Taylor Swift

[MirrorMask]

She released a bunch of remixes for Anti-Hero. And there's also an acoustic version of it, in Folklore's vein, I hope many other songs will get the same treatment as well down the line so that I can introduce them in my custom version of the album 

Ironically I like Anti-Hero enough as it is to accept the album version as the "true" one, but there are more songs I wish would get folklorized, such as Mastermind, Question and Maroon. Anyway, this is how I reshuffled the album using all the songs available:

01. Anti-Hero
02. Maroon
03. Question...?
04. Snow on the Beach
05. You're On Your Own, Kid (strings remix)
06. Would've, Could've, Should've
07. Midnight Rain
08. Vigilante Shit
09. The Great War
10. Labyrinth
11. High Infidelity
12. Hits Different
13. Sweet Nothing (piano remix)
14. Mastermind
15. Bigger than the Whole Sky
16. Dear Reader


Dropping Lavender Haze created the need for a new opener, so I thought the lead single would be a choice as good as any. Originally I kept the standard tracklist order and, Anti-Hero aside, I would just replace the songs I didn't like with songs from the 3 A.M. version, but eventually I realized that Question worked better as part of a bunch of opening strong songs; also, I thought the two most moody songs of the album, Midnight Rain and Vigilante Shit, would work better one after the other.

Mastermind works as a closing song, so I consider that the ending of the album, with the last two songs at 15 and 16 being a sort of "tracklist encore". I eventually dropped Glitch, which would have made for a perfect 60 minutes of music.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, some of the Anti-Hero remixes are nice, especially the acoustic one, but it's not possible to top the album version, which I think is a fantastic pop song.  Like you, I would love to see a lot of these other songs get the same treatment.

Good call on dropping Bejeweled and Karma, the two bouncy pop songs, from your amended running order.  Not bad songs, but neither is that good either.  The video for Bejeweled is entertaining, though.

Sounds like Lavender Haze will be the second single.  Not a bad song at all, but definitely one of the weakest links on the proper album (of 13). 

Would've, Could've, Should've, The Great War and Bigger Than the Whole Sky are holding up as three of my five favorites from the whole thing, along with Anti-Hero and Labyrinth.

[KevShmev]

Still no STL dates , but 17 more shows have been added.  I cannot imagine how much money she is going to make on this tour. 

[XeRocks81]

 I made a half hearted attempt to get tickets to Pittsburgh in pre sale but I couldn't make the timing work on tuesday.  still holding out hope for canadian dates,  at the very least Toronto.

[KevShmev]

Anyone else get tickets for the tour this week in all the madness?

I got two tickets for the first Nashville show in May, at face value. 

[Zook]

Anyone else get tickets for the tour this week in all the madness?

I got two tickets for the first Nashville show in May, at face value. 

One of my co workers got nose bleed tickets for over $100. I tried, but nothin'. Is there a place to still get them at normal price or is it cancelled for good?

[KevShmev]

Anyone else get tickets for the tour this week in all the madness?

I got two tickets for the first Nashville show in May, at face value. 

One of my co workers got nose bleed tickets for over $100. I tried, but nothin'. Is there a place to still get them at normal price or is it cancelled for good?

I suspect TM's official stance is that it is sold out, but El Barto made some great points in the below thread, including that it is likely they will release more at some point.  That thread below is a good read.

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=52931.0

[Stadler]

Anyone else get tickets for the tour this week in all the madness?

I got two tickets for the first Nashville show in May, at face value. 

My daughter is going.

[KevShmev]

Anyone else get tickets for the tour this week in all the madness?

I got two tickets for the first Nashville show in May, at face value. 

My daughter is going.

 

Meanwhile, I know the charts and awards shows here are mostly meaningless, except of course when Dream Theater is involved . but Taylor won all six AMAs last night she was up for, and Anti-Hero is now the number 1 song in the country for the 4th week in a row (her 2nd longest number 1 ever).

[MirrorMask]

Found on YouTube this mashup of Would've, Could've, Should've and Haunted. Great stuff!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krOK-7hBfdU&ab_channel=RedHufflepuff13

Incidentally, this is how I discovered the song Haunted, for which there's also an acoustic version. Very nice song!

