Ever since the release of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” this past October, controversy has sparked within her fanbase. While many fans enjoyed the short, upbeat record, others argue it did not display the strong lyricism and depth of her past work. 

Pro (Yana’s Version)

As soon as Taylor Swift announced her 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” on August 12th, I was ecstatic. At the time of the announcement, she had been dating Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce for about two years and even announced her upcoming record on his and his brother Jason Kelce’s podcast, “New Heights.” 16 days later, Swift announced her engagement to Kelce via Instagram. As a loud and proud member of the Swiftie clan, I was sure “The Life of a Showgirl” would be a love album. True to my wildest dreams, my predictions held true, indeed. If I had one word to describe this record, it would be timeless. “The Life of a Showgirl” covers many moments in Swift’s life, such as a high school crush on “Ruin the Friendship” and a mentee betraying their mentor on “Father Figure.” With that being said, anybody from a teenager in high school to a 36-year-old working parent can find something to relate to on this album. What is also very unique about “The Life of a Showgirl” is that, unlike most of Swift’s previous records, each song has its own distinct style and feel. For instance, “Wood” evokes the sound of the Jackson 5, while “Eldest Daughter” is a bittersweet ballad. When promoting the album, Swift claimed it would be a mix between her lyrically in-depth record, “folklore” and her synth-pop album, “1989.” However, I would beg to differ more between “1989” and Swift’s 2017 album “reputation,” with its brutal yet simple lyrics. While the lyricism isn’t the strongest we’ve seen out of Swift, the beats of each song — thanks to legendary producers Max Martin and Shellback — make up for it. I honestly could not find a single song on this record I didn’t like, which is rare for me. I also enjoyed the upbeat, pop switch-up Swift gave us, given that her past four albums have had dark undertones. Another break from Swift’s norm is that most of the album is composed mostly of bold and honest love songs, when she usually alludes to her love life in figurative metaphors instead of giving clear details. It is wonderful to be reminded, after Swift’s recent breakup album “The Tortured Poets Department,” that she can create good songs out of her romances as well as her heartbreaks. Despite the public backlash over “The Life of a Showgirl,” I thoroughly enjoyed it as a whole. However, if you are a fan of Swift’s more poetic work, it may take a while to grow on you. As someone who is a giant Swiftie and enjoys all of her past work, my favorites were “Ruin the Friendship” and “Elizabeth Taylor,” both pop-inspired tunes that convey a little clever lyricism. Overall, I rate “The Life of a Showgirl” 4/5 stars. While it is an important start to Swift’s new era of boldness and sass, it is not one of the best works of her current career.

Con (Jay’s Version)

Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” is an album that confuses me. After coming off the record-breaking “The Eras Tour,” as well as releasing one of her most vast and introspective albums, “The Tortured Poets Department,” I was hoping Swift would take a break and focus on an album that was more concise, happy, and vibrant. Unfortunately, what we got definitely
wasn’t what I was hoping for. I was skeptical about it after reading headlines and watching interviews, in which it was stated, she recorded this album while simultaneously on her grand and bold “Eras Tour,” which left me ready to be disappointed. However, the album was being produced by Max Martin and Shellback, production legends who worked with Swift on albums such as “1989” and “Red,” both great albums which helped propel her into pop stardom back when she was starting in the music industry. Factors such as these left me feeling hopeful, but this album did not meet my somewhat high expectations. The opening track, “The Fate of Ophelia,” had me excited to continue, the synthy production and the vocal delivery had intrigued me, and I loved the references to Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” throughout the song. The rest of the album, however, left me feeling very fatigued and thinking Swift desperately needs to take a break and spend some time working on her next release. The rest of the album falls flat in many aspects for me. Songs such as “Opalite” have beautiful production, but the songwriting feels bland and recycled, not just on this song, but for almost the whole remainder of the album. She constantly sings about high school lovers, past heartbreaks, and issues that come with being famous. It feels like Swift is too scared to branch into other subjects in her songs, and the same songwriting recycled over and over is starting to feel very stale, even if she is a good songwriter. Many of the vocal performances feel rushed and not performed with her full talent, which I attribute to Swift writing and recording this album almost entirely while on “The Eras Tour.” While I believe Taylor Swift is a great singer, her voice doesn’t shine on this album, aside from some of my standout tracks such as “The Fate of Ophelia,” “Opalite,” and “The Life of a Showgirl.” All together, “The Life of a Showgirl” is an album I was excited by but also was very disappointed by. Between bland songwriting, flat vocal performances, a production that is not up to standards for Max Martin and Shellback and the overall themes of this album, I put “The Life of a Showgirl” easily near the bottom of Swift’s discography, and don’t plan on revisiting it any time soon. I rate this album 2/5 stars, and firmly believe Swift should take a break from music and touring to work on a more quality album.