A re-review of Olivia Rodrigo's "Guts"

Hi again! Wow, I really haven't been good at blogging for a long time. Let's hope this time I stay around. I promise I'll review the countdowns I missed. Anyway, today I wanted to "re-review" Guts, because my opinions changed a lot since I last reviewed Guts. Last time I gave it a just decent 72%, with four songs getting below decent ratings, but my opinions have changed A LOT since then. Most of the songs grew on me significantly, and very few were faders. So, here's my brand new opinion:

1. All American B***h

My new rating: 4/5 Good

Yeah, my opinion on this one hasn't changed too much. The lyrics are pretty good, and I like how the verses have just an acoustic guitar and it absolutely explodes in the chorus. My main problem with this song is still the same: the screaming in the bridge was completely unnecessary and starts to sound awkward after a while. I'd also like to point out that this is, at least to my knowledge, Olivia's most lyrically explicit song, containing a swear word in the title itself, and six in the lyrics themselves (seven if you count that one original line that got removed). I have no problem with that, just pointing it out.

2. Bad Idea Right

My new rating: 3/5 Decent

This re-grew on me. Sure, the vocal effects were a bit much, it could go without the screaming, and the production could evolve more. But this song has a lot of redeeming qualities: I like the punk-rock sound she's going for even though it doesn't really change much throughout the song, the lyrics are funny, and when she's actually singing and not just scream-talking she sounds really good as always. Still my "least" favorite Olivia song tho.

3. Vampire

My new rating: 6/5 Fantastically Amazing

Yeah I guess this faded a bit, as last time it got a 10/5, which I didn't even know was legal at that time. I mean, part of it was heavy airplay on hits 1. But in a second you'll see the real reason why this is "just" a 6 now and not the elusive 10 rating. My opinion on this stays mostly the same: it perfectly executes evolution, starting as a piano ballad and slowly transforming into an angry punk-rock song. This really should have hit #1 on hits 1 at some point, if not for 15 weeks.

4. Lacy

My new rating: 5/5 Great

What was once nothing more than a 4/5 eventually became one of my favorites. Last time I said my main problem with this song was that it didn't evolve too much. Well, actually, it has just enough evolution. There's not as much here as in Vampire, but the lyrics make up for that. The lyrics have a mysterious quality that has the whole world trying to come up with what it's about. I personally think it's about Sabrina Carptenter, and if you look at the lyric video, there is some evidence to support that - in most of the lyric videos you can see four rings with letters on them that spell out "Guts", but in the Lacy video the "S" is missing, and additionally some of the S's in the lyrics look more bolded than the other letters. So yeah, super interesting one.

5. Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl

My new rating: 5/5 Great

Wow, this song went from mediocre to great in just the seven months since this album was released. Funnily enough, this was only my third-biggest grower on the album. When I reviewed this one, I didn't go very far into it, and had only listened to it a few times. But everytime I listened to it, I started to appreciate it more. Even as a non-homeschooled person, I still relate to the lyrics about social issues. I particularly love the second verse, the lyrics there are incredibly well-done: "I laughed at the wrong time, sat with the wrong guy / Searching "How to start a conversation" on a website / I talked to this hot guy, swore I was his type / Guess he was making out with the boys the whole night". A song about being homeschooled that can connect with basically anyone else deserves a 5/5.

6. Making the Bed

My new rating: 5/5 Great

This one actually faded on me a slight bit, but not enough to get moved down a tier. The production is on point, being a slow ballad but not to the point where it's boring. The lyrics are wonderfully written, and once again Olivia claims this song was the hardest one to write. Even the predictable cliche "head"/"bed" rhyme kinda works here. Anyway, pretty short review. That's really all I have to say about this one.

7. Logical

My new rating: 5/5 Great

My opinion on this one is mostly the same as last time. The star of this song is the lyrics, which are conceptually very interesting, with a sad message but ironic lyrics. It's basically saying that love made her question simple things in life, with lines like "2 + 2 = 5" and "the sky is green, the grass is red". I also quite enjoyed the bridge, where the production gets quiet and ominous, and Olivia sings loudly over it. Sometimes, screaming in a song can sound good, and in this case it's done in a similar way to Amelia Moore's "I Feel Everything" and it works perfectly.

