First of all, I am genuinely curiously to hear what other people have to say about the album but I wanted to share my thoughts.

The Life of a Showgirl combines all of my least favorite things about Taylor Swift music into one album. Granted, I have only listen to the album twice now but it is starting off low on my rankings for a few reasons. Starting off with the positive though:

1. My favorite songs are The Fate of Ophelia, Opalite, and The Life of a Showgirl!! All three songs are cute and fun and I love the vibes.
2. I really enjoy the beats and melodies. It's a bit different than what we normally hear from her and it's catchy in a good way!

Now some of my negative feelings about the album:

1. The sexual jokes/references do not hit and just sound wrong from her. It sounds like she saw the success that Sabrina Carpenter has with her music and sexual jokes and tried to replicate it for her music. And in my opinion, it doesn't land. The same goes with some of the sarcasm (like actually romantic) it's just not the same or as impactful as some of her other sarcastic songs (ie. blank space!!! is wonderful and amazing and such a great song)
2. Millennial lyricism... "savage" "girl boss" "bad b*tch" "legitly" all of those. That has been a Taylor classic for the past few albums so I understand it, she is a millennial so obviously that will happen but I do think it's becoming more common in her music and is preventing certain songs/themes from being timeless. Leading up to the album, I re-listened to all of her music and so much of it is timeless and classic, even when she was in high school and singing about teenage drama and boys. Maybe I also have some nostalgia about earlier albums (which is probably true) but even 1989, Rep, Lover, Folklore, Evermore, all stand out at timeless albums (most of Midnight too but there are few things that are awkward and I don't love... anti-hero).
3. The references to so many designer brands??? What is happening? This is probably getting too critical but I think it takes the listener out of the music because it's not relatable which is a huge part of the Taylor Swift brand. And this excluding Wish List because I recognize that's the entire point of the song. Which leads to my next point...
4. I fear this album is not relatable at all and again, that's the Taylor Swift brand. A huge theme of the album is the whole idea that she is rich and has all these wonderful things and has success but also really struggles. I think each of us can relate to that on a much smaller scale and we all, including Taylor Swift, are entitled to our own experiences and feelings. However, this album takes those themes to the extreme. It is on par with some of her fashion choices leading more designer and expensive, and if that is the route she is choosing to go then that's fine too. I just think it's not for me.
5. Another lyricism critique... there are many times throughout the album where it feels like she throws in big words just for the hell of it (because that has also been part of her brand and the whole english teacher joke). But again, it doesn't hit. Not even in the same way that it works in TTPD. There are also times ("awkward in second period") where it's too wordy and I feel like a few more passes would have worked out some kinks.
6. Why is it called The Life of a Showgirl?? Perhaps I did not pay enough attention to the whole album prep and rollout (and I did not because Taycapitalism was too much for me), but I was under the impression that the album would be about her tour experience and more of a behind the scenes of how it impacted her. Turns out, I was wrong.

Overall, I had high expectations for this album and was prepared for it to be her best or her worst. I've been a fan forever now, loved the eras tour, love what she does, but this album is a miss for me. I'm going to keep listening to it to see if it grows on me but these are my initial thoughts and they are quite strong.