new version of "fifteen" reminded me of the very bad feminist discourse around taylor swift circa 2009-2012
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 9 April 2021 17:32 (two years ago) link
Felt like I was going insane with some of that discourse, it did take away the energy to talk about her music. It was a relay race, first she hated sex, then she did sex wrong or something, and then it shifted and probably peaked in insanity when she was a nazi ??? it sort of quickly fell apart like a house of cards at some point and now it's weird to remember it as a real thing but I guess these re-releases will force some of the skeletons out of the closet. I have read reviewers of this re-relase admitting "I didn't take her seriously as a songwriter back then I guess I realize now she always made great songs"
― abcfsk, Friday, 9 April 2021 20:51 (two years ago) link
the overly faithful musical settings feel like a missed opportunity
well, it's not primarily an artistic pursuit. being unfaithful to the original songs would betray the motivation for doing this whole project in the first place
― J0rdan S., Friday, 9 April 2021 20:55 (two years ago) link
personally i'm kind of digging the slight 90s alt rock vibes of the re-recordings and also "you all over me" is one of the best songs of the year
― J0rdan S., Friday, 9 April 2021 20:56 (two years ago) link
i do enjoy the grungier guitar tone when it appears
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 9 April 2021 20:58 (two years ago) link
the drums have that kind of dull thwack that sounds very live (the adjective not the band) to me, still not exactly sure why it ended up like that but i'm kind of into it. there's a certain rawness to the re-recordings
― J0rdan S., Friday, 9 April 2021 21:03 (two years ago) link
I don't really know this album aside from "You Belong With Me," so that's all I listened to, but the original version sounds much better to me. What the re-recording is missing, I think, is the wistfulness in her voice that balanced the cattiness of the lyrics. In the original, "she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts" comes off mostly as envy; she would like to be the kind of person who can wear short skirts. In the re-recording, the envy is missing from her voice, so what I get instead is a sense of superiority, of "she's wrong for you because she's shallow and slutty, unlike me." Does anyone else have that reaction? I feel like I'm zeroing in on something so tiny as to be almost unnoticeable, but it really takes away what I liked about the song.
― Lily Dale, Friday, 9 April 2021 21:13 (two years ago) link
I think that may fall under the rubric of what I've been saying about her vocals – she doesn't sound really expressive or like she's committed to "selling" the story or emotion in many of these songs (which isn't surprising, considering how old they are).
― Yawnsomely Literal Cover Band (morrisp), Friday, 9 April 2021 21:33 (two years ago) link
(and she's always been a really expressive singer, even when her singing was a lot more rough)
― Yawnsomely Literal Cover Band (morrisp), Friday, 9 April 2021 21:35 (two years ago) link
xxp: I have always read the short skirts/t-shirts thing as a superiority thing! The "I am not like the other girls" trope kinda applies there.
― peace, man, Friday, 9 April 2021 21:59 (two years ago) link
The lyrics read that way to me on paper, but I also hear some envy/wistfulness/insecurity in her younger voice that makes it more nuanced.
― Lily Dale, Friday, 9 April 2021 22:17 (two years ago) link
Like in the original version I can hear her wanting to buy into that trope because she's jealous; in the re-recording all I hear is the trope itself.
― Lily Dale, Friday, 9 April 2021 22:19 (two years ago) link
I also heard it as self-deprecating, in the original song. No one feels superior for sitting on the bleachers (well, a certain kind of snide teen does, but the character in the song isn't Daria).
― Yawnsomely Literal Cover Band (morrisp), Friday, 9 April 2021 22:22 (two years ago) link
But maybe you're right! Like, I think there could be elements of both that I had just never thought about.
Did give a listen to Forever & Always on better speakers and yeah, even though it's a decent performance of the song, the differences are kinda stark. Mostly on the production choices, I guess? I think the original was more driving. Also, there's a little artificial harmonic on the electric guitar in the second verse that's a huge point of joy for me in the song and they don't exactly nail it, I don't think.
It got me thinking about how people used to criticize TS for her lack of singing chops, which always confounded me because she sounded great to my untrained ears. Maybe what I liked were some of the vocal nuances that more singing-acquainted people would have considered bad singing and those have disappeared as she has grown as a professional singer? Or maybe she's just not all that worked up about Joe Jonas anymore and her heart wasn't all that in it.
― peace, man, Friday, 9 April 2021 22:23 (two years ago) link
As a high-school bleacher-sitter, I always felt way superior.
It was a false impression, but that's high school.
