Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl (October 3, 2025) • Page 39

i wondered about this today. criticism of her more recent work has been that there hasn't been enough creative pressure to come up with something as good as her Max Martin-era work, surrounding herself with yes men that will produce something a bit more stale sounding.

i wanna hope that what she's said about working with Max and Shellback again and wanting to make the best album they could means we're in for a solid record. but i can also imagine a scenario where Taylor just seems like someone too big to say no to and that there's this weird juxtaposition of her not self-editing her lyricism against a more conventional pop song structure and it just not working.

i also haven't really been impressed with much of Max's production work since he last worked with Taylor, save for his work on After Hours/Dawn FM and a few songs from Thank U, Next (the only Ariana record i really like). so all of that to say i wouldn't be surprised if this album doesn't wow be. but i could be wrong!

 

This right here…not to say Max has lost his fastball, but…there exists a reality where this album sounds dated.

But again, none of this matters in any tangible way because “failure” of a TS album would be the biggest album of any other artists’ career 10x over.

 

I think she's only gotten better as a songwriter/artist and I'm extremely excited to see what they've made this time. I have extremely high hopes.

I don't really need anything more than that, I love all the imagery we've gotten so far so I'm looking forward to seeing the music video too and I hope she does a few for this album.

 

for the record, i've liked every Taylor album to varying degrees, so i'm sure this will still be good. just pondering general reception from others who claim her work has become stale/personally wondering if new work with Max could reach the highs of Red/1989/Rep.

 

Track 6 Ranking:
You Belong With Me
mirrorball
22
--
no body, no crime
Mean
Midnight Rain
But Daddy I Love Him
Shake It Off
Look What You Made Me Do
--
I Think He Knows
The Outside


Track Rankings So Far:
Track 2s
Track 3s
Track 1s
--
Track 6s
Track 5s
--
Track 4s


Verdict:
absolute all-time bangers at the top and a mix of fun stuff in the middle. wish that "But Daddy I Love Him" had an editor, that chorus is great. I completely forget that both of those songs existed on the bottom.

 

you should really go back to Eternal Sunshine, it's one of the best mainstream pop albums in the last two years. the deluxe is fantastic.

 

Eternal Sunshine is a grower for sure

 

never got around to Eternal Sunshine, but i'd be curious to listen. only heard select tracks from her first 3. Sweetener wasn't my vibe, neither was Positions. something about Thank U, Next really clicked with me. i can't explain it.

 

eternal sunshine is the only ari album i like front to back. no skips on the thing. and the deluxe tracks are essential.

 

well thank u next is her best album, half of sweetener is horrible and positions is nice enough. Eternal Sunshine is solid.

 

I really enjoy Eternal Sunshine!

 

yep I totally agree with you on those three records. I think the songwriting was just crisper on Thank U, Next. give Eternal Sunshine a shot!

 

But Daddy I Love Him
You Belong With Me
Mirrorball
Midnight Rain
I Think He Knows
22
The Outside
No Body, No Crime
Look What You Made Me Do
Shake It Off
Mean

 

mirrorball
look what you made me do
you belong with me
midnight rain
no body no crime
but daddy i love him
22
mean
shake it off
the outside
i think he knows

lol i think i’m the only person that loves lwymmd

 

That's a lot of explicit tags. Was kinda hoping she'd go back to the 1989 level of cussing. She just does it so awkwardly at times.


Track 6:

mirrorball
22
you belong with me
midnight rain
but daddy i love him
shake it off
mean
i think he knows
look what you made me do
no body no crime
the outside

 

Re: this rollout not really feeling special, I get why she's decided against pre-release singles at this point, but given the choice between that and six alternate covers/different vinyl colors, I'd rather have a few songs! I know people rag on her for picking the wrong tracks to release first, but we got a bunch of tastes of Red and 1989 ahead of time, and those rollouts were way more fun/built a lot more anticipation for me personally than anything she's done since.

 

Sixes:

mirrorball
22
But Daddy I Love Him
Midnight Rain
Shake It Off
You Belong with Me
Mean
I Think He Knows
no body, no crime
Look What You Made Me Do
The Outside

"mirrorball" is an all-timer.

 

the 2 tracks that are under 3 minutes intrigue me

 

total runtime: 41:40

 

Track 6:

22
Shake It Off
You Belong With Me
Mirrorball
I Think He Knows
But Daddy I Love Him
No Body, No Crime (Feat. Haim)
Midnight Rain
Look What You Made Me Do
The Outside
Mean

I love 22..I am sorry for speaking my truth.

 

One last countdown. Signed stuff is supposedly dropping today

 

I’m not doing it either