"The success part is obvious. It's set to become the biggest-selling album of the year by a preposterously long chalk. In terms of shortcomings, I think the biggest one is prosaic - a lack of really memorable melodies. I think you'd be hearing a lot less about the cringy lyrics if it was packed with tunes that were up to the standard of Blank Space, Don't Blame Me or Bad Blood."
"I'm less inclined to see the commercial victory of this album as any kind of profound success. Swift has been bigger than everyone else for years now, and I don't think any achievement of hers will ever seem as big as the Eras tour, which was the kind of monocultural event a lot of people thought couldn't exist any more. If there's overall success here, beyond a couple of individual songs, it's in brand maintenance."
The Life of a Showgirl achieved record-breaking commercial results, breaking prior records and ranking second in US single-week sales only to Adele; its cinematic release grossed $34m domestically and $13m internationally. The album holds a 70% Metacritic approval rating, making it the second-lowest reviewed entry in the catalogue after a 20-year-old debut. Key strengths include dominant sales and effective brand maintenance, renewed late-night and radio presence, and a return to a peppy, high-wattage aesthetic. Main failures include a perceived lack of memorable melodies, uneven and cringy lyrical lines, a sense of regression, and weakened internal quality control.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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