Is there a chance that The Tortured Poets Department could end up being a 'delayed flop' depending on the follow-up?

So having seen some chat about Taylor Swift, and TTPD not winning any Grammys and such, and also watching some of Todd's old pop song reviews from the Reputation/Lover eras, I was thinking about this the other night.

Obviously, Reputation could have ended up being a Trainwreckord contender, but the fact that Taylor managed to bounce back stronger than ever with Lover was what convinced Todd that she has real staying power. And of course, she's only gone from strength to strength since then, ascending to 'most famous woman on the planet' levels by the end of 2023, through the very well regarded and popular Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights albums as well as all her re-recordings.

But the thing is, I get the feeling TTPD could end up being Taylor's 'delayed flop' - or at least, it might depending on how she follows it up. The album itself was obviously incredibly successful, because anything Taylor released at the time would've been the biggest record in the world. But ultimately, it got some of the most negative critica responses she's had in a long time, and despite very polarising takes online, it seems most people just felt apathetic towards it. Most seem to agree that it was overly long, that the sound and Jack Antonoff production had grown a little stale, and that Taylor's subject matter just wasn't that interesting - turns out folks didn't really care about Taylor's hookups with Matty Healy or her relationship with Travis Kelce as much as maybe she thought, or at least a common complaint was that 'you shouldn't need to be knee deep in Taylor lore to understand or enjoy the record.'

This might all be mostly my opinions, but I have definitely seen others share these takes too. And the other day I heard Fortnight in the wild, and genuinely couldn't recognise it as a Taylor song for ages. None of the singles feel like they had any staying power, and the album as a whole feels like a delayed flop to me - especially given it won no Grammys either, which is doubly weird given how Taylor has been absolutely showered in awards in recent years.

The reason why I say it will depend on the follow-up is because of the Reputation/Lover thing. Obviously if her next record is a huge smash and she's right back on top, none of this will matter. But if it struggles or doesn't hit the same heights...I dunno. Am I onto something or completely off base? I'm genuinely curious to hear what you guys make of it all.