Students spill their GUTS, react to Olivia Rodrigo

Review by MariellaVirgillito & MayaZier This is a “bad idea right?” Olivia Rodrigo released her new album on Sept. 8 and stunned the music industry when she dropped her sophomore record, GUTS. The 12 track album runs 39 minutes long, but two of the twelve songs were released prior to the official album drop. These…

mariandigitalnetwork

October 6, 2023

2–3 minutes

Abby Else, guts, music, music review, new album, october, Olivia, Olivia rodrigo, review, Rodrigo, sour, Tala Alkhaleel, Zella Dowling

Review by MariellaVirgillito & MayaZier

This is a “bad idea right?” Olivia Rodrigo released her new album on Sept. 8 and stunned the music industry when she dropped her sophomore record, GUTS. The 12 track album runs 39 minutes long, but two of the twelve songs were released prior to the official album drop.

“I started crying when it came out,” Zella Dowling ’26 said.

These singles, “vampire” and “bad idea right?” made Rodrigo the youngest musician to debut three No. 1 hits in Hot 100 History.

GUTS opens with track one “all american b****,” a soft winded rhythm that quickly transitions to a punky rock bop. The two minute and 46 second song portrays the emotion and discomfort that comes with the artist trying to fit into perfect American norms for women.

“I’ve always struggled with wanting to be this perfect American girl and the reality of not feeling like that all the time,” said Rodrigo in an interview with The Guardian. During this interview, Rodrigo mentioned that this track is one of her “favorite songs [she’s] ever written.”

“I was just so speechless,” Tala Alkhaleel ’27 said.

The album continues to make references to Olivia’s struggle with finding her place in the spotlight.

Her closing track, “teenage dream,” sheds light on the pressures she felt from the music industry and her fans to make a sophomore album as successful as her debut, SOUR.

Fans react to her new album with great reviews, while critics have some things to say.

Some critics believe that her new album sounds way too similar to her debut album, SOUR. Some say this album disappointed them and believed it didn’t live up to SOUR’s reputation.

“I like how she combined pop and rock,” Abby Else ’27 said.

Critics also point out that her lyrics are juvenile and when compared to SOUR, her lyrics are disappointing.

Others say they were expecting this album to be different from her first, so they were let down when they heard similar songs. Lastly, one critique we hear most often is that she is ripping off Taylor Swift and other major artists. This could be due to their similar lyrics, melodies, or themes within songs.

This three time Grammy Award winner, seven time Billboard Music Award winner and four time MTV Video Music Award winner, has announced a world tour.

Rodrigo will be making many stops along the way, including to our very own Omaha, Nebraska.

Will you be buying tickets?