taylor swift red poll

I didn't really like the original All Too Well as much as most people seem to, I think because the turn at the end felt kind of pat and petty to me. Once it becomes a ferociously angry too-long epic, I like it better because it feels more raw and real; the shift from "I remember" to "you remember" feels less like carefully designed lyrical symmetry and more like something she has to tell herself to deal with all the anger.

"I Bet You Think About Me" is awesome

"Forever Winter," too... wow

She's gotta roll out a live version of this mega-All Too Well doesn't she? SNL or someone should give her a 10-minute block.

I believe that's the plan.

the chorus of "Nothing New" keeps reminding me of early Counting Crows and I cannot figure out why. "Mr. Jones" maybe?

It becomes a totally different song, veering off in completely new directions – very cool (I'm just not so hot on the backing vox, but whatevs).

Oh she is on SNL, lol. I didn't even know that. Of course she is.

full court press dept.

https://i.imgur.com/xP1Hn2r_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium

Monday 1:00pm InfoWars

I was totally on board with the ten-minute "All Too Well" until I got to the "Just between us" part. Not that any one addition felt all that necessary to me on its own, but the increasing epic OTT-ness of the emotion works well imo and I love all the details; that conversation with the actress in the bathroom is amazing vintage TS. But then she starts doing her vague mixed-metaphor thing and she loses me, right at the end.

― Lily Dale, Friday, November 12, 2021 12:08 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yep

The use of "love affair" in that part feels awkward, a little dainty.

Still, I like the overall sweep of it.

Listened to the first four songs on my drive home from Target... OMG! The rockers are fierce! The production is amazingly clear (at least when compared w/the original)... have I just not heard a newly recorded rock album in a while(?) It sounded like the bass drum was in the backseat with me.

Her vocals also sound more committed to me – at least so far – than they did on the Fearless redo. There's real energy here!

(I think I accidentally ended up w/the "Clean" version, lol)

the story behind the 10-minute "all too well" is it only ever existed previously as a recording of an improvised jam with her touring band (& the lyrics were at least semi-improvised was the implication there?) & then she significantly edited that down to get the "all too well" she actually recorded for red

then for this project she went back & recorded a full studio version of that original 10-minute demo, keeping the original lyrics but reworking the arrangement with antonoff

i'm not sure i buy that she really improvised most of the lyrics on the spot but maybe some?

a recording of an improvised jam with her touring band

Grateful Red

Heh

it is very annoying that ed sheeran counts out both of the songs he guests on

"run" is great tho. once again the vault tracks deliver

Vault tracks are good! I agree the rerecording is kind of whatever, but another album's worth of Red-era tracks is fine by me.

I still can’t get over the clarity & presence of the mix/production… not to get all Hoffman Forums scum, but – somebody else with the CD, tell me I’m not crazy… doesn’t it sound really fuckin’ good??

my feeling about the 10-minute "all too well" is: yes, of course, the choices she made for the final version were correct in terms of delivering a song that works as a song, but: all the lines she cut totally slap. like, the first difference is a way-overextended death metaphor in true taylor swift fashion, and the dad interlude is devastating, and and and it just keeps mounting and mounting like a torrent, like different rivers of resentment feeding into a tidal wave of heartbreak. it's fucking... exhilarating(?) to listen to and truer to the feeling that produced the song than the final product, even if i prefer the edit. final "all too well": "i was there." 10-minute draft: "you were there too motherfucker"

oh also i am super whatever on the uncanny valley rerecording of "all too well" but all the little arrangement changes they made to the 10-minute version are exquisite

I can't tell if it's a matter of production or performance or both, but something's off about "Trouble" and "Never Getting Back Together" - like she can't quite call up the required insouciance. "Holy Ground" is maybe an improvement though? That and "Red" suggest she might make a solid hard rock record.

Red definitely left open the possibility of a Rock Taylor, which she has mostly not explored. She could do an E Street Band kind of album.

Get rid of Dessner and Antonoff (please) and hire idk Sturgill Simpson and Joan Jett

xxxpost i felt similarly about "22" ... she sounds like her heart's just not in it, like she feels silly singing that song at 31. idk, maybe i was hearing what i thought i should be hearing or something.

i felt similarly about "22" ... she sounds like her heart's just not in it, like she feels silly singing that song at 31. idk, maybe i was hearing what i thought i should be hearing or something.

I think I had the opposite reaction to "22" - I liked it but I think that's because I like the idea of someone significantly older than 22 singing it.

I thought "Red" sounded great. I would like to hear more Rock Taylor for sure.

all the little arrangement changes they made to the 10-minute version are exquisite

yeah i love the different arrangement on it & it's fascinating because it's the one time she's really re-interpreting an old song rather than just imitating the old recording as much as possible

yes! and it sounds so good and gives you a sense of how cool this project could be if she'd let herself re-interpret all the songs. The vault tracks are nice and all, and she's doing as good a job with this as she possibly could, but ultimately this whole revenge karaoke thing still seems like a very weird choice to me. Like, I get the business angle, but I can't imagine there's much artistic satisfaction in redoing your work if you can't allow yourself to change it.

yeah the re-recordings are not at all an interesting project but she's made up for that with the new material attached to them at least

oh wow she really changed up "girl at home", that's the only re-recording that's anywhere near this different, right? new version is great but what's the story there

I've embarrassed myself here praising "Starlight" over the years, but, my god, it sounds grander than ever.

the horns on "babe" are so good wow

"message in a bottle" is better than any of the martin/shellback tracks that actually made the album

the vault tracks are more consistent than the original album, obv the gorgeous brass arrangements on "forever winter" and "babe" wouldn't have been there originally but still how did she leave some of this material off in favour of "stay stay stay" etc.

even "run" with sheeran is good!

the “girl at home” change-up is so good. feels like a complete song now

"Holy Ground" is maybe an improvement though? That and "Red" suggest she might make a solid hard rock record.

― Freeze Instr., Friday, November 12, 2021 9:37 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Oh man, you're right, she'd crush it.

i have wanted her to make that record for eight years now, alas we live in a fallen world

revisiting this is a good reminder that its first three songs are just incredible ... well, really nine, imo, but definitely three. or five.

i like stay stay stay, but ok, maybe eight

but the first three, holy shit

i love treacherous and all too well like everyone else, but the title track ... i just love the lyrics of the title track.

yeah, my main takeaway so far is that the title track is really good and way better than I remembered it.

I said upthread that opening track "State Of Grace" gets me every time and it still does

On the faithful re-recording; interesting or not as the project may be in the abstract, their actual effect is to create an event that induces people like me, who never heard this record the first time around, to listen to it through and enjoy it! As popular as Swift is, there are a lot more people who haven't heard these songs than who have.

The new songs not only sound terrific, but the performances/arrangements are just new enough to make them "interesting" for me (I loved the original album, but haven't been compelled to listen to it in years).

The poppiest songs (like "WANGBT") do kind of lack the "snap" of the originals - which reinforces my skepticism that this approach can pay off for an album like Reputation (whose greatness relies so much on the specific details of the production, and the performances she delivered at the time)... I guess we'll see!

(it occurs to me that, in 2021, the idea of “some indie record that’s much cooler than mine” may no longer apply!)

“The Last Time” sounds gorgeous… what a song. I love her duets

I’ve always wondered what indie record she was thinking of when she wrote that line. Born to Die? Suck It and See?

Ravedeath, 1972

she was actually talking about best coast

like i’m not joking, that’s the real answer