[KevShmev]

Not bad at all, although they seemed to change the key of her vocals. That sounded a bit strange. 

Haunted is her one song I could see a prog metal band playing and having it sound totally natural.

[MirrorMask]

Someone made an entire piano version of the Midnights album, 3 AM songs included.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR45UTSGNJI&list=PLKT0pZWgkAvs5y_oiNQlSvPaci7aYeP38&ab_channel=NgocDoan-AcousticPianoMusic

This is gonna be sooooo useful for my acoustic Taylor compilation I'm preparing, with songs from Folklore and Evermore..... 

[KevShmev]

Nice, I will have to check those out later.  I know she writes a lot of her songs that way, just her and the piano (or her and the acoustic), so I am guessing these will be how the songs sounded originally before they all mushroomed into the full production songs they became.

[NoseofNicko]

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/taylor-swift-feature-directing-debut-searchlight-pictures-1235455606/

[KevShmev]

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/taylor-swift-feature-directing-debut-searchlight-pictures-1235455606/

I read about that earlier.  One thing is for sure, and that if she fails, it won't be for lack of trying.  She is a hyper driven individual, and we know what a great writer she is, so we'll see.  Just not sure the timing is great since the popularity of films as a whole seems to be dwindling overall, for a variety of reasons. 

[KevShmev]

Good day to be a fan of Ms. Swift.

The Shake It Off lawsuit was dropped: https://www.billboard.com/pro/taylor-swift-shake-it-off-lyrics-lawsuit-case-dropped/

And a lot more tickets are being made available for the Eras tour (as Barto predicted in the Ticketmaster thread): https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/taylor-swift-release-eras-tour-tickets-verified-fans-ticketmaster-1235184975/

[XeRocks81]

hey it’s december 13th!  She’s 33 years old today

[Crow]

If they play more than 3 seconds they get a copyright strike.

yeah i haven't been checking this thread but even playing the songs at all gets me a copyright claim so i can't monetize the video (not that i do anyways)
playing more than like 5-6 and the video just outright gets blocked and then nobody can watch it 
youtube's copyright system is completely ridiculous and it's why every music review video is like this now, the biggest name reviewers don't even play the songs period tho so i'm doing more than them at least 

[KevShmev]

If they play more than 3 seconds they get a copyright strike.

yeah i haven't been checking this thread but even playing the songs at all gets me a copyright claim so i can't monetize the video (not that i do anyways)
playing more than like 5-6 and the video just outright gets blocked and then nobody can watch it 
youtube's copyright system is completely ridiculous and it's why every music review video is like this now, the biggest name reviewers don't even play the songs period tho so i'm doing more than them at least 

Hey, no offense intended with my earlier comments.  I get it, it is hard to do reviews like that when you can't play much of any song.

[XeRocks81]

hey it’s december 13th!  She’s 33 years old today

And it seems she spent it recording with Jack Antonoff yet again https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/1602802403492995072/photo/1 

Wonder what they are working on...

[MirrorMask]

hey it’s december 13th!  She’s 33 years old today

Happy second anniversary to evermore then! and of course, happy 33 to Taylor 

I am surprised at the amount of remixes of the new album you can find on YouTube, where do people find all the vocal stems? I already don't know which alternate Midnights version to use - the acoustic guitar one, the piano one, the rock remixes...... 

[KevShmev]

How about some of the covers?

I feel like a lot of the crowd here that probably constantly rolls their eyes at a Taylor Swift thread being on page 1 would dig this metal cover of Anti-Hero:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R36QqA8yvfI

[nobloodyname]

I don't care for that 'metal' cover at all. Good on them for doing it, though, and a special knowing nod to the guitarist for wearing a Dua Lipa shirt. Future Nostalgia is easily in my top ten albums of the last ten years.

[Zook]

I don't care for that 'metal' cover at all. Good on them for doing it, though, and a special knowing nod to the guitarist for wearing a Dua Lipa shirt. Future Nostalgia is easily in my top ten albums of the last ten years.

