• AllMyVinyl #162
• Band: Taylor Swift
• Album Title: The Life of a Showgirl
• Release Date: 3 Oct 2025
• Date purchased: 2 Oct 2025
• Location purchased: Amazon
• Color of vinyl: orange glitter
• Number of discs: 1
• Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | Band Website | Complete album on Youtube ]

Uh, why the fuck do I have this?   No really – why.  I’ve run a Black Sabbath fan website for THIRTY ONE years now.  This is NOT something I should have.

Truth is I know the real reason I have it.  I even debated just not putting this on my vinyl series, because I know I’m gonna take shit for even having it – much less writing about it.  But it’s here, I’ll say a few words.  This will definitely a be a more truncated post than these album reviews usually are.

The main reason is the whole reason I got this was to mess with my nephew.  My nephew is actually IN to Taylor Swift.  Now he’s not totally lost, he’s into Led Zeppelin as well.  So there’s still hope.  But when this came out, I thought I’d mess with him and go “Look what the hell your uncle has”.  So I did.

There was a minute part of me that went “Well, what the hell is the big deal here?  Why is she so popular”?  There is one – and I mean ONE Taylor Swift song that I can say I liked prior to acquiring this album.  That’s “Shake it Off” from her “1989” album.  Beyond that, I can tell you squat about her.  Except we don’t need to keep showing her during Chiefs games.

The only other story I have to tell here was how I told my wife and daughter I had this.  When I got it, I hid it from them, and thought I’d save it for a right moment.  We were having a fun discussion one afternoon after I got this and the subject of musical choices was broached.  The moment felt right for a “drop a bomb in the middle of this for comedic effect” type thing.  So I walked away, while they were still talking, came back and said “Oh really? What about this?”  Showed them the Taylor Swift album.  Both of them stood there dumbfounded.  My daughter was open mouth speechless.  I don’t recall the exact words, but it was a double take of “Why the fuck do you have that?”

So basically while I got this album to mess with people (my nephew, my wife and daughter), one thing remains.  Is there anything actually listenable on this album?  Did I just drop some cash on a joke that is really only amusing to myself?

Yeah, we’re not going deep dive into these songs like I have from time to time on these reviews.

The Fate of Ophelia – The big lead single.  For the lead single, you’d think it would be a better song.  Seems stuck in the same techno beat the entire time.  Has a mildly catchy chorus, but that’s about it.

Elizabeth Taylor – The last time a musician I knew did a song with someone’s name as the song title, they did it better.  Deep Purple’s “Vincent Price” is a far superior song. This is very forgettable.

Opalite – A bit more upbeat than the two to this part.  I quite like the chorus of this one.

Father Figure – ZZZzzzzzz

Eldest Daughter – Another excessively slow song like last one, but has a choral structure that reminds me of Opalite, but it’s too slow for my taste – never goes anywhere.

Ruin the Friendship – The opening bass beat sounds like something straight from the 70’s – perhaps the theme song to Welcome Back Kotter?  This wasn’t too awful.

Actually Romantic – Sounds like a Beatles song done in slow motion.  Pass.

Wi$h Li$t – That usage of dollar signs seems like something Ke$ha would do.  Neither is good.

Wood – This has a disco beat to it – another song that throws back to another style of music.  Not bad, but not really something I’d go back to.

CANCELLED! – Nothing interesting here.

Honey – A slower piece with some piano action to it.  Tolerable.

The Life of a Showgirl – I thought this might have been more interesting as it had Sabrina Carpenter on it, but no.  Same “doesn’t go anywhere musically” stuff.

This album has the same problem that most music of this genre do.  They have the same beat running through most of the songs, and there’s little to differentiate the individual tracks from each other.

So basically, this album purchase turned out to be a bit of a goof.  I mean I knew that when I ordered it, but this one microscopic part of me wondered if there was anything at all I’d like on here given I actually do like one of her songs.

Turns out my original thought was the correct one.  Nope – it’s a goof purchase.  And yes – I really did listen to the entire album for this post.  I did listen to it in the first few days I got it, but not since.  So today’s listen could conceivably be the last time I ever listen to the album in full.  :)

However, this woman makes more money in 30 minutes than I probably do in a couple of years, so what the hell do I know?