Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS

[munx 🐒🎯]

This era just seemed messy to me (edit: or it lost momentum, maybe I’m wrong, but it just felt like it lost steam and was lingering/just there for a while). Honestly, I didn’t even remember the singles that followed Vampire, I had to look it up, while I know exactly what the singles were for Sour. Bad Idea Right? wasn’t a good ‘second’ single choice imo. Get Him Back, is more like it.

I’d have released ‘love is embarassing’ or ‘pretty isn’t pretty’ to mix it up. ‘Get Him Back’ also felt really childish and almost like a downgrade from her previous singles. But, that’s just me.

Edit: just gave the album a spin again, and I think I enjoy ‘Guts’ overall more than I do ‘Sour,’ but I preferred the singles from the latter much more.

[bat1990]

"Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl" is my favorite and the song I go back to the most, but I cannot fathom pop radio playing a song where the hook is "SOCIAL SUICIDE" belted from the rooftops.

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Just realized I LOVE her every single so far:

drivers license 10/10
deja vu 9.5/10
good 4 u 10/10
traitor 9/10
brutal? 8/10
vampire 9/10
bad idea right 10/10
get him back 9/10
can't catch me now 8.5/10
obsessed 8/10

also, she really knows how to make a bridge.

[Choco]

For me SOUR was skipless. GUTS doesn't have outright stinkers but it felt like the same old we already had. They just fumbled the singles game a lot after vampire. I'm excited to see what she does next but hopefully it's a pivot to something fresh.

[pnobelysk]

As of right now her career path reminds me of Avril which isn’t a terrible path to be on. Physically she’s only sells Less than Taylor’, Harry, and Adele. 4th place is pretty remarkable

[George]

Her Crumbl cookie is back this week!

[Ivy Leegue™]

Aug 22, 2024 14:07:26 GMT -5 bat1990 said:

"Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl" is my favorite and the song I go back to the most, but I cannot fathom pop radio playing a song where the hook is "SOCIAL SUICIDE" belted from the rooftops.

See, that song is so obnoxious to me especially of that su-i...CIIIIIIDE line ugh. Making The Bed is still my favorite song followed by Vampire and Logical. This album fell victim to being the first (IIRC) vinyl I bought from Amazon that didn't have a digital download attached and, since I'm not a streaming kiddie, I never listened to it really on my phone or computer, which is where I listen to most of my music. I dusted it off recently and it's still a great album.

[👑 Eloquent ™]

I think Guts is a more consistent album overall than Sour; I think on average the songs are better, but the issue is that the highs on Guts aren't quite as high as the highest highs on Sour. Like "Vampire", "Bad Idea Right", and "Get Him Back" are noticeably stepdowns from "Driver's License", "Deja Vu" and "Good For You" and that was the biggest issue this go around. As I said earlier, hopefully that changes with her 3rd album. I have no doubts she can deliver a solid album, she just needs to make sure and have punchier, more commercially-viable singles is all (which I'm betting she will deliver).

[Eqbk]

I do think that there will be the expectation for the next album to be more commercial. It'll be interesting to see how she chooses to meet those expectations.

One of the things she/her team can start with, is to make sure things are a little more clear when it comes to single releases for the next era. The confusing rollout of "bad idea tight?" and "get him back!" definitely hurt both songs. I get the feeling they were trying to pull off another "deja vu"/"good 4 u" situation where they were simultaneously taking off but instead they just created a mess.

[Future Captain]

i feel like the best strategy for OR3 (and with hindsight, how Guts should have been handled) would be for lead single, then album one month after. of course, the single and album needs to be top tier, but i'm confident she have what it takes to pull it off. looking at Billie's success with HMHAS after the messy rollout for Happier Than Ever, i hope Olivia can pull off something similar with her next project

[¤ Matthea ¤]

Aug 24, 2024 0:20:46 GMT -5 Future Captain said:

i feel like the best strategy for OR3 (and with hindsight, how Guts should have been handled) would be for lead single, then album one month after. of course, the single and album needs to be top tier, but i'm confident she have what it takes to pull it off. looking at Billie's success with HMHAS after the messy rollout for Happier Than Ever, i hope Olivia can pull off something similar with her next project

So you think having one single only for the whole era will suffice? These days most artists struggle with singles that are released after the album drop. Album drops, stans and the gp stream it and once it's time for a new single, there is not enough hype anymore and the music video and airplay barely improve the singles's streaming performance. And then everyone acts surprised why the era died so suddenly and prematurely.

