Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ Album Impresses Critics, Divides Fans: ‘Bangers for Adults,’ ‘Dull Razzle-Dazzle’

Show business is never boring — especially for someone as prolific and famous as Swift who just released her 12th studio album

"The Life of a Showgirl" (Credit: Taylor Swift/Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott)
"The Life of a Showgirl" (Credit: Taylor Swift/Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott)

Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” Thursday night, and the reactions from both fans and critics have ranged from rapturous praise to muted disappointment.

The album, which Swift co-produced with former “1989” and “Reputation” collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, is a 12-track return to loud and upbeat pop music for the Eras Tour singer-songwriter. Before it was even released, it had already become the most pre-saved album in Spotify’s history.

Notably, when Swift announced the album’s release in August, her fiancé Travis Kelce promised that the album would be full of “bangers.” While some seem to agree with the Kansas City Chiefs star, others don’t.

In its official review of the album, Rolling Stone gave “The Life of a Showgirl” five stars and wrote, “With her twelfth studio album, the musician shoots into a fresh echelon of superstardom — and hits all her marks.” NPR echoed that positivity, writing that “The Life of a Showgirl” reasserts Swift’s “ability to make irresistibly singable, danceable hits while sacrificing none of the conceptual chops she’d developed in her folkish, disco-y, Joni Mitchell-esque days.”

The New York Times had similar things to say about “The Life of a Showgirl,” calling it, “a catchy and substantive but unflashy album, it takes the songwriting intimacy of her ‘Folklore’/’Evermore’ era and renders it with more clarity and oomph.” Billboard had praise to heap on the album as well, writing that Swift has delivered “a collection of songs that are immediately engrossing and among the most affecting of Swift’s career, while also focusing on topics like Hamlet and suburban bliss. Call it Bangers for Adults.”

The Guardian‘s two-star review, however, called the album “dull razzle-dazzle from a star who seems frazzled” and remarked that it boasts a “distinct lack of undeniable hooks and nailed-on melodies.” The London Evening Standard gave it a low one-star rating as well and asked, “Is this really the same artist that gave us ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’?” Echoing those sentiments, The Financial Times wrote in its two-star review that “the promised bangers fail to materialize.”

Business Insider, meanwhile, split the difference, writing that “The Life of a Showgirl” has some of Swift’s “best songs in years — and some of her cringiest.”

The critical reception to “The Life of a Showgirl” has, in other words, been mostly positive, save for a few negative write-ups. The fan discussion online has predictably been more impassioned and divided. While some fans were quick to applaud the album, others torched it as “unoriginal” and “boring.”

You can check out some social media reactions to the album yourself below.

George Michael (L) and Taylor Swift (R) (Credit: Michael Putland/Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
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Alex Welch

Alex is an Audience Writer at TheWrap, based in Los Angeles. He has been covering the entertainment industry since 2013. Before joining TheWrap in 2025, he worked as a critic and reporter for A.frame, Digital Trends, Inverse, IGN, Looper, and multiple other outlets. A lifelong cinephile, he dreams of one day being invited to the…

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