Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl (October 3, 2025) • Page 58

It’s really hard for me to get over some of these lyrics. I skipped reading the leaks and maybe if I had been more prepared I wouldn’t be in a state of shock lol. The whole Charli track is just really lame. Eldest Daughter talking about the internet and memes over a piano? Wood - yeah I don’t know!

 

of fucking course they gave it 5 stars

 

It's really weird to me that like, 5 of the songs on this sound like I Can See You to various degrees. I get letting the album musically in a zone, but it's a lot at times

 

I do think its length helps here. When I thought I was getting bored I realized I only had a few songs left so I stuck it out. I think I like it better than TTPD, and Midnights as a whole, but that one has higher highs. I don’t like it better than 1989, Rep, Lover, and folklore/evermore. Seems like that might be a run of albums that won’t get topped.

 

TTPD I did not like when it dropped but it grew on me as time went on. This I like more on initial listen and will probably grow more on me upon subsequent listens.

 

I like this more on my second listen

 

I didn't find many WOW moments, especially musically. My first listen of both the last two albums, I specifically remember multiple times getting wowed

 

this is the thing that's probably most disappointing on my end. i think this is the first album of hers i've heard where very little wowed me on my first couple listens (the only really noticeable one was Wood). again, i'm hoping that changes.

 

I think the title track and Opalite are my favorites so far.

 

my wife and i stayed up for a listening session and came away with pretty different takes

to me, ruin the friendship is the best thing on here, honey is great and instrumentally sounds like it could fit comfortably in the 90s r&b arena, and the opening track really grabbed me after a second listen

apart from that, it all just stays pretty ok for the most part

my wife was smitten on first listen.

 

Sounds like me and my wife right now too haha

 

“The goal, said Swift, was to make a tight, compact album of "bangers" (that's hit songs, not sausages) with "melodies that were so infectious that you're almost angry at it".

Taylor Swift: The Diary of a Showgirl is a triumphant pop victory lap

 

I had to look this up because I just don’t have all the Swiftie lore, but “Father Figure” is about Scott Borchetta from Big Machine Records. I am not sure we needed to disturb George Michael’s estate for this, personally.

 

2/5 from The Guardian

Taylor Swift: The Life of a Showgirl review – dull razzle-dazzle from a star who seems frazzled

 

i think i allowed the hype to get to me and idk what i was expecting…maybe something more in the vein of late 90s/early 2000s dance pop

but instead it’s just more casual taylor swift, which is fine, but it’s not the big swing i suppose i was looking for

 

That seriously sounds like a description of a totally different record. I don’t want to let it bleed too much into this thread, but I’ve been obsessed with the K-pop demon hunter soundtrack (like the rest of the world) and all those songs are what I would call “bangers”. Not this, though it’s still good.

 

Liked this even more on second listen unsurprisingly.

 

Two-listens tiers

Opalite, Ruin The friendship, honey
Fate, Elizabeth, Wood, showgirl
Wish list
Father figure, cancelled, eldest daughter, actually romantic

 

Ophelia, Wood, Opalite, Ruin the Friendship, Honey
Wish List, Eldest Daughter
Elizabeth, Showgirl, Father Figure
Actually Romantic, Cancelled!

I really love that top tier. The Fate of Ophelia in particular is quickly becoming one of my favourites from her.

 

Taylor confirmed in her BBC1 interview that no tour is coming.

 

unfortunately, the album that this one reminds me most of is raditude by weezer

 

Album benefits from proper audio quality, but it’s still a snooze overall. “Album of bangers” my ass. Probably not the best idea to make this between your stops. “Folklore/evermore” benefited from her having time to actually write and craft songs during the pandemic.

 

You should listen to this. For a debut album (as a solo artist, as she was part of Little Mix), it contains such a great variety of sounds and it brings back some of the campness of infamous 00s UK pop acts like Girls Aloud

Pop album of the year imo