Madoka Magica The Movie: The Rebellion

Non-Spoiler Preamble
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Madoka Magica ranks among the only recent anime to really capture my imagination (its only counterpart being the much fluffier 'Good Luck Girl), so I was excited to see the films as well. 'Course, you have to wonder... with a show so perfectly concluded, should they have continued the story in the first place? I mean, the TV series had one of the best, most gorgeously executed finales. Madoka Magica overall would merely rank as a great TV series, but those last few episodes would surely rank among the best TV episodes of all-time. So by giving us a movie that continues past the show's ending, you're really playing with fire.

Is the potential gain from more Madoka material necessarily worth the risk of ruining one of TV's best climaxes? I can think of at least one unnecessary coda: Gundam Wing Endless Waltz. I found that movie extremely mediocre and it robbed us of the logical stopping point from the series.

So that's the kind of fear I came in with to Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion. I very seriously debated not watching the film at all, and letting the TV ending be the only ending I know. But... how could I resist. I had to see more.

Having now seen the film, I can say that while it was not necessary, neither was it a failure. In fact, it managed to recapture the soul of the series in certain ways I was not expecting.

Stylistically the movie is extremely bizarre. But often beautifully so, with gorgeous renderings of the archetypical magical girl content (the transformation scene is freaking amazing!) You could say they're even more beholden to Evangelion now, doubling down on the psychedelic antics and giving up huge swaths of the film for pure exposition and pure metaphysical dialogue -- material you probably could have worked more seamlessly into the narrative if this had been a 12 episode TV season instead of a 2 hour film.

But I honestly didn't feel like they were piggybacking on Evangelion as much here because Madoka has built up its own mythology now, and all the content in this film is connected very strongly to what has been previously established. I certainly wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone who is unfamiliar with the content of the TV series/films, because they make zero attempts to refresh your memory about anything. Instead they throw a dozen new things at you and expect you to keep up. It's a pretty confusing film, and I'm not 100% sure of everything that happened, myself. But unlike the first time I watched The End of Evangelion (granted, I was 12, and I've since come to understand the film intimately), it's pretty clear that everything in Madoka Magica: The Rebellion makes relatively good sense. And a second viewing should clear up any slight loose ends.

All in all, I don't think I can say that The Rebellion is as good as the original Madoka Magica. But what it did give me was that incredible rush, that incalculable feeling of being completely absorbed into a story -- and really being invested in how it turns out. And that's probably the thing I least expected from the film -- having been so roundly satisfied by the story's original conclusion already. The Rebellion captures some of that magic, which is something you can't put a price on.

The longer I live, the harder it is to invest on that extra, almost preternatural level. And while the film may not quite match the original, it does a good job at trying and it's a worthy successor to an instantly-classic show. So to those on the fence about whether or not they want to watch this -- I heartily recommend a view.

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Okay, from this point on it will be necessary to delve into hefty spoilers. So if you haven't seen the film, stop fuckin' readin' bro! No reason to spoil yourself, that's what grandparents are for.

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They've ruined Madoka Magica.

The series I knew and loved, it's dead and buried.

But I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way.

The best thing about these type of shows is that they can throw you for a genuine loop. And Madoka Magica: The Rebellion does that at least a few times. In the first ten or fifteen minutes everything seems hunky dory and I thought they were tailoring the film for an audience that hadn't seen the rest of the story, and that we'd get a big disillusionment moment like we've had before. But that didn't exactly happen, not until the last 10 minutes of the film.

The mystery 'city in a bottle' plot seemed pretty standard for an anime or psychological thriller, certainly not strange compared to what we've already seen from the franchise. It definitely kept me guessing, and it was very cleverly executed, but it didn't blow my mind.

Everything ramped up to a tearful, bittersweet conclusion. My biggest fear was that the new film would undo Madoka's sacrifice. But they didn't, it seemed. They added Sayaka and Nagisa ("Bebe") to Madoka's journey, which was kinda cool. I came into the film wondering if it would ruin what the series had accomplished, and it didn't (it seemed). The film seemed to be a beautiful little Coda, a long and satisfying journey to bring Homura home after her terrible ordeal, almost like the ending to Return of the King.

I was ready for a perfect, tidy coda. To make everything extra neat and extra sentimental, they even played up this kind of destiny love angle where everyone had their perfect companion: Homura had Madoka, Sayaka had Kyoko, and they even introduced this new Magical Girl character for Mami, named Bebe (Mami and Bebe -- aka "mommy" and "baby.")

