Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department

my pressing came out perfect, totally clear and so pretty. love the album:)

Excellent packaging - nicely done and very feels deluxe for being a standard release (albeit the clear vinyl variant).
The "phantom clear vinyl" moniker is just that - a moniker. It's just bog-standard clear vinyl and far too many releases are coming out that way lately which is a little tired to me - labels, please try some other colors!

As for the music - I was a big fan of "Midnights" and while some tracks here approach that caliber (specifically the opening tracks) it then starts to hit diminishing returns. The production and recording is excellent all-round with Ryan Smith at Sterling cutting the masters, however (at least to me) Swift is starting to use a lot of the same phrases and words throughout her music to the point I'm really noticing it (not in a good way - I got the eye rolls a few times).

I would suggest that as an album, "TTPD" could be condensed into one LP combing it's strongest songs and leave ether other stuff for the "3AM"-type digital release.
There's a reason a lot of classic albums only run to nine songs and "TTPD" might have benefited from that approach.

Aside from the lyrics (more on that below), this album is excellent and turned out much, much better than I ever expected.

No idea where the performer found the extra time and energy to create so many captivating songs, knowing that she has been touring the world for ages. Kudos!

The underlying production is technically superb, the overall presentation and artwork for the three limited editions The Bolter, The Black Dog and The Albatross are beautifully done. However, I'm not a fan of the painful-to-look-at front cover of the regular Ghosted White and Phantom Clear editions.

Anyhow, the vinyl quality of my copies are outstanding and sound great too. Overall, Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department is to date one of Swift’s best albums in her already impressive repertoire. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 😊👍👍.

A few thoughts about the lyrics:

On Reddit, one commented on Rolling Stone magazine’s statement that "The Tortured Poets Department was an instant classic" by pointing out that Rolling Stone would say that even if Taylor Swift recorded her snoring for eight hours 😂.

Seriously, this guy is too funny and I actually don't agree with him, but in my opinion he does have a point, at least when it comes to her lyrics.

Once again Taylor Swift manages a tastefully accomplished balancing act of “telling everything” without “saying too much”. That alone is a true feat that not many singing artists are capable of 😉.

Nevertheless I have to ask how long Taylor Swift still wants to milk her very private love/breakup experiences. I am asking because based on the many early fan comments on this album, I sense some (early) fatigue among her very loyal fans when it comes to her lyrical output. Over time this, albeit cleverly done, becomes a bit banal too IMHO 🫤.

Well, time will tell. If Taylor Swift wants to stay relevant in the future, she definitely needs to find new lyrical inspiration that goes beyond her love life. Just my two cents… (or is it five given the current high inflation?).

My copy sounds great, lots of bass and good instrumental separation. Nearly silent except for some noise on parts of side C. Sleeves are glossy and a bit staticky unfortunately but the clear vinyl is gorgeous.

Fantastic pressing. Sounds amazing. Highly recommended. Needs ten more words for some reason blah blah blah.

is it 180g? because midnights was pressed on such a thin vinyl 😭

I am considering this pressing, so if anyone has any comments on how it plays/sounds please share! Thank you!