[RoseColoredGirl]

Imo part of the issue with the singles was that they were all released within the span of two-ish months ("Vampire" was June 30, "Bad Idea Right?" was released August 11 and then "Get Him Back!" was released with the album on September 8). The latter two could have done a bit better imo if they were spaced out more and given some breathing room as singles. As was mentioned above, it seems like they were trying to replicate the "Deja Vu" / "Good 4 U" rollout, but didn't take a couple of factors into account. "Deja Vu" was released three months after "Drivers License," which I think was a much more appropriate amount of time than the one month between "Vampire" and "Bad Idea Right?". Also, I feel the reason the "Deja Vu" / "Good 4 U" strategy originally worked because the singles had very different sounds, whereas "Bad Idea Right?" and "Get Him Back!" were sonically pretty similar. I feel it would have been a much better strategy to have released one of the singles a couple months later as the third single (or gone with something that sounded much different, like "Pretty Isn't Pretty").

[God]

Justice for LOVE IS EMBARRASSING

Aug 23, 2024 23:56:52 GMT -5 Eqbk said:

"bad idea tight?"

🫦

[¤ Matthea ¤]

Honestly, "love is embarrasing" is the only song from GUTS that is quality-wise on the level of SOUR (the album as a whole). All other songs from GUTS are a huge downgrade.

[Eqbk]

Aug 24, 2024 15:48:53 GMT -5 God said:

Justice for LOVE IS EMBARRASSING

Aug 23, 2024 23:56:52 GMT -5 Eqbk said:

"bad idea tight?"

🫦

That's what I get for not really proofreading, lmao.

[mccloud]

Aug 22, 2024 8:32:41 GMT -5 👑 Eloquent ™ said:

Aug 21, 2024 23:26:27 GMT -5 MissAmericana said:

To be fair, one album has been out for three years and few months, while the other has been out for eleven months. Not the fairest comparison to make.

I mean, it's still a huge drop a year out considering it has no active singles, has concluded, and its daily streams on average have currently fallen 1-2 million below Sour. It's not as if I was being unreasonable with my expectations or even with what I said. While I don't think anyone expected the streaming success of Sour to be duplicated, I don't think most expected such a steep drop either considering just how huge of a streaming force she is. I say the next era is critical because artists typically try like hell to avoid the "sophomore slump" and if they do experience it, era 3 is really what dictates in which direction everything goes from that point forward. Not saying she's over or anything, just being realistic with the circumstances. She just needs to bring her A game next album in terms of commercial appeal. Guts is a solid album IMO, but it didn't quite resonate with audiences in a big way.

Well said. Vampire was the only huge song on this album. There was 3 of those on Sour

[mccloud]

Sour was the #2 album year end 2021. Guys was #52 2023. There will definitely be pressure to have more accessible singles next album

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Aug 25, 2024 18:39:26 GMT -5 mccloud said:

Sour was the #2 album year end 2021. Guys was #52 2023. There will definitely be pressure to have more accessible singles next album

with like 6-7 weeks counting, #52 is pretty solid. 

after 2 months, it was among the 15 best-selling albums of the year, which isn't on SOUR level obv, but still good.

[Anticonformity]

As someone who WAAAY prefers Guts over Sour, what is it that makes it less "accessible"?
Genuinely curious as I feel like it defines her as an artist and is a much better album...

[wavey.]

Commercially, she is doing fine. No sophomore slump, on a world tour, all at 21. It's only up from here. Her fanbase is solid, and they'll support, but the 3rd album material just has to hit again. I don't see her deriving from her signature pop rock sound, but it would be interesting to hear a new sound for OR3.