And right in the final throes, right before our big cathartic release, snap! Crack! The darkness creeps in, as it is wont to do. Here I had gone through the whole film thinking "This is fucking awesome as Hell. But is there any deconstruction going on? I don't really know the Magical Girl genre well enough to know if they're subverting any tropes here or not. It kind of just seems like a regular -- albeit superior and spectacular -- Magical Girl story."

Well, there comes the trope-subversion. You expected a happy ending, but our story's heroine just turned into a demon and trapped Madoka into some sort of... limbo? Alternative state? "Maybe I'll destroy the universe," she says. Well, that's reassuring. At least there's an implied "maybe I won't."

Dark Homura

I, just a few days ago, identified Homura as one of the coolest characters of all-time. Does that still hold true with these latest revelations? I'm not sure. The sympathetic badguys tend to be my favorite characters, like Magneto and Walter White. So Homura would seem to fit, but I'm not sure I like her as a villain.

I liked her as a tragic hero. I liked her as an alternative archetype. We're not allowed to root for the single-minded obsessives anymore, because in real life those people are insane and often dangerous. But I enjoyed the old world mentality of Homura; that someone would show you just a moment of kindness and that was justification enough to dedicate the rest of your life -- in fact, dozens of your lives -- to rewriting the universe in their favor. I liked it because it was different, she was someone who made it look good, when I've been shitting on those type of characters for years (see: Aang's crush on Katara from Airbender).

Can I reconcile my reverence for the character with a now-evil Homura? Well, originally I loved Madoka Magica's conclusion for its idyllic sheen, its endearing and iconic optimism. As a child I found that same optimism from Sailor Moon but as an adult it's hard to get that feeling from it. Yet when something like Madoka Magica runs it through the ringer, brings you to the light through a detour in the dark, intuitively that feels a lot more real to an adult, because we know life isn't just hunkydory all the time.

And I'm sad to lose that. Take away Homura's purity and you're negating her whole quest, and even Madoka's sacrifice, which was resultant from that quest. But now I can try... at least try, to appreciate it in a different way. The dark side of being single-minded, the dark side of being obsessive, now manifests itself in Homura. If she would give up the world for her, wouldn't she grab her when she has the chance? This is the more true to life version, and how can I blame them for going that route? This is, after all, a show about deconstruction, a show that takes the tropes and makes them more realistic.

It'll be a process. I'll have to wait and see if I can end up liking Homura as much now that I see the full extent of her. But I'm starting to warm up to it, a little. Like I said, the villains are usually my favorites. I can relate to her in this form as well. If you gave me godlike powers over time and space? Can I say that I wouldn't do as Homura has done? No, of course not. That's exactly what I would have done in her place. That's exactly what I would have done from the start -- if Kyubey offered me a wish. Something neither sinister, nor altruistic. Something grey like Homura is doing.

I don't really need any new villains to relate to, I already have that covered. I preferred Homura as something different, and now she's kind of the same. But at least it lets this new movie stay true to the original series -- by fucking over the original series. I would have preferred the cutesy coda I was expecting before the ball dropped. But I can never, in good conscience, fault a story for taking extreme chances and daring to cross lines. By ruining the original series, the new films have stayed true to the deconstructive heart of that series, and that's something impressive; something that's still rare.

Carousel

Of course, the story isn't over yet. There's obviously going to be another Madoka film, and possibly more after that. By the end of it all, we're more than likely to get a happy ending again.

But that opens up a whole new bag of worms. Is that really a journey worth going on again, if we end up just going in a circle? The original Madoka Magica series did an utterly flawless job on that cycle, from despair to triumph. For the films to be a worthy addition to the mythos, the least they're going to have to do is add a further element onto the theme. Perhaps the idea is that the circle is inevitable, that you can keep correcting the path with Madoka's Law of the Cycle and whatever course correction they inevitably use to save and/or defeat Homura, but because grief and despair are inherent counterparts to joy, a new form of witches/wraiths/nightmares will always arise and no magical law of physics has the power to cleanse the world permanently.

I guess we'll have to wait and see. Just cross your fingers these movies keep coming out stateside, unlike the Neon Genesis Evangelion films which seem to have been stopped at the border like a shipment of drugs.

