Peroxide

Sidebar: F*ck me. Showgirl did 400K first week over here? Actual madness… you never see those sorts of numbers anymore. Anyways. - Exactly. The album was being carried by the album tracks + Elizabeth Taylor… so in all honesty it could have been worse. 47 weeks on the U.K. albums chart would be impressive for literally anyone else except for Taylor because the bar has been set so unbelievably high. But still - for her standards you can call it an underperformance. Frankly I'm happy Showgirl is having relatively poor longevity compared to her other projects because it sends her a clear message… MAKE A BETTER ALBUM.

This is ridiculous.

Very decent Ellie album. Nowhere near as unusual or experimental as Bluest Blue (standard) or Halcyon… and its not quite as pop as HTH or Delirium… the whole project seems to sit somewhere in the middle which is good thing. Our girl seems to have finally gotten the balance right. I really like Jealously, Nobody Dances, For Your Entertainment and Misremember You… but that being said, there was a lot of good left on the cutting room floor which could have taken the project from good to great. Loser and Ravers are my least favourite but maybe they'll grow on me… Pretty nervous for the sales figures. Hopefully this can still bag a top 3 in the UK.

This is ridiculously good.

I really like this and the video is excellent. Miley looks sensational - whew. This feels made in a lab for millennial gays that grew up with Britney and Gaga so I'm kinda surprised by the mixed reception… I think there's a LITTLE too much spoken-word… and bless Miley for trying because pulling off spoken word is difficult without it leaning into cringe territory. I think it's most effectively utilised when it's fairly sparse (at the very beginning of a song or during the bridge) and delivered with a lot of conviction… I still think Gaga is the best in the game at getting the balance just right. On a whole I think this very decent and I'm shocked Kid Harpoon worked on this… if you told me this came from one of the Wolf Cousins (Max Martin's team) I'd have believed you.

This is surprising given how well the album campaign went…

Girl it's not even started yet…

Oh Chromatica… I understand the "victim of circumstance" argument and I agree with it to an extent but I really think the fatal blow was Gaga's mental and emotional health. Even if we lived in a timeline where COVID never happened… Gaga would have still struggled to get this era off the ground. I know plans fell apart but just for comparison - look at Future Nostalgia, one of the most perfectly executed pop campaigns we have ever seen and it came out just a month before Chromatica… Dua (along with her team/label) were clearly very hungry for success and it showed. So if we're being honest - Gaga, Bobby and Interscope could have weathered the storm but ultimately it just felt like all parties involved gave up.

Quite a lot. Millionaires have been relatively common place for sometime… billionaires on the other hand - different story, it's an unimaginable amount of wealth. It would take you 12 days to count to a million. It would you 32 years to count to a billion.

Not a fan of this on any level. But I will say… to the Katy/Bey/Taylor fans shaking their fingers - YOUR FAVES ARE NO BETTER. All of our girls are slaves to the most evil kind of capitalism.

I have been STARVED for new music from these guys… Really hoping this delivers. Every Open Eye remains one of my all-time favourite albums.

In terms of consistency - this is my favourite thing she's put out. First Time, Higher, Body Language, Fever, The One and Roses are quite literally 10/10 pop songs. And this is also technically the parent-album for Cut To The Feeling - that song has a chorus that could stop wars.

I agree with this for the most part. Taylor is insanely talented but she's incredibly inconsistent when it comes to pure pop. She usually (not always but usually) tends to go down one or two lanes… The first lane is the punchy, emotionally charged cinematic pop stuff… think Style, Ophelia, Cruel Summer, Getaway Car, Out of The Woods, Delicate, Dancing With Our Hands Tied etc… like those songs almost lean into Carly territory in some respect… And then you have the pure bubblegum lane… overly sugary sweet earworms that might be catchy but skew more annoying than anything else - London Boy, Opalite, ME!, Bejeweled, Stay Stay Stay, You Need To Calm Down, Shake It Off, Gorgeous… I really, really struggle with this particular brand of pop from Taylor and Showgirl certainly seems to lean more in this direction for the bulk of the album. I don't think we'll be getting another Folklore style album from her for sometime and that's perfect fine… we've already got Folklore, Evermore and The Anthology to enjoy.

I will happily book you a hearing test if you think Showgirl is the best example of Taylor's talents as a recording artist. Although I did catch myself humming to Elizabeth Taylor yesterday which kinda gagged me.

I actually think we are far away from the worst of it… the left side of the internet is nowhere near as fragmented/obnoxious as it was 6 or 7 years ago. There is a real sense of collectivist messaging and desire to build a big-tent movement that leans into compassion and providing a better life for everyone rather than picking apart the smallest things in relation to vocabulary or trying to explain fairly complex sociopolitical academia to the average Joe who just wants free healthcare. Obnoxious purity testing exists on all sides of the political aisle but it's nothing compared to the horrors of Oligarchy we are now living in.

She spoke beautifully and eloquently … as she always does. But I gotta be honest… the interviewer was a bit dull; the questions felt a little uninspired and generic… And whilst it's nice to see our girl get praised for her craft his constant flattery felt a tiny bit… forced? Still enjoyed regardless.

There is a well-known gay cruising spot in a public shopping mall in a big city that's relatively close to me… they exist. But regardless… this is all anecdotal and means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Having sex in public places outside of bathhouses, saunas or swinger/sex parties is frankly… a bad thing to do. Is it the worst thing? No… I think we have other fish to fry (and straight people are often just as guilty)… but brushing off the OP's original topic as pure unbridled queer-phobia/gay panic is kinda dismissive.

Having sex in a public park (especially one where you might be near children) is wrong and should be discouraged - regardless of orientation or gender. This is not a controversial statement.

This has continued to grow on me immensely over the weekend.. A simple chorus lyric over a house/club beat is a winning formula if done well... (see We Found Love for the best example)

I'm happy some of you girls are finding some nice things to say about Showgirl… but I think we can all agree it's a far cry from what we know she's capable of.

I genuinely like Motivation. Like it's a solid 8 for me. I think it will grow on people with time… there's something very sentimental about the chorus.

Whilst I agree she's oversaturated right now… I still think it would be nice to see the original project through to the end… even if she owns her masters. I suspect this is more than likely Debut related (the green… it also looks like some sort of sash/ribbon to me) I think Rep is more than likely going to come next year. I will say this, her Graphic Designers are frightfully inadequate given that she's the biggest popstar on Earth.

Taylor - for obvious reasons. But it's a little mad given that we've not seen even one official photo from the actual event.

The hate TTPD (title track) received was so horribly unwarranted… it remains a beautiful track. I always got a Fleetwood Mac vibe from it… particularly the production.

What horrible news to wake up to. I loved her work in Heroes and Until Dawn (both excellent performances). I knew Hayden had troubles but didn't realise quite how bad they were until reading this thread… her ex sounds like a monster. Feeling absolutely awful for her child. RIP.