The "Final Word" acts as a sort of exit survey for Record Club weekly captains at the end of their week. Except this week, there was no captain. I sent the survey to everyone who directly emailed me their review, saying that the Final Word was open to everyone this week. Just Pam got back to me. I'll publish anything at any time, so if anyone else is interested, you have until the end of time arrives and hell swallows us all whole to send it back. Otherwise, here are my and Pam's "final words" on the matter of Taylor Swift.
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Joe
1. Were you happy with the reviews that were published? How do you feel about your week as Record Club captain?
The second question doesn't apply to me or anyone, but the answer to the first question is a resounding YES. I'm always happy when a lot of people submit reviews. This was the most reviews we have ever received in a single non-gimmicky week (so basically, any week besides the McGruff affair). I am very happy.
I also want to take this opportunity to say that I think it's really cool when people I don't personally know submit their thoughts. There is no requirement for Record Club that states "you must have met Joe K*** at some point." I'm the editor here, but I'm not the leader or the captain or the president. Record Club belongs to all of us. I'm really glad I got to read some new voices this week. Hopefully there are some folks who keep coming back, and keep developing that voice on the blog. If not, then it was a fun week anyway.
2. How was the variety of opinions? A wide range, kinda samey, or somewhere in the middle?
Now this was the best part about having so many reviews for such a polarizing, popular album—lots of varied opinions. I don't think we had any certified grade-A foaming-at-the-mouth Swifties send in their thoughts, which would have been interesting, but there were a few authors that were more apologetic than others. So we ranged from like B+ to F- this week. Perhaps opinions skewed slightly negative, I dunno. I was happy with how it went. Hopefully the folks who really really like Taylor Swift weren't too disappointed. (But that's the music criticism game, baby!!!)
3. Were there any differing opinions that made you view the album in a different light?
Yeah, for sure. Here's how I felt about my own review: I was trying to be as positive as I could be, and often failed at it. So that means that every outwardly negative review felt like a sigh of relief for me, and every positive review really challenged me to try to think differently.
The big one I'll spotlight here is Rachel S.'s review, which was one of the more positive reviews and more generally defensive of Taylor Swift herself. I have gotten the sense over the years that my and Rachel's musical tastes don't align as often as some of my other PoYB peers. In my mind, that makes her one of the most valuable Record Club contributors. Her reviews challenge me in ways that others rarely do. I really appreciate it.
I want to defend myself and also acknowledge how this review made me consider something differently. First: I maintain my position that articles like that Vox article are, in my words, "embarrassingly obsessive." I will argue that there are many aspects of Taylor Swift fandom that can be described in the same way. I will argue against the idea that this is specific to Taylor Swift, and thus could be construed as misogynistic. To use Rachel's example, if there was an article like that about Drake's music, then I'd use the same words (I would in fact even be more critical, since Drake is probably a pedophile). The Hold Steady is probably my favorite band; websites in this vein are also certifiably "obsessive." The thing that makes Taylor Swift's fan's obsessiveness "embarrassing" is that it's on a national stage. If Craig Finn ever sweeps the Billboard Top Ten, you better believe I'm gonna be embarrassed by the Hold Steady Fandom Wiki.
So the point here is that I'm talking about the fans here, not Swift herself. If Pitchfork or Stereogum walked her through the album and had her talk about all the Midnights songs herself, then that would be fucking awesome. But when the article's intro uses the phrase "extremely ripe hunting material for sleuthing Swifties," then yeah, that's embarrassing. For the fans! Very embarrassing! And clearly obsessive!
But here's the other thing: it is undeniably true that there are legions of misogynists on the internet who hate Taylor Swift because she is a woman (and subconsciously resent her for not being mother and all that fucked up shit). So Rachel's not creating a strawman out of thin air here. I'll argue that those types of arguments are rarely even going to be implied in Record Club reviews on PoYB, but we are just a microscopic slice of online music criticism. Still, though, I think because this sexist phenomenon does indeed exist, then I, as a male in a predominantly male (besides this week!!) music club, have a responsibility to tread lightly and not even accidentally contribute to the toxic discourse.
So I do apologize if the neutral tone of the Sunday write-up was broken with the phrase "embarrassingly obsessive." I did not intend for it to reflect poorly on the artist of the week, but I acknowledge that my intentions don't mean shit, and that it might have been detrimental to the discourse about Taylor Swift in general.
Sorry for focusing on your review, Rachel! Hopefully this shows how much I appreciate your point of view!