Madoka Musica

I'm not as adept at it as I am with my two other extremely bizarre hobbies (TV network programming and composing concert setlists), but another thing I like to do is make playlists inspired by stories -- generally books, but sometimes such as in this case. Madoka Magica is an incredible TV series which deconstructs the "Magical Girl" genre in a sinister and compelling way. I was thrilled to put together a ersatz soundtrack to this show.

1. I Wish... -- Drain STH

A wish can be a powerful thing. This late-90s all-female grunge band serves up the classic desire ("I wish that I could hold you...") with several heaps of self-loathing. Its dark demeanor and all-fated tone makes it fit pretty well for our ill-fated heroes.


2. Magic -- The Pussycat Dolls

It's surprisingly hard to find an appropriate song about magic. I did consider Black Magic Woman, but -- whatever the sinister implications -- it's downright wrong to call Magical Girl magic Black Magic. Magical Girl magic is pink magic. Stylistically this Pussycat Dolls song is not what I would have wanted, but lyrically it works well enough. It hints at Kyoko's advice to Sayaka about not giving a single Fuck and using her magic to break Kyousuke's legs and force him to love her.


3. Season of the Witch -- Donovan

The very first song I think of when I think of any potential Madoka Magica playlist. Shit's gettin' weird out here... must be a witch about!


4. Zombie -- The Cranberries

This alternative 90s jam just kicks ass, first of all. More importantly, it's a perfect nod to the moment of disillusion for our heroes and Sayaka's loss of faith due to her status as a "zombie." Plus its war torn imagery quite matches the bloodsoaked witch battles.


5. Time Machine -- Ingrid Michaelson

Most songs about time travel center on wanting to stop onesself from ruining a good relationship. Ingrid's take fits our story perfectly because it's the opposite, Ingrid wants a time machine so she can go back and tell herself to run, and never get involved in the first place. Well I'll be, that was precisely Homura's intention with her own time travel abilities.


6. Magia -- Kalafina

Couldn't help but to put this on here. This is the song from the show that plays whenever shit gets real.


7. Walpurgisnacht -- Bunker 66

There are many songs named Walpurgisnacht. But as you'd expect, most of them are new age fluff. This is the only one I can find which so much as hints at the inherent dread and destruction necessary for a beast like Walpurgisnacht.

8. Flirting With Time -- Tom Petty

I couldn't help but to include this underrated Petty gem (off one of his lesser records). The tone maybe cheery but it actually hits on the predicament our characters are facing very well, detailing apocalyptic visions of shadow men and an inevitable showdown. Can't help but to think of Madoka when I hear "a flash of light reminded me of you." "I've done all I can do, now it's up to you" seems to mirror the scene where Madoka gives her last grief seed up to Homura and enlists her to go back in time and stop the apocalypse.


9. Child in Time -- Deep Purple

One of the only songs in history cool enough to epitomize Akemi Homura, one of the coolest characters in history. Plus the idea of a blind man firing wildly into a crowd seems like the clear work of a witch's curse. On a deeper level metaphorically you could compare it to Homura's haphazard approach to changing history (basically just trying anything, fucking it all up and then trying again), and the ominous 'ricochete' we're listening for could be the reverberations felt throughout eternity when Homura's activity imbues Madoka with godly powers.

10. I Did It All For You -- Cowboy Junkies

Akemi Homura didn't transverse space and time to save humanity or protect the world. She did it all for one person, she did it all for Madoka. Cowboy Junkies' whispered dirge, dark and haunting and almost disturbing, matches both the content of Homura's intent, and the grim reality of re-experiencing the brutal massacre of your friends a dozen-plus times.


11. Remember Me As a Time Of Day -- Explosions in the Sky

Explosions in the Sky actually have a number of time-themed songs I could have chosen, but this one hits on a more unique concept: Madoka's transformation from girl to force of nature, law of physics, inherent aspect of space-time -- whatever the heck you want to call. "Remember Me As a Time of Day" seems to allude to this transcendence, as well as the vague, almost imperceptible way that Madoka's memory still has imprinted itself slightly unto the world, where her brother is able to conceive of her.


12. Alchemy -- Kyler England

This is Madoka's tune. "If I were a master of alchemy, I'd change everything, I'd make all the broken things beautiful." Its wistful but uplifting demeanor holds true to Madoka's bittersweet journey in becoming a force of nature and its message encapsulates Madoka's reparative mission to heal all the wounds of the world.

