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LISTENING PARTY LIVE: "Lover" First Impressions Thread

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Really nice album. I need a few more listens but I feel like it's one I'll certainly be repeating. It's put me in a really nice mood.

The little spoken outro at the end of the album was pretty corny though...

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Just listening to it again, it's a pleasant album. It does feel like she's in a bit of artistic stagnancy though, I feel like she executed some of these sounds better on 1989 and even Reputation. I really like Cruel Summer, Lover, Paper Rings, Soon You'll Get Better, False God and Afterglow. cry7 Me! & I forgot You Existed could've been done without tbh 

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@Lachlan serving taste!!!

 

but for me right now, this album isn’t too high on the scale for me. It’s good! Needs a few listens, but as of now 

Speak Now>Red>>1989>Lover>Fearless>>Rep>>>Taylor Swift

Again, not that it’s a bad album, but the other 3 albums are SO incredibly strong. It’s hard to beat those to begin with 

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I have the most turbulent love-hate relationship with Taylor and am constantly switching my opinion of her. I've been closer to hate lately, but she pulled me back in with the actual album. rip4

I still think a lot of her lyrics are cringeworthy ("In my feelings like Drake," "taking shots at me like I'm Petron," and all of London Boy for example) and her recent pandering is insulting to me, but overall I really like it. Even the more juvenile sounding tracks are still fun at least, and I appreciate that she wasn't lazy with choruses and melodies like most of her peers are now and also actually sticks to a cohesive storytelling theme for her album instead of making it a random collection of songs to be streamed. I can find at least something I like in every song except Me (by the way I screamed when I heard the gap where "spelling is fun" used to be), and I wasn't expecting to feel so warmly towards it. I'm liking it even more on the second listen, so maybe it'll become my fall album this year. My favorites were Cruel Summer, Lover, The Man (this whole stretch of the album is my favorite part), and Soon You'll Get Better. I shouldn't have prematurely judged that she was confused with her identity and lost sight of what originally made her popular this era, because if we know anything whether we love her or hate her, it's that Taylor always has a plan. However, I will say that a lot of the songs sounded like she was doing her version of other artists' signature sounds (Lorde, Lana, Halsey, CRJ, Haim, even Sufjan Stevens) instead of just using her own. It's definitely better than Reputation though.

3.5/5 for me. gaycat1

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I like it more than Reputation, but quite a bit less than 1989. I'm glad she does the sound that she does best -- dreamy 80's synth pop. Cruel Summer, Lover, Cornelia Street, Soon You'll Get Better, Afterglow and Daylight are all my favorites from the album. True to form, she releases the worst song from the album as a lead. I don't know why she does this or what the strategy is, but it's worked for the last three albums, so . . . All in all, I don't think it will be her most memorable album, but it's far from her worst. I think she'll see a Grammy nom for it at least.

 

Rihlease Cruel Summer! 

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I was trying to make a list of my favorites but it's literally like 2/3 of the albumgag1  I'm so glad I'm connecting this well with a Taylor album again after I forced myself to like "reputation"gag1

 

"I Forgot That You Existed"- 7/10. One of those songs you have to listen to more than once to get past the cringe but it's a whole bop if you can get used to it!

"Cruel Summer"- 8/10. It's great but I don't think it fits as well with the rest of the album. It kind of reminds me of "Getaway Car" which I love but I like my Taylor Swift albums cohesive!

"Lover": 10/10. Literally a perfect song, and a perfect video to go along with it.gag1

"The Man": 8/10. I love the groove and vibe of this, but the lyrics set it apart. Especially the one about "good ideas and power moves."jj2

"The Archer": 10/10. I'm a sucker for when Taylor does "atmospheric" music. It kind of reminds me of Wildest Dreams but it actually might be better.

"I Think He Knows": 10/10. Please make this the next single.

"Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince": 10/10. I didn't like it at first because I thought she was rehashing the whole high school prom queen thing again, but the lyrics are actually not really about that at all imo. It's a great dramatic, theatrical song.

"Paper Rings": 10/10. This song just makes me happy. She also hasn't really experimented with this sound before and I like that she's exploring.

"Cornelius Street" 10/10. She's kind of serving Joni Mitchell-lite with these descriptive lyrics and I'm all the way here for it! The production is perfect of course.

"Death By A Thousand Cuts": 8/10. On an album this good, even a song like this could be considered middle tier. It's great and I LOVE the production but it doesn't stand out as much.

"London Boy": 10/10. It's just cute, bubblegum fun. I can see why some people don't like it but they're wrong.gag1

"Soon You'll Get Better": 10/10. The lyrics, the RED vibes, the Dixie Chicks. 'Nuff said

"False God": 7/10. The production is, again, great and I like the chorus but it's kind of boring imo.

"You Need To Calm Down": 4/10. Parts of it are great but the chorus is just so obnoxious. I honestly have no idea what she was thinking when she released this when "I Think He Knows" was sitting right there!!!!!!

"Afterglow": 10/10. That choruscry8 The whole song is kind of a slow burner but at the same time it's explosive; I love that combination.

"ME!": 3/10. Let's move on.

""It's Nice To Have A Friend": 5/10. Love the BLL vibes but the melody is basic and I don't really get the point of this song.

"Daylight": 10/10. It's a perfect closer and the ending monologue is like a thesis statement for her entire career. She has the mind of a mastermindgag1

 

As of now: Speak Now > 1989 = Lover > RED > reputation = Fearless > Mixtape. This is probably going to end up as one of my favorite pop records of the 2010s if it doesn't age badly. She really did it to megag1

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Well, where do I begin nicki4

I think her intent on giving fans what they want is a negative in Lover’s case. I barely made it through all 18 tracks, with a point in the middle, where I lost where I was. Taylor needs to edit herself and not feel she needs to show us everything.

The sound and lyrics are consistent through the whole album which is a positive, but some of the tracks are dull...and like I said above, could have been edited out.

I love Jack. I love what he has produced with artists over the years and get excited when he is listed on anyone’s production team, but maybe too much Jack is well, not a good thing. I’m feeling a bit of Lorde, a bit of Lana and a bit of Carly - Taylor should have pushed Jack a bit to give her something unique. Perhaps, indulging us with 11 Jack tracks was a few too many.

Its a bit clunky but it’s fun with a good “Love for Love” message - so I would give it a 6.5/10 

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