[mccloud]

Aug 26, 2024 0:15:08 GMT -5 Anticonformity said:

As someone who WAAAY prefers Guts over Sour, what is it that makes it less "accessible"?
Genuinely curious as I feel like it defines her as an artist and is a much better album...

Songs are less commercial and the 2nd and 3rd singles were jarring. Plus honestly, a bit juvenile sounding.

[Anticonformity]

Aug 26, 2024 14:39:30 GMT -5 mccloud said:

Aug 26, 2024 0:15:08 GMT -5 Anticonformity said:

As someone who WAAAY prefers Guts over Sour, what is it that makes it less "accessible"?
Genuinely curious as I feel like it defines her as an artist and is a much better album...

Songs are less commercial and the 2nd and 3rd singles were jarring. Plus honestly, a bit juvenile sounding.

Wow, I completely disagree, but are you saying that's what the GP feels?

[Ling-Ling]

GUTS had a bad rollout, I don't think it's that deep. Bad timing and sloppy singles. That album was just as commercial as her debut and it wasn't some huge drop in quality either. Hopefully they learned their lessons and get the third album launch right.

[mccloud]

Aug 27, 2024 0:11:55 GMT -5 Anticonformity said:

Aug 26, 2024 14:39:30 GMT -5 mccloud said:

Songs are less commercial and the 2nd and 3rd singles were jarring. Plus honestly, a bit juvenile sounding.

Wow, I completely disagree, but are you saying that's what the GP feels?

Get Him Back and Bad Idea Right sound like 2007 Avril Lavigne level of cringey in the chorus's, imo. They just weren't going to touch Drivers License or Good 4 U and frankly sounded like regressions 

[Anticonformity]

Aug 27, 2024 14:32:22 GMT -5 mccloud said:

Aug 27, 2024 0:11:55 GMT -5 Anticonformity said:

Wow, I completely disagree, but are you saying that's what the GP feels?

Get Him Back and Bad Idea Right sound like 2007 Avril Lavigne level of cringey in the chorus's, imo. They just weren't going to touch Drivers License or Good 4 U and frankly sounded like regressions 

Huh, I disagree and oddly enough songs like Teenage Dream and
specifically
the Grudge (

SPOILER: Click to show

{The intro/outro}13 seconds!

) showed she can completely
kick the debut songs to the curb in terms of moving her vision forward...

Get Him Back and Bad Idea Right? took off from where Good 4 U and Brutal left off as well in terms of singles and as much as I love Good 4 U, did the catchiness better, but ofc all this is jmo

[¤ Matthea ¤]

Well, the numbers don't lie.

Numbers from KWORB:

Album Title Streams Daily
SOUR 13,044,143,577 6,968,450
GUTS (spilled) 3,843,089,001 5,694,081
GUTS 3,429,543,945 4,408,371

SOUR has 11 tracks. GUTS has 12 tracks. GUTS (spilled) has 17 tracks. From the numbers above we can see SOUR is already outstreaming GUTs (spilled) on a daily basis. I did not expect GUTS to do better than SOUR because that album was successful beyond belief. But still ... there is no denying this was a big sophomore slump.

The singles from the debut were fantastic. "deja vu" was by favorite song.

The songs were bit juvenile from time to time, but considering the age of tha artist that was to be expected. I don't know what happened, but the singles from the sophomore album were several grades worse. "vampire" was just cringe ... Cringe lyrics, not particularly radio friendly ... "get him back" and "bad idea right?" were supposed to be mimic "good 4 u", but just weren't as catchy and poppy ... They tried to save the era with "obsessed" and unsurprisingly, it didn't work.

Overall, the debut was a great listen from start to finish, sophomore album wasn't. As I wrote above "love is embarrasing" is the one song on par with the debut album and I'm surprised it wasn't released as a single. If nothing less, it would offer the public something different from the other singles released.

[MissAmericana]

If she’s smart, she’ll release new material beforehand to perform at the festival.

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Insane.

[Ryan]

[top40guy]

Olivia and 55k Pinoys singing “Driver’s License”



And “Traitor”:





And for real Livies, of course the best is still the “Happier” / “Favorite Crime” sing-along (“Deja Vu” is also here but unfortunately the sound is out):