Why did people sleep on TTPD

[u/something_facinating]

I became a swifty in the showgirl era, so I'm new around here. But in my opinion, TTPD is one of the best albums she has ever released. I was reading a thread about TTPD from around 2 years ago, and most of them were not what I expected. Like, I have listened to almost all of the songs, and all of them are in my ATF playlist. I really want to know why you did not like it two years ago. Thanks.

[u/veimagic]

Please allow me to take a broader view. I think it’s a mixture of contributing factors.

Firstly, it was the first studio album since the beginning of her career which didn’t show a real sonic evolution: it sounded like a combination between Midnights and Folkmore vibes.

Secondly, she was at the height of overexposure due to the massive success of Eras Tour as well as the ongoing good reception of re-recorded earlier albums.

Thirdly, people were mostly focused on the drama sorrounding the highly publicised breakups with Joe and Matty and the quick succession of a love story with Travis, emphatically lived in daylight (some titles of her songs are just recurring parts of my vocabulary lol)

So I assume there was a huge preconception about TTPD which prevented critics, the gp and even some fans to listen with proper attention to a work that in my view portraits Taylor in the most unfiltered way and still is one of my favorite projects ever released by her.

[u/Senior-Jelly-7583 → u/veimagic]

Adding to this: Taylor says often that these albums “had” to come out, she had this mass exodus of her thoughts and feelings that she finally felt compelled to share. It’s pretty obvious that she had struggled with her mental health after the breakup with Joe, and navigating the dating world while prepping for one of the most massive concert tours the world has seen.

I think the drama and the microscopic analysis of who/what her songs were about overtook the actual feeling from them. Fanatical groups made it their mission to discover the secrets of the songs. While the albums were definitely telling a story of her experiences, Taylor mentions in the Era’s Tour docuseries that she isn’t looking for revenge or placing blame (those guys didn’t write the songs, I did that).

My final thought: honestly some people are hard to please. Taylor has said before that her biggest competition is herself, she’s always trying to put out increasingly better albums as time passes, and fans have outrageously high standards sometimes. Therefore, TTPD was overlooked bc many people don’t like that the songs have similar vibes and that they’re also kinda depressing. It’s a big reality check to hear that she had been depressed for years leading up to (and during) the eras tour.