There were fifteen reviews this week, so there were definitely other points made that I disagreed with. That just comes with the sheer quantity of reviews. A few examples: While I thought Melissa was too dismissive of the lyrics, I think her opinion about the lyrics holds a lot of gravity due to her English teacher background, and it made me consider that maybe I was too forgiving; Tom's was the review that made me laugh out loud, but I also push back against the idea that this music is "vapid," as I think fifteen reviews proves that this is either good music or bad music but certainly not dull music; Fast Times at Ridgemont High sucks shit and Sam is flat out wrong in his opinion; Pam and Meagan both talked about lulling to sleep (the baby and herself, respectively), and I'll admit that's not something I would have ever thought about while listening to Midnights (he says as he tries to calm Sophie with the sounds of Brutus).
Finally, I vehemently disagree with the idea of bonus tracks. I think they are an insult to the artistic idea of an album of music, and I refuse to indulge in them. If there were any bonus tracks that were better than the actual songs from Midnights, then that's on Taylor Swift. By not listening to the bonus tracks, I am trusting Swift's original vision. And I'd argue that listening to Taylor Swift's bonus tracks is a slap in the face to Taylor Swift (even if she released the bonus tracks herself—nothing good ever happens after 2 AM, Taylor!!!)
4. Was there anything about this album or this artist that you wished that people would've written about more?
I wanted to hear about more experiences as a Swiftie. Sara indicates there is a thing called "SwiftTok." I like thinking about the idea of SwiftTok in the same way I like thinking about the great sewer systems underneath our city—I would love to know the intricate details about how they work, and I will never, ever go physically near them. Katie, Bridget, and Grace all gave slight indications that they may or may not be Swifties, which makes me hold their opinion in a higher regard, because it's coming from a place of responsibility and care. And I am very tickled by the fact that the anonymous cousin felt so threatened by the Swifties in her life that she did not want her identity revealed. I empathized with Sunny this week the most—I felt like I was on the outside looking in for the most part, and wanted to kind of sit back and see what everyone else did with it (he says after writing 2000 words on the subject).
I wanted to hear about more experiences as a Swiftie. Sara indicates there is a thing called "SwiftTok." I like thinking about the idea of SwiftTok in the same way I like thinking about the great sewer systems underneath our city—I would love to know the intricate details about how they work, and I will never, ever go physically near them. Katie, Bridget, and Grace all gave slight indications that they may or may not be Swifties, which makes me hold their opinion in a higher regard, because it's coming from a place of responsibility and care. And I am very tickled by the fact that the anonymous cousin felt so threatened by the Swifties in her life that she did not want her identity revealed. I empathized with Sunny this week the most—I felt like I was on the outside looking in for the most part, and wanted to kind of sit back and see what everyone else did with it (he says after writing 2000 words on the subject).
5. How do you feel about your album choice now that the week is over? A success? Any regrets?
Big success, everybody. I doubt we'll see these results too often in terms of sheer quantity, but you never know. Maybe the Rochester Blogging Syndicate will want to come back for Beyoncé in a couple weeks.
6. Any other takeaways from the reviews? Or from this experience in general?
Good timing, with the official and hopefully irreversible collapse of Kanye West occurring during Record Club's Taylor Swift Week.
7. What is an improvement that Record Club can make that would enhance everyone's experience, either as a captain or as a listener/writer?
I'm going to start writing obituaries for fallen Record Club alumni soon. R.I.P. Christine McVie.
Pam
1. Were you happy with the reviews that were published? How do you feel about your week as Record Club captain?
Loved that there were a really good variety of opinions this week. T Swift is polarizing like that I guess. Anyway, it was fun weekly reading.
2. How was the variety of opinions? A wide range, kinda samey, or somewhere in the middle?
See above. Glad to see it.
3. Were there any differing opinions that made you view the album in a different light?
I was really impressed with the writing on Midnights, but there were some reviews that made me go, "Oh yea, that lyric/song WAS pretty dumb."
4. Was there anything about this album or this artist that you wished that people would've written about more?
Nah. Enough on here about Taylor Swift as a person, the Antonoff factor, and the music.
5. How do you feel about your album choice that now the week is over? A success? Any regrets?
I'd say this week was a big success. Shout out to Nate for rounding up some cousin reviews! The A****es are a family of writers and I love it.
6. Any other takeaways from the reviews? Or from this experience in general?
What a great album for the purposes of writing and discussion. I know we will also have a lot of reviews for Beyoncé, but I predict there won't be as much negativity. It'll be a lot of YAS QUEEN and Beyoncé worshipping, which I'm generally here for (lifelong fan right here), but I'm glad there were some tear-downs of T.Swift. It's more fun that way.
7. What is an improvement that Record Club can make that would enhance everyone's experience, either as a captain or as a listener/writer?
Albums like this get the masses out and listening and writing, so maybe encourage more albums like this to be picked.
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