Struggling to Find New Music (& Exercise Tips)

Music has been an integral part of my life since I was a pre-tween, but it's always a struggle to find exciting new music to listen to. I'm someone who needs new things to discover. That new blood is an utterly essential part of my fragile musical ecosystem. The new things filter in and keep the old classics interesting as well, through the process of rotation. If I'm running just on the old stock then the system clouds up and collapses pretty quickly.

This fragile ecosystem has been thrown completely out of wack since I've started bodybuilding. With working out, I'm listening to three times as much music as I normally would per week. Which means I need three times as much music to listen to.

The confounding thing is, music is so essential to my workout. The difference between an hour workout and a three hour workout often hinges on whether I have great music to keep me motivated. I mean, when you get really into a song, when you're emotionally invested in it, you don't even feel the workout at all. Months ago when I had my heart broken I actually would intentionally work myself up into an emotional wreck because if I was stressing about the heartbreak and running it through in my mind, I could beat the shit out of my body and not even notice because I was emotionally preoccupied. Probably wasn't healthy (psychologically) but it was very effective, and for a while I had a flat stomach!

But those days are gone and I need music to motivate me. After 9 months, my catalog is really running thin. It was great for a while and I brought out all kinds of old metal, blues, deep cuts from bands I hadn't listened to since I was 14. But 9 months of this high volume play, I'm about out of ideas.

If you don't know me, I have a pretty unique music taste. Every few years when I'm just about ready to give up, I'll break into a new genre and get my excitement up again. Age 16 it was grunge, 19 it was metal, you get the idea. My last big revelation was dance pop, that was just about five years ago in 2015. So I'm hurtin' for a new phase.

Country music should be my salvation. So many of my favorite all-time albums are the ones that err very heavily on the country side, whether we're talking Harvest, American Stars N Bars, & Old Ways from Neil Young, Mudcrutch from Tom Petty, GG Allin's old school country jamboree EP called Carnival of Excess. Somewhere out there in the ether there's a country band with my name on it, a soulmate who could rival my favorites. But where the hell they are... I have no idea. For many years I've searched to no avail. I just don't know how to find the act that does things the way I like. Garth Brooks was pretty good, I got his whole discography for $30. I enjoy him but in the end he's just a couple playlists of good songs, he's no soulmate. I need somebody with the rawness of Neil, the rancor of Petty & his jammy tendencies, and the sad bastard mentality of GG.

Beyond that I'm pretty much out of luck. Anybody got any ideas on how to discover new music? Yeah I've tried Pandora and the like. Not very effective since all they can do is show you material that's similar to what you already have. And they don't do specifics, they do broad strokes. They can't make me a station based on GG's country material, they just play punk rock. And the Mudcrutch station plays classic rock. It's not about what the material sounds like, it's about what most people who listen to that band also listen to.

Jurassic World: Review

The following review does NOT contain SPOILERS. It is, however, quite cynical. So be warned that if you've yet to see the film, my toxic view could potentially poison you against its merits.

Let's start with what this film is not. If you're hoping for a smart, grounded science-fiction thriller like the original Jurassic Park from 1993, temper your expectations quite severely. Jurassic Park was astounding in part because it's one of the more realistic science fiction films in the collective canon and it has a broader point to make about technology and progress, as most good sci-fi does. Like Gattaca or District 9 it deviates from our real world only when necessary and only by extrapolating what's genuinely possible given existing technology and modern mores. Jurassic World... doesn't do that. It's more in line with Jurassic Park's two previous sequels, where the dinosaurs are mere movie monsters and the chase is the whole of the point, there's no broader issue here.

The cloning of dinosaurs isn't technically plausible due to the half-life of DNA, but there are already companies who are, today, this very moment actively pursuing the creation of dinosaur-like creatures through DNA manipulation. Hey, that kind of sounds like the gene-splicing plot of Jurassic World! But, alas, they don't really run with the premise, and it's left strictly up to the audience to connect those dots if they want any potential food for thought. Well... to be honest, there are a couple of good ideas. It's just that their impact is mired by the cheesiness that surrounds them.




Secondly, if you're hoping to gawk intently for a couple of hours at world-class special effects which wondrously bring to life creatures that exist mainly in our dreams and nightmares, like the groundbreaking work done for the original Jurassic Park, you're going to want to rent Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, because you won't get that from Jurassic World. I don't even begin to comprehend how a massive blockbuster like this can get off the cutting room floor with such unrealistic looking CGI. Wasn't someone in charge, wasn't there someone to answer to? But whatever the reason, don't expect to watch Jurassic World and think it looks real. The animals don't.