― peace, man, Friday, 9 April 2021 22:25 (two years ago) link
just wanted to say: "that's when"!!!!!!
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Saturday, 10 April 2021 00:41 (two years ago) link
― Lily Dale, Friday, April 9, 2021 4:13 PM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink
I've been listening to this all weekend, and the vocal delivery is noticeably different throughout. What I hear is an artist who's worked a lot on things like breath control and pitch and is now delivering a much more sturdy, "professional" vocal track. Unfortunately there are places where it feels too clean, or maybe rehearsed is a better word.
And yes, I know *exactly* what you mean on "You Belong With Me." My favorite vocal on the entire original album was the end of verse 2 of "You Belong With Me" where she sings, "You say you're fine, I know you better than that/ Hey, what you doing with a girl like that?" The original is a super sweet falsetto that felt as though she had to work to hit what I assume is a rather tricky melody. It reads playful, naive, and yes, wistful is a good word, too. In the new one, she blows through the first falsetto as though she can now do it in her sleep, and then spits out a "what you doing with a girl LIKE that" in a more arrogant voice.
I know this reads as a criticism. I don't actually know if it's a good or bad thing. She's a far more capable vocalist now than she was when she first started, and I will happily listen to "Taylor's Version." But I'm actually a bit relieved to know others have noticed this too.
― Indexed, Monday, 12 April 2021 18:22 (two years ago) link
Having it on in the background, listening as a whole album, it mostly does the trick for me. I find myself getting wrapped up in it in a lot of the same places I do on the original album. I still think that Forever & Always didn't really get the performance it deserved and I imagine that there are other songs where it works that way for different listeners.
― peace, man, Monday, 12 April 2021 19:23 (two years ago) link
This is a nice song-by-song tribute that NPR put together with contributions from different writers and musicians.
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/12/985842675/still-fearless-re-recording-the-past-on-taylors-version
"Tell Me Why"Fearless found me at the most pivotal time in my life. I was making the transition from middle school to high school, started growing my hair out in dreads — which would become a staple of my look well into the beginning of my career — and I was finally starting to get a grip on songwriting. I'd started teaching myself guitar in elementary school and by 8th grade, I was proficient enough that everyone wanted me to accompany them at the school's talent show since my middle school didn't have a guitar program (unlike the surrounding schools). I felt kinship with Taylor Swift because she started writing songs really early on in her life and it gave me the confidence to continue to write. Fearless felt like a masterclass on songwriting, but "Tell Me Why" always stood out."Tell Me Why" taught me how to write a chord progression. Though it wasn't a single, or even necessarily one of my favorites off the record, it was my absolute favorite to play. Despite its heavy lyrics, the chord progression sounded equally breezy and flowy sonically. The chorus of "Tell Me Why" really stands out. It's wordy and longer than the average chorus, but it never feels clunky.Additionally, all three choruses in the song vary lyrically, which is something I always love to do. Obviously Taylor wasn't the first to do this, but she was the first I can remember doing it and making it sound as seamless as it was, thus creating yet another T Swift songwriting trick you can track throughout my entire discography — and, I'm sure, for future records to come. — Shamir, musician
"Tell Me Why" taught me how to write a chord progression. Though it wasn't a single, or even necessarily one of my favorites off the record, it was my absolute favorite to play. Despite its heavy lyrics, the chord progression sounded equally breezy and flowy sonically. The chorus of "Tell Me Why" really stands out. It's wordy and longer than the average chorus, but it never feels clunky.
Additionally, all three choruses in the song vary lyrically, which is something I always love to do. Obviously Taylor wasn't the first to do this, but she was the first I can remember doing it and making it sound as seamless as it was, thus creating yet another T Swift songwriting trick you can track throughout my entire discography — and, I'm sure, for future records to come. — Shamir, musician
― Indexed, Monday, 12 April 2021 22:41 (two years ago) link
Have a weird ask that I wonder if any of you may remember. I have this strong recollection of discovering Taylor's self-titled debut from a blog post circa 2007 that also covered Miranda Lambert's debut or maybe Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. As I remember the blog had a cartoon tiger in the header. Anyone have any clue what I'm talking about? I'd love to know who the writer was and find that post if it's still up somewhere...
― Indexed, Tuesday, 13 April 2021 18:06 (two years ago) link
I’m glad I bought this, for the “vault” tracks alone—they’re really good! (and what will probably keep me coming back to this version)
― Yawnsomely Literal Cover Band (morrisp), Friday, 16 April 2021 15:46 (two years ago) link