That album isn't bad, but there is a Bad Blood level cringe song towards the end. Pretty good pop music. It's only the remixes that have the insufferable rapper in the middle on certain songs right? Nothing on the studio album?

[Zook]

How about some of the covers?

I feel like a lot of the crowd here that probably constantly rolls their eyes at a Taylor Swift thread being on page 1 would dig this metal cover of Anti-Hero:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R36QqA8yvfI

Reminds of a Frog Leap Studios cover, although this one can actually qualify as metal.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I don't care for that 'metal' cover at all. Good on them for doing it, though, and a special knowing nod to the guitarist for wearing a Dua Lipa shirt. Future Nostalgia is easily in my top ten albums of the last ten years.

That album isn't bad, but there is a Bad Blood level cringe song towards the end. Pretty good pop music. It's only the remixes that have the insufferable rapper in the middle on certain songs right? Nothing on the studio album?

Yeah.  "Hallucinate" and "Levitating" are some of the best pop songs in years. 

[MirrorMask]

How about some of the covers?

I feel like a lot of the crowd here that probably constantly rolls their eyes at a Taylor Swift thread being on page 1 would dig this metal cover of Anti-Hero:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R36QqA8yvfI

It's cool, but it's a bit "too much".

I prefer these rock covers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XvaP8ZODcs&list=PLKheXdOxsQUzIOyrrtB3cggqYJsPhOQ3c&index=1&ab_channel=EMOVEEJ

(Midnight Rain being the weakest of the bunch for me).

[KevShmev]

How about some of the covers?

I feel like a lot of the crowd here that probably constantly rolls their eyes at a Taylor Swift thread being on page 1 would dig this metal cover of Anti-Hero:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R36QqA8yvfI

It's cool, but it's a bit "too much".

I prefer these rock covers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XvaP8ZODcs&list=PLKheXdOxsQUzIOyrrtB3cggqYJsPhOQ3c&index=1&ab_channel=EMOVEEJ

(Midnight Rain being the weakest of the bunch for me).

Some of them are pretty good, but some sound a bit unnatural, almost like they hurried up the tempos to where her singing sounds like she is constantly trying to catch up to the music.  Some are well done for sure, though.

[Zook]

Even the cheapest option which could still be $410 has a service fee of $65 per ticket. Why would they ever need to charge that much? And then they make you agree to purchase whatever tickets they select in your preferred price range even if that total is the $410. I would love to surprise my wife with Taylor Swift tickets but I'm not paying that much. Especially for what will certainly be nose bleed seats. Fuck Ticketmaster.

[KevShmev]

Even the cheapest option which could still be $410 has a service fee of $65 per ticket. Why would they ever need to charge that much? And then they make you agree to purchase whatever tickets they select in your preferred price range even if that total is the $410. I would love to surprise my wife with Taylor Swift tickets but I'm not paying that much. Especially for what will certainly be nose bleed seats. Fuck Ticketmaster.

Come on, now.  You won't want to miss the show if it ends up being one where she plays all of Reputation.

[Zook]

Even the cheapest option which could still be $410 has a service fee of $65 per ticket. Why would they ever need to charge that much? And then they make you agree to purchase whatever tickets they select in your preferred price range even if that total is the $410. I would love to surprise my wife with Taylor Swift tickets but I'm not paying that much. Especially for what will certainly be nose bleed seats. Fuck Ticketmaster.

Come on, now.  You won't want to miss the show if it ends up being one where she plays all of Reputation.

Well that settles it. I'm definitely not buying tickets.

Being an Eras tour, she'll want to pick the absolute best songs from every album, but knowing my luck, Bad Blood would still somehow make the set. That's still worse than anything on Reputation, but to its credit, at least she wasn't trying too hard to be hip and edgy on the song. That chorus is nails on a chalkboard though.

[KevShmev]

Even the cheapest option which could still be $410 has a service fee of $65 per ticket. Why would they ever need to charge that much? And then they make you agree to purchase whatever tickets they select in your preferred price range even if that total is the $410. I would love to surprise my wife with Taylor Swift tickets but I'm not paying that much. Especially for what will certainly be nose bleed seats. Fuck Ticketmaster.