The saddest part on the FX front was the T-Rex, which supposedly (though unconfirmed) is the original Rex from Jurassic Park. To see him look so shoddy after he looked so real in the original was depressing. The explosions, though, are pretty awesome. The explosion budget must have been significantly higher than the dinosaur budget.

Also, no dilophosaurus. So minus 3,000 points.

So that covers what the film isn't. What the film is, on the other hand, is one heck of a decent action movie, with some well-placed nostalgia fodder and some surprisingly lovable characters. Sure, the dialogue by and large is atrocious. But I found Claire to be both cool and endearing, and it's truly great to finally have a woman take what is probably the lead role in a JP film. And Lowerry, the sardonic operator wearing his taboo Jurassic Park shirt on the day that shit happens to hit the fan at Jurassic World, from his very first moment he establishes himself as the audience's surrogate -- he's the guy saying what we're thinking. And that's clever, that's meta. His mere presence raised the film up a peg or two, by putting it a little closer to the film it clearly should have been.

And what do I mean by that? Jurassic World suffers from a clear conflict of goal, a split-personality. Does it want to be a serious Jurassic Park film, or does it want to be an ingenious satire ala The Cabin in the Woods? The film could go either way: there are genuinely great scenes in a serious Jurassic Park vein, and there are genuinely great scenes in a satirical way. And then there are a lot of scenes that are terrible if you're taking them seriously, but great if you're taking them as self-aware or tongue-in-cheek.

On the serious side, we get to see what a fully-functioning park would look like, and it's a pretty impressive sight. I enjoyed the early portion of the film detailing the technical aspects of day to day park operation, and Claire's involvement in the management thereof, as much as anything else in the film. You also have a couple really scary dinosaur moments that would work great in a proper Jurassic Park sequel. Dr. Henry Wu explains himself pretty well when detailing the creation of the I-Rex and there's a lot of legitimately interesting content for a sequel to explore. They did a good job of setting up a world for Jurassic World, something you don't see much of in the last two Jurassic Park movies. One thing I definitely have to say for the film is that it leaves me excited for a sequel, because the ideas they had on the backburner for this one are the ideas that are actually interesting!

On the tongue-in-cheek side, you have plenty of the most ridiculous scenes in any Jurassic Park film -- and yes, that includes defeating raptors with gymnastics from The Lost World, and the talking raptor from Jurassic Park III. I won't spoil any of JW's scenes here but there are several times when any conscious person is bound to roll their eyes. But what's so intriguing about that stuff is that there were also some highly notable trope-subversions here, some really well-done ones. Almost as if they understood what they were doing. Which points even more strongly to the possibility of Jurassic World being a tongue-in-cheek masterpiece. With a lot more self-awareness, the cheesy scenes would cease to be merely cheesy and they would rise up to the level of fuckin' awesome mayhem, knowingly executed to action trope perfection just like the gratuitous bloodshed bonanza you get from any Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez film. And there's definitely a strain of that running through this film. It's just, sadly, not allowed to come to the forefront, so you leave the movie wondering whether it was supposed to be stupid on purpose or not.

Final prognosis: You're going to need to see this movie in a theater that serves alcohol. Because the dumber you are, and the drunker you are, the more in love with this film you'll be. And I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way. Jurassic World is fucking awesome. It's full of bad one-liners and likable characters and, heck, there's a brilliant film hidden in there. Just be sure you go into it the right way, and with the right accoutrements. Get drunk. Maybe get stoned. Go into this film like you would Machete 3: Dinosaur Island. And you won't be disappointed. But go into this film expecting it to be the worthy successor we've been hoping for since 1993, and you'll be scratching your head.

Honestly, as a Jurassic Park sequel, it's not bad. It's about on par with the other two sequels, probably better than The Lost World. It's just, after such a long wait, and after Colin Trevorrow's passionate resolve to return to the majesty of the original, we were expecting something on a higher tier. Instead we got something very comparable to the other sequels, and not at all like the original classic.

Battle Power 1 Million: Taylor Swift's Second Form (1989 Tour Review 6/6/15)

While it had some notable highlights, 2013's Red tour reeked of half-measure. Reaching for something new, but unwilling to give up her signature style, Red was an album which languished in mid-sentence, never fully committing to either side. With songs like I Knew You Were Trouble which added electronic elements on top of what was clearly just a typical chugging Taylor guitar rhythm, I wondered if she would ever be able to break free from her origin as a corn-fed Pennsylvanian songster, writing ditties in her bedroom on an acoustic guitar.

