Album Rating: 4.5
yes most, as in 51%
and I sorta agree, in my head this came out in 2017 or something just feels like it's been around a while
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Album Rating: 4.0
Because already feels like part of the established canon of great albums, agreed.
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Album Rating: 4.8
I wish it did come out in 2017 because it would justify the amount of times I’ve listened to it...
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Album Rating: 4.5
I still am torn about this despite the 4.5. It's really enjoyable and prob my 2nd/3rd fave Swift, but I can still see a very obvious road to how this could have been way better than it is.
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Album Rating: 4.0
I mean, I guess God could have found some things to tinker with here but this ain't the best possible world.
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Album Rating: 4.5
comparing taylor to god is interesting
folklore is way >>> Earth though
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Album Rating: 4.0
Folklore is certainly freer of evils than earth.
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Album Rating: 4.5
I should explain what I originally meant though I guess
This is not a folk album really at all
Reeks of leftover National saved only by Taylor's voice and timeless charm
If she really had dug her feet into the dirt here and stripped things back to to classical piano & acoustic guitars (think the long pond sessions), waay more harmonica than just on betty, more strings like on the lakes, thrown in more non-traditional instruments, and let the music unfurl naturally instead of remaining boxed into these very obvious indie tropes, this could have been...out of this world.
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Album Rating: 4.0
I hear you. I definitely think Taylor is doing all the heavy lifting here.
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Album Rating: 4.5
basically my point in far less words, thank you
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Album Rating: 4.5
Given that I don't really like The National this is just TS making music in that style that I can actually enjoy. Swift is ultimately a chameleon: she changes color to blend into whatever genre she's immersing herself in at the moment, but it's still going to be her hooks/melodies/lyrics that determine the quality more than the coloring. If you're the type that likes the tree, then you're just going to be yelling "WTF is this lizard doing in my tree." I just happen to prefer the lizard to the tree. That's why it doesn't bother me that she hasn't "dug her feet into the dirt" of the genre more because Swift isn't a folk artist, or any "genre" artist really. Not that I wouldn't mind seeing her doing more "pure" folky stuff with acoustic instruments and less production, but then that would just be folk and not Folklore.
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Album Rating: 2.5
I agree with this and think it is beautiful but also it's still the same hooks/melodies/(to a lesser degree tbf) lyrics errytime
so it is the same lizard
but is it *really* changing colour or has it just found a new photogenic forest?
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Lizard person confirmed?
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Album Rating: 4.5
Well, yeah, most artists tend to repeat themselves to a large extent; that's how "style" develops. Though I do think Folklore found a few new wrinkles, especially Swift's greater focus on obviously fictional storytelling. By that I mean most of her past music was either autobiographical (to an extent), or written in 1st person so it could be: Folklore is very heavy on making sure the listener knows these are songs about other people, and I think that change freed Swift's lyrical imagination more than ever, so there's more variety on that level. I also think the change in genre toned down her more overt melodicism, so melodies are more subtle here. It's actually that element that took me some time to adjust to when I didn't love the album at first. Album generally requires more listens than Swift usually does for the earworms to stick.
I think "finding a new photogenic forest" fits with the analogy too, I just don't mind it because I still think the other elements are more than strong enough to make up for it. Plus, I think Swift does emotion really well and this album is basically her at peak tearjerking, which my mangina self digs.
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Album Rating: 4.5
One other change in this album I think the genre spurred was a new found focus on a wistfulness of tone that I don't recall much in any past Swift. Like, Swift has always written about the past, but it was usually either more directly sad/tragic (Fifteen) or even revelrous (Long Live). Compare that to stuff like Seven or August... songs that are incredibly bittersweet, tonally ambiguous. There's a real beauty in how they describe the past, but with a sadness underlying them. That's pretty new for Swift. I also think the production adds a lot to that, because the echoey/reverby thing is a perfect fit for that tonality, and though it has obvious precursors in Lana Del Rey and (going back further) Mazzy Star/Hope Sandoval, I don't think either examples have Swift's lyrical prowess to pull it off quite as well, or at least not quite the same.
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Album Rating: 4.5
"Swift has always written about the past, but it was usually either more directly sad/tragic (Fifteen) or even revelrous (Long Live). Compare that to stuff like Seven or August... songs that are incredibly bittersweet, tonally ambiguous. There's a real beauty in how they describe the past, but with a sadness underlying them. That's pretty new for Swift."
That's incredibly well-said and perfectly captures what so many people see in this.
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Album Rating: 4.0
Yup, nailed it.
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Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off
Happy one year to this beauty. Opened up a whole new world for her and I've only grown to love it even more. And the original version of The Lakes is huge!
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Album Rating: 3.0
this was more boring than i expected given the hype, but i guess im not shocked. taylor's always had a plain, bland vocal timbre and going even more minimalist doesn't really help imo. "Exile" might be the only thing here beyond just decent for me.
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Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
This is better than Green Day though
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