LogFAQs > #965051532

Taylor Swift - Folklore results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
Seanchan (26)
VeryInsane (32)
MetalmindStats (34)
CasanovaZelos (35)
BlueCrystalTear (37)
Snake5555555555 (47)
Raetsel_Lapin (47)
Jakyl25 (48)
ZaziGuado (52)
HBJDubs (66)

General Album Comments

Seanchan: Did a first listen to Folklore. It was certainly less pop-y than Speak Now. Kinda felt a bit one note, but I think a lot of that is just that it's 16 songs and an hour long, and my mind started to wander by the end.

darkx: Yeah I'm just gonna say outright that I don't agree with the overwhelming opinion that this is her best album. In fact I don't even think I'd put it in my top 3.

Snake5555555555: I wouldn't either (it doesn't even make top 5 for me). I do also think it gets a little one note in spots musically even if Swift's lyrical writing never really falters here. That's where I think the sister album follow-up Evermore shines even brighter because there's more texture and vibrant musical soundscapes than Folklore.

Raetsel_Lapin: I highly enjoyed this album, but it does feel a bit too long.

Seanchan: Second listen done.

I figured out what my "problem" is with this album. As someone who typically doesn't care very much about lyrics, this is an exhausting album! Sixteen songs and there's really not too much here other than the lyrics. So when my mind starts to wander, there are no solos, riffs, beats, or whatever to bring me back. It's like I've got to pay attention the entire time.

Everything here feels like it's the same tempo and about the same subject (young love, unrequited young love, young love falling apart). I could feel myself latching onto anything different, which is why I already know what my #1 song is going to be. Swift has got a nice voice but I just need more variety, which Speak Now definitely had more of.

BlueCrystalTear: Like I said when not voting for it, this album is VERY same-y. Sure, it's a course-correction from reputation and Lover, but it still doesn't compare to the sheer delight of Fearless, Speak Now, and Red. All those albums had those "young love" themes too (and the latter two had Taylor blasting some of her critics) and yet were an engaging listen because of the variety. Like Seanchan said, this album requires concentrated effort to process fully. It's exhaustingly long (especially for a dark and repetitive album) and would benefit from cutting four tracks. It's for this reason that I expect many of the later tracks to be ranked lowly, since people start tuning out. Track order absolutely matters on an album this redundant.

I can't see myself giving this a second listen this week. I've heard this album twice before this and half of these songs are still indistinguishable. Once you hit a certain point, they all blend together, and not in a good way. Speak Now is a much superior album and that's my hill to die on. The only song on this album that gave me shades of "Old Taylor" was "betty" and that's precisely why it's #1 for me. "this is me trying" was... relatable AF for me. Honestly my top 5 (maybe 6?) is all that matters and everything after that all blends together. And tbh... I'm feeling sedated by too much doom and gloom.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a nap.

Jakyl25: I dont know about the idea that there are a lot of songs about young love on here. Theres the Cardigan/August/Betty trilogy about all three sides of a young love triangle, but thats all I see. Invisible String is trite enough to count I suppose. All the other songs about relationships are more mature and reflective. TLGAD, My Tears Ricochet, Seven, Mad Woman, Epiphany, [The Lakes,] arent about romance at all.

If you want more variety you would love Evermore!

Snake5555555555: Seven is a particular stand-out for me since it's about child abuse and on top of that written from a second-hand perspective. Swift has written about childhood before but never quite like that. It's impressive and mixes darkness with childhood innocence and naivety so-well.

ZaziGuado: I think Folklore can serve two purposes. For me it's most often a mood album where I put it on to decompress. While I wouldn't call it one-note, I will say each song does a really good at evoking a wistful nostalgia that can lend to the tracks bleeding together. But I personally think there's a beauty in that. I've listened to the album enough to where each song can stand on its own, though, and I think they are rankable if you are listening to it with that goal in mind. For those who choose to actively listen to the stories Swift is telling, I think the album is a masterclass in songwriting and very memorable from a lyrical standpoint.

I will concede it gets long. I would personally chop off three songs and then I think you have a nigh-perfect album if you are in a certain mood.

Raetsel_Lapin (Responding to Snake): I do like the song, but I feel like she's writing from the perspective of someone much younger than seven years old. Four or five, maybe, but seven feels way too old to be blaming abuse on ghosts or dreaming about living as a pirate. Though I suppose I'll concede that my perspective is a bit skewed for *reasons* and refrain from pushing the issue any further.

(Responding to Seanchan): Ah, see, I'm the exact opposite way. I tend to get drawn into songs for their lyrics and emotions, so I found this album to be one of the more interesting ones we've covered and probably better than Speak Now--I recall feeling Speak Now had way too many songs about exes and getting a bit monotonous at times as a result, but I'll concede that I haven't listened to the album in a while and would need a refresher to accurately compare the two.

Anywho... I think the album covered a lot of ground? Portraying a love triangle from all three perspectives was relatively novel, even if "cardigan" was the only part of the trilogy that I loved, and I feel like most of tracks offered a distinct enough experience. I just think the album was too much of a good thing; I love what she's doing here, but I don't really want to sit through what she's doing for over an hour straight. I'd honestly prefer to have this album broken into two weeks, with 8 songs per week--not because I don't like it, but it's just a bit much. I want to take my time and fully experience the emotions on display here, but there's just <i>so very much</i> here that the album feels less than the sum of its parts.

...still, I really did enjoy it and think it's close to the top-tier albums we've ever covered here. Just... kinda long.

ZaziGuado: Tiered the tracks as well just for fun. Exile has been number one for awhile now and I don't think anything else on the album could knock it off that perch. I really love the contrasting layers between Swift and Vernon. Peace and Mad Woman are the easy weak points for me on the album as well. I just find them a little on the boring side and represent spots where the album starts to really show its length. Everything in between are varying degrees of great, though the front half of the album is definitively stronger than the back half, which also doesn't help stave off how long the album can feel. I don't normally have an issue with this given how and when I listen to it, but I can't deny it.