When a new Taylor Swift album is coming out, should anybody else bother releasing their own? Of course they should — just ask Elton John, Sparks, Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, Colby Acuff, Akron’s Joseph Arthur and Matisyahu, who all have titles coming this week

Album of the Week — Taylor Swift, “The Life of a Showgirl” (Republic): Clear the way for what’s likely to be the sales and streaming behemoth of the year. (It’s the first album ever to pass 5 million pre-saves on Spotify.) Say what you will about her, you’d be hard-pressed to find another artist who’s released as much music in the first half of a decade — five albums of new music and four “Taylor’s Version” re-recordings of older titles and a couple of live sets. Her 12th studio album overall veers away from the more reflective, s

See Full Page