8. Get Him Back

My new rating: 5/5 Great

("WHAT?!" they all said) Yep, this song was a massive grower, originally being rated a 0/5 and almost being called "even worse than Bad Idea Right", but now that I've heard it many times, I've decided it's actually kinda... great. First of all, there's the production. It has more evolution than BIR, the lyrics are hilarious (my personal favorite is "when he said something wrong, he'd just fly me to France") and the vocal effects don't get in the way as much as I thought.

9. Love Is Embarrasing

My new rating: 4/5 Good

This one was very close to being "great" again, but I decided to rate it as "good" for a few reasons: the production sounds pretty good, but it is very similar to Good 4 U, and I think Good 4 U does it slightly better. The lyrics are alright, as they are about feeling embarrassed about a confusing relationship, but they have some cliche themes and the writing could have been improved, even though it's already clever and funny. There's one thing in particular that made me move it up a tier since my last review of it: I know last time I complained about the squeaky talk-singing in the bridge, but actually, this odd style of singing is a perfect representation of the silliness of her own actions in this relationship. So yeah, this grew on me but not quite as much as I had hoped.

10. The Grudge

My new rating: 5/5 Great

This song was the second-biggest grower on the album. Last time I said it was mediocre because it sounded just like Drivers License but more boring. Well, it seems like the extreme musical similarities to Drivers License were intentional. Some people think this is another song about Joshua Bassett, and the Drivers License similarities would make sense if that was the case because they are reflecting on the same events. Others think this is about Taylor Swift, and I guess it would make sense to make a song about the challenges of fame & a feud with another celebrity sound like her first hit song. Honestly, after listening to all the lyrics, I think the songwriting here might be even better than Drivers License. Great song.

11. Pretty isn't Pretty

My new rating: 4/5 Good

This one also grew on me, but it's pretty forgettable and not something I'll be listening to a lot. The main thing I like about this are the lyrics about being seen as "pretty" but still wanting to change something about her appearance, and taking so-called perfection to the extreme. I think this is an interesting lyrical theme. The production's alright but nothing too special, and Olivia sounds good as usual. That's about it.

12. Teenage Dream

My new rating: 10/5 Easily the Best Song of the 2020s, Second Best Song of the 2000s

Yeah I just decided I like this better than Vampire. This is my second favorite song of the entire 2000s so far, after Brandi Carlile's "The Joke". So what makes this better than Vampire? Well, the lyrics are simple but sweet, and I highly relate to them. Not only that, but they also speak to me. In fact, they made me legitimately feel bad about some of the things I've said about Olivia's music. "I fear that they already got all the best parts of me" - wow. "It gets better but what if I don't?" - goosebumps. This song just connects with me on an insane level. And the production perfectly matches up to it, with a piano line reminiscent of Vampire but with a unique progression, and plenty of evolution. And that outro is the most perfect album ending I've ever heard. It ends with a baby laughing, and like I said last time, I couldn't think of a better way to end a song and an album about growing up than with the innocent sounds of a baby. You can also hear Olivia and the producers talking at the end, and even though it's hardly noticeable, I did hear the "fart" comment at the end. I will be so excited if Olivia's third album is actually called "Fart", not because it's a good album title or anything, but it's evidence that this song didn't get completely abandoned after being the worst performing song from Guts on the Billboard Hot 100. I hope this song blows up at some point, even if it's in thirty years or something.

Conclusion

Overall album rating: 100% (Perfect Album)

Wow, I know in my last post I expected this album to get an 87% with my new opinion, but it looks like that changed even more since then. Even though this album does have some weaker songs, the fantastic Vampire & Teenage Dream made up for that literally perfectly, earning Guts a 100% despite some songs being just "good" or "decent". I now think this album is better than Sour, and I'll probably share my review of Sour soon enough.

Favorite song: Teenage Dream

"Least" favorite song: Bad Idea Right

That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!