2 hours ago, Jade said:

Also, despite the front man himself on the record and a song called 'the cure', it was actually 'maggots for brains' that sounded most inspired by the band sonically for me, that production is right up my street.

maggots for brains and u+me =<3 defo sound inspired by the band.

edit... and expectations

Edited June 12Jun 12 by ElectroBoy

I've never been an Olivia Rodrigo fan, in fact i think i've only liked 1 of her singles....

But listening to the album and its great!

Conan Gray is a background vocalist on ‘honeybee’! ❤️

How do we think this album will do? Easy number one but do we think it can match GUTS’ first week numbers? (60k I believe) or will she fall victim to a sales drop?

expectations is a bop too

I would think she would exceed Guts numbers

Its alright on first listen, I still prefer Sour/Guts

My standouts are you plus me equals love and expectations (I would of gone with that as an early single personally)

1st Day Ranking:

1. Stupid Song 10/10 automatic fave

2. Drop Dead 10/10

3. Honeybee 10/10

4. My Way 10/10

5. Maggots For Brains 10/10

6. Expectations 10/10

7. Cigarette Smoke 10/10

8. The Cure 9.5/10

9. Begged 9/10

10. Purple 9/10

11. Less 8.5/10

12. u+me=<3 8/10

13. What's Wrong With Me? 6/10 yeah this one is my skip, just can't stand Robert's voice.

Total: 9/10

So there’s this SOTY called maggots for brains

Loving this. I could do without one or two of the ballads but it’s a really strong album and immediately my favourite of hers. Love the production throughout and the new wave influence on so many of the tracks ❤️

This will be my Saturday long walk album listen I think! I actually have enjoyed both her albums so far but SOUR is the one I’ve revisited most as a whole album.

The comments re this album have me quite intrigued though for those who’ve listened is it a change in direction as a whole album listen?

I think she’s easily looking at more success here though. She’s had crazy longevity with albums 1 and 2 here (her top 40 weeks on the UK albums chart is genuinely insane for someone still so early in their career!)

Holy shit this album is so good on first listen - Maggots For Brains and Expectations are absolute smashes!! The Cure is actually one of my least favourites on the album along with a couple of the ballads which don't do as much for me as the Sour ballads did. But this album in general probably had as much as much punch on first listen as Sour did for me, certainly better than Guts which was good but not as powerful.

The album streams are up over 2mil from the previous two albums on UK Spotify!

Edited June 13Jun 13 by Henessy Lake

I quite enjoyed this! I’ve not really liked either of the other albums (some tracks are fine but I wouldn’t listen to the whole albums) but this felt like a huge step up to me. It’s pretty varied and I appreciated the switch up in production on some of the tracks, think I’ll go back to this a fair bit over the Summer

I enjoyed on first listen. Didn’t really see a huge difference between her first two albums and this but I do think she does her sound pretty well and I’ve always liked her voice. Was interesting seeing a featured artist on one of her solo albums and for me it actually worked. I’ll listen again and share my highlights etc but on first listen it was nice enough. I have a feeling people will listen to Olivia and feel a way people my age (I feel old saying this and im still young) but I feel like she’s perhaps what Avril Lavigne was to people born in the mid 90s who captured that angst, sadness and coming of age feeling what I feel she does very well.

Another brilliant album. I prefer the more upbeat tracks on early listens but as a whole package it is definitely super strong. My early favourite is u + me = <3 - that chorus is everything

Also, I've always liked drop dead, but giving it even more time with this album and it is shooting up in my affections even more.

Hopefully the era doesn't die with the release of the album and we get more singles in the future, there are a fair few potentials to choose from!

expectations is the campest thing she’s ever done so I hope that gets a moment it’s pretty Chappel esque (I mean this in a good way)!

I’ve listened to nothing but this over the weekend! Such a solid album! She is such a great musician. What’s wrong with me is like she went inside my brain, really loving that one. And stupid song is such a pop moment! Maggots for brains is great too! Very solid album

This entire album is an absolute moment. I’m so impressed with the entire thing, and it’s rare for artists outside of Lady Gaga to do this to me. Easily AOTY for me.

I’m actually finding myself returning to this and wanting to hear it more and more! There’s quite a lot to unpack upon this as a whole album and I actually feel like on repeated listens it is actually a transition away from the sound of her first two albums!

I suspect this could get her another GRAMMY win. I don’t know if it’s to do with her influences etc but I actually feel like this has quite a British feel to it in certain tracks id think it was by a British female (thinking back she is quite British esque lyrically to me) not a critique more an observation I’ve found but perhaps shows why she resonates very well over here she’s really huge here!

Edited June 16Jun 16 by Jordanlee1402

On 12/06/2026 at 23:25, Cremey said:

So there’s this SOTY called maggots for brains

I think maggots for brains might have the best pop hook of the year honestly, both the chorus and bridge are so infectious

What can I doooo but think of youuuu