If this year has allowed me to do anything, it has allowed to intake tons more music, new artists, older artists taking advantage of NOT being able to tour for a while and doing new music, and also go into catalogs and listen to things. Now Taylor I have to give a ton of credit too, both or her releases this year are very strong albums and landed in my Top 20 albums of this year. For me I have never really dove into her albums, the last few I have listened to but I still viewed her as a singles artist, or strong singles artist. But I started to realize that she is actually a good songwriter too, and her work on this years two releases, "Folklore" and "Evermore" proves that and more. But I also have grown to respect her with certain things she takes on, like Ownership of music (hmmm something that Prince fans should love), she also did tap into the fact that she was overlooked to buy her masters or just not told she could, because she was just a female pop star and what does she know. I am very surprised females in this industry didnt jump in her corner on that, and also her saying she is going to re record those albums or a lot of that material, which I believe she will, unlike Prince when he said that, I think she will stick to doing quite a bit of it. Now on the chart front I have to admit she is pretty much a genuis on getting the run out of sales for a record and keeping it out there and relevant. Now we all knew she would take number one, but to also do that twice and also simultaneously have the album and a single debut at number one even today is not so easy, but then also looking at the fact that neither album had big run ups to release, she hinted both a day before. I have to also give it to her for releasing these straight digital first and letting them do their thing and then come with physical releases shortly after. This week sees her debut at number one with Evermore and the number one single with Willow (far from the best thing on this album) but also have the number three album as Folklore sees a surge, thanks in part to the physical cds and vinyl of that hitting stores again, Evermore will see physical copies hitting now slowly but more next week on cd and vinyl so she might have two albums in the Top 5 for a bit and I think after McCartney 3 hits she is probably going to have the number one and two albums. Kid Cudi debuted at 2 this week but that will fall quickly. And McCartney I think will take the next number one or two but also drop pretty quick as he is benefiting from that rush to get it. So again I have to take my hat off to her for knowing this industry and her base but also making this shift in her music, knowing that she is now 31 been around, being a POP star is not where it is now, so you have to find that middle ground of getting more artistic acclaim (cause her albums are on almost 90% of the best of 2020 lists i see) but also finding a place where your base appreciates it too. Challenge them but dont alienate them.

I think she has finally become more comfortable in her own skin, which is astounding thing to do for someone who is such a superstar. They usually just get more stilted and out of touch over time. This definitely has helped her music. She has always been a good songwriter, but this wasn't as evident when she went through the phase of making huge arena bubblegum pop singles. The album Red is a good example of this, with a couple of singles that started to annoy after over-exposure but several more subtle songs that were actually well written and more sophisticated. While she is a marketing whiz, I think her release of the two albums this year were more of a labor of love. No record company would advise a pop star to followup a long non-pop album that was a surprise success with a similar long non-pop album a few months later. Makes me appreciate her more than she is starting to listen to her own muse.

purplepolitician said:

Some gorgeous, fantabulous stuff on both these jawns. Don't sleep on the Swift .

Glad you are enjoying these too. I listened to Folklore a lot before Evermore was released. At first, I didn't like Evermore as much, perhaps due partly to it not having the surprise factor as well as sounding quite similar to Forklore. Evermore is closing the gap more with each listen. For those who don't care for this phase of her career, the song with HAIM No Body No Crime is an enjoyable change of pace.

https://www.bing.com/vide...;FORM=VIRE

gandorb said:

purplepolitician said:

Some gorgeous, fantabulous stuff on both these jawns. Don't sleep on the Swift .

Glad you are enjoying these too. I listened to Folklore a lot before Evermore was released. At first, I didn't like Evermore as much, perhaps due partly to it not having the surprise factor as well as sounding quite similar to Forklore. Evermore is closing the gap more with each listen. For those who don't care for this phase of her career, the song with HAIM No Body No Crime is an enjoyable change of pace.

https://www.bing.com/vide...;FORM=VIRE

Im enjoying EVERMORE more and have been, but these two records are top notch and what some are saying is that Taylor is moving into other directions with her music which would not be surprising as she has passed the days of "teen" queen and all that, she seems to not even be phased by anything, does her own thing has her following and they stick with her and I think she is picking up tons of respect from more and more. And now also she is looking to re-do her past albums to get the ownership of them, I would not be surprised to see her re-do all her hits that are owned as some giant hits package.

I was just listening to a lot of the stuff, and they're not that good (tons better than the OTHER crap on the charts, tho!), but....I still just love the whole "girly and her guitar" thing.... (love Champagne Problems.)