The Life Of A Showgirl
by Taylor Swift

From HoldenM TOP 100 COMMENTER 10/03/2025 23:37 | #311188

I soft defended Tortured Poets Department upon release, but I don't come back to any of it anymore as it brought the delirious highs of the Eras Tour to a premature end for me. It's not terrible, but it is Swift's worst album. So, what to make of The Life of a Showgirl? Suffice it to say, it's a major improvement over its predecessor. Its snappy soft rock focus is a welcome contrast to the languid balladry of TTPD, and being her shortest record since her debut goes a long way. Most tracks here are fun and concise enough not to offend. Its highlights recall the lyrical color of Folklore/Evermore, and they're tight like the best Lover tracks. There's even a degree to which Swift is branching out in the actual chord progressions and voicings across these songs.

AND YET as much as I enjoy this record, as much as I can see it growing on me, part of me feels like I've come full circle with Taylor Swift, in a way. I've approached her discography and career with an academic curiosity that is often mistaken for fandom--although, I like most of her music, and some of it has become meaningful for me. When I hear a song like "Actually Romantic," a deeply mean-spirited kiss-off to Charli XCX, or a song like "Wood" about her fiance's penis, I have to ask, what are we doing here? How is the same person who made albums like Folklore and Evermore, even albums like Red or something as well-observed as Fearless, still flogging in the swamps of adolescent conflict and humor? You're a gorgeous, acclaimed, talented, generationally beloved billionaire. Grow the fuck up! (Edited)

From DeusExMackia TOP 100 COMMENTER 10/03/2025 10:26 | #311179

Who even is Taylor Swift anymore? The energy and abundance of her material from a decade back has been reduced to lacklustre vocals over instrumentation that sounds like the stock tracks on a Yamaha keyboard. The sequins and rhinestones of Showgirl's title are nowhere to be found. Instead, we get cuts that bully other artists and happy use of the word "Bitch", as if the Kanye West drama never happened.

It pains me to write that this is an indefensibly boring album. We're happy chastising aged rockers for still trying to sell albums no one wants to hear long after they've peaked. Swift seems content to have reached that point 30 years early. (Edited)

I don't know about you, but Taylor seems kind of 2022. (Edited)

girl... this is soo lazy (Edited)

The serious attempts at analysis of this tripe sounds like Patrick Bateman. (Edited)