Come on, now.  You won't want to miss the show if it ends up being one where she plays all of Reputation.

Well that settles it. I'm definitely not buying tickets.

Being an Eras tour, she'll want to pick the absolute best songs from every album, but knowing my luck, Bad Blood would still somehow make the set. That's still worse than anything on Reputation, but to its credit, at least she wasn't trying too hard to be hip and edgy on the song. That chorus is nails on a chalkboard though.

My guess is she will do a handful of mash-ups to work in four or five songs into an 8-minute slot, that way she can cover a bit of material in a short time, and I suspect Bad Blood, the chorus most likely, will end up in one, but I'd be surprised if the song was one that got played in full, as I cannot see it ever usurping Blank Space or Shake It Off from a set list, and since BB got played on the Rep tour and Wildest Dreams did not, I would think Wildest Dreams would get the love this time around if she went with a 3rd full song from 1989.   And we can't forget Style.  When she did that Paris concert in late 2019, as sort of the precursor for the Lover tour that was eventually cancelled due to COVID, she did Blank Space, Style and Shake It Off from 1989, so maybe we will be lucky and Bad Blood with be a 2 tours and done song. 

[KevShmev]

Rehearsals for the tour have begun! 

And with Anti-Hero returning to number 1 on the Hot 100 for it's seventh week at the top, it is now tied with Blank Space (which also spend seven weeks at number 1) for being her song with the most weeks at number 1.  I think Shake It Off is still her most successful single. That was only number 1 for four weeks, but spent like six months in the top 10.

[MirrorMask]

Oh no some asshole brought back Taylor Swift on top of the page again 

Well, I remember posting some time ago about some cool acoustic remixes of the songs from Midnights. There's a WHOLE world out there of remixes - acoustic guitar, piano, karaoke piano, even some rock remixes which are quite decent and not overdone.... couple this with the fact that you can even find stems here and there, and you can basically create your own alternative album. There's even a site, Midnightsmaker.com, where you can customize the cover art!

So that's what I did, I eventually made my own "I wish it was still Folklore era" version of Midnights, I posted earlier my custom tracklist for the actual album, and now I managed to have / create an entirely acoustic version of that tracklist. I used the three originals - Anti Hero, You're On Your Own Kid and Sweet Nothing - that got an acoustic remix, and then used stuff I found on YouTube, for most of the songs I merged an acoustic version with an instrumental piano one to have guitar and piano together, in a couple of cases I kept the song as I found them, and for Vigilante Shit I even managed to find stems so I added the original bass line to an acoustic version.

I must say, I'm almost envious of the amount of creativity there is out there and the fun I could have with this album, and how I could not do this for my favorite metal bands.

Truth to be told, I guess there's not even a point - why, for example, would I want to "redo" a Dream Theater album? how would I even begin to remix the stems of such complex music, and why would I want an all acoustic version of their albums? I went looking for acoustic or rock covers of Taylor 'cause I'm not crazy with her most recent style to begin with. But it was very fun, thanks to the creativity of people out there, to have so much material to chose from (and some very rudimental skills of audio editing) to create the album I hoped Taylor would release. Now I have two versions of the same album to listen to!

And in the end, back to Taylor herself - in the 20 days we managed to shut up about her, she released the video for Lavender Haze. I still think it's one of the very worst songs on the album (or, to be more fair to her, it's simply one of the songs most distant from my tastes), but the video was ahestetically beautiful.

[KevShmev]

Oh no some asshole brought back Taylor Swift on top of the page again 
 

And it wasn't me!! 

Agreed about the Lavender Haze video. Very well done and looks gorgeous, but I doubt I will revisit it much, for one, because I am not overly wild about the song, and for two, the video doesn't have the strong re-watchability factor, IMO.

And yeah, it is crazy how many different versions are out there by others of her new songs.  I don't have the skills to cobble together such remixes and whatnot, but they are cool to hear when others do it.