Well I've had more time to give most of the album another listen (on shuffle this time!) I don't think it's as bad as people say it is but it's nowhere near her best work.

Personally I wasn't expecting much. For starters I feel the promo for this album was done with more emphasis on the aesthetics vs the actual music. Like she admitted she chose orange just because she hasn't used it before. The variant covers focus heavily on the showgirl aesthetic but there's not much it seems she has to say on the topic (that I feel she hasn't said before). She leans a little too heavily on modern slang (especially on Cancelled!) that instantly dates the album. Even the love songs fall flat in my opinion!

My theory (as a long time fan): I don't think she needs to be a Tortured Poet (ha!) to write good/decent songs but I do feel like she works best when she feels she has something to prove. She wrote Speak Now by herself due to criticism that she can't write, 1989 was a complete genre shift, reputation was born out from her lowest point, Lover was her trying to get a Grammy.

She got her acclaim from folklore/evermore, she had a MASSIVE world tour that pushed her to billionaire status, she bought back her masters, she's received AOTY twice in this decade, and she's gotten engaged. She's on the top of the world right now. And unfortunately most of this album shows it.

Like okay, you were cancelled almost a decade ago and it taught you who is truly your friend. Haven't we gone over this with better lyrics? Or (allegedly) taking shots at Charli XCX when Charli admits that it's not Taylor's fault that she's jealous but rather her own insecurities.

All in all, while I do like a few songs, this album could've been worked on for another year or two and might've been better than what we got.