Austin

I remember thinking after the crazy success of Flowers that Endless Summer Vacation was about to be a massive career defining era for Miley, and it sort of ended up being average. PRISM was also obviously a successful album, but I remember being shocked by Unconditionally and Birthday not being massively successful (especially because the media was revelling in positioning her as the foil to Gaga, who wasn't in a good place commercially)

I do think it's true that discourse sometimes gets in the way of truly hearing Taylor's music (and also giving it the time required to sit with it and digest it – there's almost a rush to get an opinion out right away). But that's in large part her own doing. Her music has become so laden with subtext, easter eggs, and discourse that it does literally make it hard to form your own opinion of it, and she's made it that way because it's profitable. There is a fantastic album in TTPD. It has some of her best songs (Guilty as Sin, But Daddy I Love Him, loml...). But she released a 31-song digital dump – not because every song was essential to the story, but because the surprise element built hype and the extra streams inflated the sales. She wanted to make the album an event. And that's fine, but don't be surprised when people can't hear the music through all the noise... Showgirl and it's deluxe edition are objectively much worse than pretty much everything on TTPD. It's not truly terrible outside of a few songs, but it's mostly bland and forgettable.

I mean, if you listen to music from that time, it's clear that there was a complex push and pull going on in their relationship. I think there was a always sense of danger there. A song like Peace is so powerful because on the one hand, it's a simple and beautiful love song, but on the other, it's got this riptide of anxiety and fear that threatens it from within. My read on it is that Taylor was always worried that her career and being in the public eye would harm the relationship, and so she was always trying to rein in her more attention seeking/performer side. That's a fundamentally unstable dynamic. And it does seem like the 2021/2022 Taylormania was the nail in the coffin in terms of confirming that they wanted fundamentally different things from life.

It's honestly pointless comparing a 36 year old artist on her 12th album and a 23 year old artist on her 3rd. They are in completely different places in their life and it does a disservice to both. OT: I think the fundamental tension for me with this whole album is that since settling down into what seems like a solid but maybe quite safe and drama free relationship, Taylor doesn't have anything that interesting to say about her own life at the moment – but Showgirl as an album is an inherently autobiographical concept. So I find it hard to enjoy some of the strongest songs on here (Babylon and Ruin the Friendship) because they don't make sense to me within this album: melancholy observational storytelling doesn't feel very Showgirl (or even "life" of a showgirl). Moving forward, I think Taylor would do best to play to her strengths: making catchy alternative-inflected pop music about other people. Either that, or she needs to go out and live more of her life so that she can come back with something to say. I'd also love to see her work with some new collaborators who could breathe new life into her sound, and with new directors and visual artists who could produce interesting visuals for her.

There's nothing horrendous here, but everything is slightly stodgy and stale to me. I feel like thematically she's really stuck treading ground she's already trodden to death, and she's not got anything that is sonically/melodically killer enough to win you over. I'm also just so confused about why she felt the need to rerelease TLOAS. None of these songs (except maybe Cleveland) feel remotely showgirl (although I think that was a bad/confused concept for the start from Taylor)

Father Figure Elizabeth Taylor Ophelia

Because she's a solo artist with a clearer identity, and that's easier to market. KATSEYE is visually/sonically confused, and the girls aren't allowed anywhere near the studio for the most part. I hope that a couple of the girls (especially Lara) get their chance to shine solo, cos they're extremely talented.

I think it's a cute album. Some great songs - Different Religion and Innocent Ways are my early stand outs. I personally think it's better than her last three albums. But that said, as a whole package, it does feel slightly underbaked and lacking a clear story (narrative, sonic, or visual).

I will always remember the first time I heard Try Again. It gave me chills. Sadly I was only 5 when Aaliyah passed, so I didn't really get a chance to properly enjoy her music while she was still here. But discovering her albums, music videos, and fashion/style throughout my early teens was a formative moment for me. She was the ultimate it girl. It breaks my heart that she's been gone longer than we had her... I will always think about what she might have done next. But her impact and influence is still alive to this day, and that's a blessing. RIP.

I love it. Lara's vocal run at the end

One in a Million should be higher!

Charli, but it's close

We need the return of Lara Raj cookielicious!!

Something truly evil is going on behind the scenes here. These poor girls are being worked to the bone with their schedule, and then fed to the social media wolves by their label who insist on rage-bait music and promotional tactics to keep engagement going.

Finally getting around to listening to this. I'm surprised by the mid reviews – I think it's a great album (a lot better than Eternal Sunshine, which I always found kind of dull). My ranking would be: Sweetener Positions Dangerous Woman My Everything Petal Thank U, Next Eternal Sunshine Yours Truly