{"id":2067239,"date":"2025-10-03T18:37:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T18:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2067239"},"modified":"2025-10-03T18:37:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T18:37:21","slug":"taylor-swifts-new-album-life-of-a-showgirl-gets-mixed-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/taylor-swifts-new-album-life-of-a-showgirl-gets-mixed-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift’s New Album Life of a Showgirl Gets Mixed Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Taylor Swift<\/strong><\/a> has long divided the court of public opinion \u2014 and her new album<\/a> does little to change that.<\/p>\n

Following its midnight release on Friday, October 3, The Life of a Showgirl<\/em><\/a> received mixed reviews from music critics. Some praised its razor-sharp songwriting, while others argued it pales in comparison to her most beloved records, including 2012\u2019s Red<\/em>, 2014\u2019s 1989<\/em> and 2020\u2019s Folklore<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rolling Stone<\/em><\/a> gave Swift\u2019s 12th studio album a perfect score of five stars, with assistant editor Maya Georgi<\/strong> writing that the singer, 35, \u201cshoots into a fresh echelon of superstardom \u2014 and hits all her marks.\u201d Georgi praised Swift\u2019s lyrics as \u201chilarious as ever\u201d while also noting that she is \u201cbolder than she has been.\u201d (The song \u201cWood\u201d contains multiple double entendres<\/a> about Swift\u2019s fianc\u00e9 Travis Kelce<\/strong>\u2018s, ahem, \u201cmanhood,\u201d while \u201cActually Romantic\u201d is widely rumored to be a Charli XCX<\/strong> diss track<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Variety<\/em><\/a> also heaped praise on Swift, asserting that she is in a league of her own. \u201cNobody does it better, now or at any recent time, when it comes to delivering world-dominating pop that feels all the feels and doesn\u2019t stint on the thoughts either,\u201d chief music critic Chris Willman<\/strong> wrote, celebrating the album\u2019s \u201csunny\u201d disposition. Willman dubbed \u201cRuin the Friendship\u201d<\/a> one of the \u201cprettiest songs Swift has ever written\u201d and also applauded Max Martin<\/strong> and Shellback<\/strong>\u2018s \u201cutterly pleasing\u201d production.<\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/em><\/a>, meanwhile, named The Life of a Showgirl<\/em> a Critic\u2019s Pick. Pop music critic Jon Caramanica<\/strong> called the project a \u201cdeceptively modest set of songs about the facade of fame, and what it takes to scrape it away and claw past it.\u201d Caramanica opined that Showgirl<\/em> is \u201ca more cogent form of chaos than Swift\u2019s prior two albums, Midnights<\/em> and The Tortured Poets Department<\/em>,\u201d which she released in 2022 and 2024, respectively, though he admittedly yearned for a \u201chard pivot\u201d like 2017\u2019s Reputation<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\n Taylor Swift<\/span> Republic Records<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Across the pond, the reviews were more unforgiving.<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s The Guardian<\/em><\/a> gave the album two out of five stars, with head rock and pop music critic Alexis Petridis<\/strong> commenting that it is \u201cslight on tunes and still seethes with grievance.\u201d He wrote in part, \u201cPerhaps romantic contentment simply writes whiter than vengeful post-breakup bitterness, or perhaps it wobbles your judgment. Perhaps it was rushed. Or perhaps its author was just exhausted, which would be entirely understandable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Taylor Swift<\/span> Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The London Standard<\/em><\/a> was the harshest of all with a one-star rating and a headline chastising Swift\u2019s \u201cpenis metaphors and poor little rich girl tales.\u201d At one point, deputy editor India Block<\/strong> even wondered whether she was \u201caccidentally listening to a parody album,\u201d lamenting that the 14-time Grammy winner\u2019s \u201conce-famed lyric-writing abilities \u2026 seem to be going backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

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