does anyone listen to Taylor Swift? tell me what the draw is

[Axo1989]

Buzzo from Melvins was a friend of Kurt Cobain and I heard him say "If Kurt had looked like Fat Albert, nobody would have given him a second thought." I think that's true of TS as well-- it definitely doesn't hurt her career that she is conventionally attractive. Would people be able to see themselves in her narcissistic fantasies if she looked like John Matuszak?

I mean, if Billie Eilish looked like Billie Eilish, where would she be now? And don’t get me started on Lizzo. Or Ed Sheeran.

You can’t be all that serious, can you? I think we’re managing to move past certain stereotypes in pop lately. At least occasionally. And that’s a good thing.

 

[raif71]

 

[Timcognito]

Here's How I Took My Viral Photos of Taylor Swift at The Eras Tour

Spoiler: It was with a phone, but not the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

www.cnet.com

 

[Middle Earth]

Why do people care about what other people like and do ?
There is no accounting for taste
People are smug and listening to what I deem to be crap music and I don’t care
The O/P admits to liking music I think is crap
So what
No one should care

 

[rank]

I would come on stage naked.
(in its place)
You start wearing less and now your life's a mess...

 

[Anton D]

I would come on stage naked.

That would be some sort of performance art.

 

[RayDunzl]

I figure if someone played me a snippet of five tunes of similar genre, and one of them was Miss Swift, I'd have a 20% chance of picking the one that was hers, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.

 

[Axo1989]

The Guardian discusses Taylor, fame and shenanigans in the UK (and US) chart races. Opens with interesting observation from LDR on the younger star’s ambition, then moves on to manuevres to maintain chart position against competitors’ releases, in this instance Brat from Charli XCX:

There was a moment, late in the week, when it looked as if Brat would debut at No 1. Then, on Thursday, Swift stepped in: at 6.57pm, Taylor Nation, Swift’s public-facing PR arm, which interacts with fans and provides news and updates, announced the release of six deluxe reissues of her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD), each with different additional live versions and voice memos, available only in the UK until 11:59pm that evening – the end of the tracking week for the album charts. (The new releases bring the total number of TTPD variants to 34.) TTPD now stands as Swift’s longest-running No 1 album in the UK – another (personal) record broken, and another stats-based marker of success for Swift’s trophy cabinet.

Brutal. While I’m not generally into pop, I’ve listened to Brat more than a few times (it’s surprisingly brilliant and quite amusing) but never made it all the way through a Swift release. US-ians generally (and denizens of ASR palliative care especially) will be more familiar with Billie Eilish:

The theory has some credence: in the US, the biggest threat to Tortured Poets’ streak at No 1 to date was Eilish’s latest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft. When that album came out in mid-May, Swift released three new digital album download variants and a new CD version of the album, and restocked four deluxe CD variants. Each album variant contains a new song exclusive only to that version of the album, encouraging completist fans to buy every new version. Fans saw the sudden influx of new music as a shot at Eilish and an attempt to block her from the top spot, which the album eventually did. A week later, Swift released three more deluxe variants of Tortured Poets, thereby blocking Eilish from the top spot once again.

More than a few will buy all those versions too. Everyone does it of course (well maybe not Lana so much) and some even have fun on the way:

It’s worth noting that almost every A-list artist is now in the habit of reissuing their new releases with alternate versions or bonus tracks in order to boost their chart position. In the days after Hit Me Hard and Soft came out, Eilish released alternate mixes of the record; Bon Jovi, once considered a frontrunner for this week’s UK No 1 before settling into third place behind the more competitive Swift and Charli, released a digital-only deluxe edition of album Forever once it became clear that there were only 1,000 units separating Forever, Brat and TTPD within the top three. A few days after Brat’s release, Charli released the winkingly titled Brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not …

Edit: just to note, the article isn’t a hit-piece, just as I do, the author certainly credits Swift’s very effective talent writing/performing pop songs.

 

[DonR]

Vancouver December 8th will be her final concert of the Eras tour. Tickets currently selling between $1500 and $5500.

 

[Sal1950]

Here's How I Took My Viral Photos of Taylor Swift at The Eras Tour

Spoiler: It was with a phone, but not the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

www.cnet.com

Does she change outfits for every song?
She better bet careful, I see her already beginning to chub-up in the last 10 years. LOL

 

[Anton D]

Does she change outfits for every song?
She better bet careful, I see her already beginning to chub-up in the last 10 years. LOL

Well, keep us posted, handsome!

 

[EJ3]

Oh, and another thought. She isn't quite the sell out that Ariana Grande is. Ms. Grande, beautiful voice making the most middle of the road, non-important bland BS music imaginable. What a huge waste of talent. Incredibly disgusting.

I had no idea that Ms. Grande sings.
Or, in fact, does anything else, other than being Grande.

 

[Axo1989]

Well, keep us posted, handsome!

Haha, there’s rarely a post from old mate that doesn’t turn my stomach (when I actually read them).

 

[Sal1950]

Well, keep us posted, handsome!

Anything for you cutie

 

[Anton D]

I've less than ZERO interest in her music.
I've never heard one song from her that I'd want to play again.
I'm a big country music fan, that's all I listen to in my truck, and hated her time in the spotlight there.
I've no understanding of her crazy popularity?

Yet you track her weight.

 

[diddley]

I just listened to A fortnight, It's commercial shit and for the teenies, well they love it.
It,s not dangerous, doesn't have sharp edges and sounds inter changeable .
So commercial it ticks all the boxes.

The shame is that youngsters and we elderly don't have a chance to hear quality written and performed music.
and that is where the true loss is IMHO.

 

[Timcognito]

She better bet careful, I see her already beginning to chub-up in the last 10 years. LOL

She's hot and needed a little baby fat.

 

[Johnp]

Does she change outfits for every song?
She better bet careful, I see her already beginning to chub-up in the last 10 years. LOL

 

[Sal1950]

Yet you track her weight.

Just lookin at the pictures Timcognito posted.
Whats the problem, don't you like women ?

 

[Sal1950]

She's hot and needed a little baby fat.

Meh, I prefer the hard-belly look myself.