Love is embarrassing, but not when it’s for Olivia Rodrigo’s sophomore album, “GUTS,” released on Sep. 8th. Following her debut album, “SOUR,” “GUTS” balances songs from the rock and ballad genres. It is highly ranked among critics, as deserved.
“GUTS” as an album blew me away from my first listen. I cannot describe the amount of mixed emotions of happiness and sadness I felt during the re-listens while writing this review. Rodrigo really shows her lyrical genius in this album which I adore.
“GUTS” was such a hard album to review because of how much range Rodrigo showed with her sad emotions in her dance-worthy, concert screaming songs. The amount of pressure in critiquing perfect songs really led me to being truthful about each song and how they impacted my emotional responses.
“ballad of a homeschooled girl” – This song is a masterpiece. The amount of emotions like hatred, insecurity and sadness in a rock song make the song come alive and it feeds the listener. My favorite line in the song is “I made it weird, I made it worse.” The way Rodrigo incorporates the feeling of regret and awkwardness in that line, makes the song something I want to hear live.
“pretty isn’t pretty” – “pretty isn’t pretty” has such a deep meaning, I love how it dives into insecurities and how they can be perceived by the audience based on how they feel about themselves. Rodrigo takes this ballad and plays with emotions. The lyric “You fix thе things you hated, and you’d still feel so insecure,” is just so heart-wrenching and I think the lyric just describes the song and what Rodrigo feels about herself.
“love is embarrassing” – The way “love is embarrassing” explains hiding your feelings for someone and being embarrassed by those feelings really makes me enjoy the song as a whole. The way the drums in the beginning nearly replicate a beating heart makes the instrumentals so much deeper. Rodrigo really sets the painful emotions up in the song and makes it work as something to dance to in general.
“all-american b****” – The song is an awesome opener Rodrigo sets the stakes high by screaming for the bridge and that originality sets up Rodrigo’s gut feelings and how they are represented by her.
“get him back!” – I really loved “get him back!” and how well it does explaining the sadness of breaking up with someone you thought you loved, regretting the moments you had together and wanting revenge because of how they treated you. My favorite lyric from the song is “Do I love him? Do I hate him? I guess it’s up and down, if I had to choose, I would say it right now.” The line is a demonstration of confusion in which Rodrigo contemplates if she and the muse actually had a thing and I adore how she gives the song personality.
“vampire” – I love this song, it’s the lead single, the award winner of the album and Rodrigo did an amazing job composing the song and writing the lyrics. My favorite lyric is “I tried to help you out, now I know that I can’t ’cause how you think’s the kind of thing I’ll never understand.” I also admire how she puts her feelings of regret and how she felt manipulated in the song.
“lacy” – The final song on this list “lacy” is such a great song. It was done dirty by most of the online community and I loathe the backlash this song receives because it’s super underrated. The song is beautiful; everything from the vocals to the instrumentals make the song feel angelic in a way, and I’d definitely include the song in my study playlist. I really loved how the song explains jealousy and how it can alter how someone thinks when they are insecure about themselves.
This album is such a masterpiece and I think anyone can enjoy it if they give it a try. There are so many emotions like sadness and regret that anyone can relate to. Rodrigo did an amazing job creating a theme for the album and sticking to that idea and I cannot wait for what’s next from her.