Flash forward two years and Taylor hits her home state again, landing so hard it leaves a crater the size of Heinz Field. This time she returns with an ethos, a fire in her eyes, and something left to prove. This isn't the earnest rocker I saw here on 2011's Speak Now tour, and it certainly wasn't the mere victory lap which was the Red tour. This is a whole new Taylor and she's waging war on her past.

If you didn't buy her new album, don't bother buying a ticket to 2015's 1989 tour. This isn't a "greatest hits" set. Out of the 16 songs on her new album, Taylor played 15 of them. That includes the bonus tracks.

From bygone days she played exactly three tracks: Two hits from the still quite recent Red, which leaves Love Story as the sole representation from Taylor's first six years (3 albums, 2 EPs) as a pop star. But her classic style just wouldn't do for Taylor's new ethos, so she reworked the songs as well. I Knew You Were Trouble reemerged as a dark, pulsing industrial track, far superior to the original version. Love Story became sort of a moody keyboard ballad, not the best take on this already often reworked song. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together fared better, becoming a rancorous electric guitar jam. I hope this tour gets a live CD 'cause some of these versions seriously need to be preserved.




For the rest of the gig, it was all 1989 -- except when she brought on country band Little Big Town to play their weird hit Pontoon. Not a favorite song of mine but it's a fun party tune and I was glad we finally got a special guest -- it's the kind of thing that usually happens in other cities but not in Pittsburgh.

Unlike the old tracks, Taylor's new songs were very faithful to their studio counterparts, except they often featured spectacular, pounding EDM intros. It's really good to hear gorgeous deep cuts like New Romantics, Clean and my personal favorite, All You Had to Do Was Stay, because you have to imagine... for the rest of her entire career, how many times will these songs ever be played after this tour? Maybe, maybe one of them might ocassionally slip in as a fringe rotating song on some 2021 setlist or they might be on the shortlist for a 2035 20th annivery 1989 tour. But those are going to be in the extreme minority if they even happen at all. And with every passing year Taylor has more and more she needs to fit into setlists that are, for all intents and purposes, of a finite, unchanging length.

And, about that... It's funny, but as the years go by, Taylor's playing less and less of her old music. And I don't mean her old music as in her first two albums. I'm talking about anything but her brand new material. The more hits Taylor has, the fewer hits she plays! By her fourth album you could already have filled an 18 song setlist with 18 top 20 singles and still leave 2 hits out. By age 25 you could fill that set with 14 bonafide top 10 singles and still leave room for 4 or 5 album cuts from the new record!

But Taylor's not going to play that game. She's not going to run these songs into the ground before she's even old. And as someone who plans to see every tour she does from 2011 to the day I die, I thank her for that. It means I'll be excited to hear the hits even ten, fifteen years from now. I've seen her three times and she's never played my personal favorite, and one of her biggest hits, Teardrops on My Guitar. Can you imagine when I finally see it, some years down the road? It may be my 10th Taylor show but I'll still be flipping out over it because there'll still be new things to discover.

The new record is spectacular and the tour is poised to match. For 1989 she's reinvented herself as a smoky dance beast and she has fully comitted to that role, fully committed to her new music. For now. What she'll change into next, time will tell. She'll obviously stick with pop for a good while but I don't believe this will be her final form. At the very least, when she grows older she'll naturally become more introspective and probably go into another acoustic phase, but in a more mature, folkier vein.

Now that Taylor has revealed herself to be a genuine chameleon, there's real potential here for me as a fan. The #1 thing that keeps me coming back, is having new material to explore. Because exciting new material reups my interest and I get back into the old material as well. Taylor's not only been putting out great new material but she does it like clockwork, too. If she can keep up this pace then she's a shoo-in for the all-time greats. Nobody'll ever beat my personal 1 & 2 (Neil Young and Tom Petty), but right now it doesn't look like Taylor has any competition for #3. Unless Ani Difranco can have a resurgence and put out something really exciting. Or if, I don't know, Pink Floyd or The Doors come back from the dead.

The only disadvantage with getting to live Taylor's career in the moment (which, granted, has so many unparalleled advantages!) is that I'll have to wait decades for the rarities box sets and live albums. And the bootleg market seems pretty DOA these days. If you can find torrents of Taylor live gigs then clearly you're a better man than I, 'cause I sure can't.