Taylor Swift - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
Three years ago, a 13-year old Taylor Swift set out to be a star and moved from Reading, Pennsylvania, to Nashville. By 14, she had a publishing deal, and by 15, a recording contract. In these days of Bianca Ryan (and before her, Tanya Tucker and LeAnn Rimes), many are called, but few are chosen. Swift, it appears, is one of the chosen ones. Her vocal talent is modest, though sweetly affecting, her style seemingly influenced by the radio hits of early Sheryl Crow and Michelle Branch, and perhaps Cyndi Thomson. And at times, her youthfulness shows--she encoded messages in the lyrics of her CD booklet, starting with the name of the boy who cheated on her from "Should've Said No" (the album's strongest offering). But in writing or co-writing all 11 songs on this debut, Swift demonstrates remarkable maturity, particularly in crafting a hooky, radio-ready chorus. Though she sounds ridiculous looking back from the perspective of an 87-year old woman on "Mary's Song," to her credit she mostly writes about what she knows--unrequited high-school crushes ("Teardrops on My Guitar"), teenage angst ("Tied Together with a Smile"), and complete immersion in starry-eyed romance (her breakout hit "Tim McGraw"). Swift has such wistful charm and tunefulness that only a curmudgeon could dismiss her, and in fact, more than 60,000 fans lined up to grab this CD the first month of release. No wonder Rascal Flatts and George Strait added her to their tours. Look out, Carrie Underwood--there's a new kid in town. --Alanna Nash

Album Description
Taylor Swift has been enhanced by the addition of 3 brand new tracks ("I'm Only Me When I'm With You", "Invisible", "A Perfectly Good Heart") and a pop version of the hit single "Teardrops On My Guitar"

Customer Reviews: Read 147 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

I unexpectedly LOVE IT!!! August 31, 2007
28 out of 34 found this review helpful

WOW what a talent Taylor Swift is! Ironically, the things that the other reviewers here consider "faults" are the things that make me love this CD. I LOVE that this CD isn't overprocessed with so many studio tricks that make you wonder how much raw talent the person actually has. I LOVE the fact that Taylor wrote/co-wrote ALL of the songs. I LOVE the fact that Taylor isn't yet another "woo-hoo I won ... (insert American Idol, Nashville Star, America's Got Talent, etc etc here)". She did it the old-fashioned way, by pounding the pavement of Music Row and singing at country fairs. I LOVE the fact that she is so humble and sweet-natured. If you don't fall in love with her from her lyrics, just read the liner notes! I just plain LOVE this CD!

4 out of 5 stars

A special debut October 24, 2006
24 out of 29 found this review helpful

You can tell that Taylor Swift cares about the integrity of the music, and not just making money with the Nashville machine. Her voice has a wistfulness that reminds me of Deana Carter (though not with as much range on the higher notes yet,) and the arrangements avoid overproduction. Lyrically, "Tim McGraw" isn't even one of the better songs. This is a thoroughly charming debut - with youthful fun combined with a sophistication not expected.

5 out of 5 stars

A strong debut album November 2, 2006
23 out of 25 found this review helpful

If I had to describe Taylor Swift's self-titled debut, I would say it sounds a lot like a cross between Lila McCann and Leann Rimes. She has a very powerful voice, and exhibits a lot of range in her songs. Most of the songs on the album are very lighthearted and deal with typical high school issues - boys, falling in love, bad relationships, etc. Even though the themes are simple, the songs (all of which Taylor wrote or co-wrote) have some impressive lyrics and musical arrangement, which really gives her the ability to show off her voice. I bought the CD for "Tim McGraw," but as others have said, it is a mediocre song when compared to the rest of the album and I found myself moving it to the back of my play list to make room for new favorites such as "Picture to Burn," "May's Song," and "Our Song." Despite what you might expect from the song titles, most of the album is fast-paced and filled with catchy tunes, but still makes room for two or three "slower" songs like "Tim McGraw" and "Teardrops on my Guitar."

The album also comes with some disappointing "bonus media" in the form of the "Tim McGraw" video and Taylor's first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry singing the same song. The clips are quicktime and small resolution, and the Opry video doesn't even show her actual performance, but a few minutes of her arriving to the theater and getting ready. For anyone who's a fan of younger country female talent, I'd definitely recommend picking up "Taylor Swift."

3 out of 5 stars

I don't think I was the intended target audience September 23, 2007
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

I find Taylor has a lovely voice and I like the acoustic stuff on her album a lot. I just think being a 40 something male, I may not have been the intended audience. Every song is some kind of boy/girl story as if the songs were written from pages of her diary. This being her first album and having at least two singles, she should be proud. But I felt the album could have been stronger overall. Maybe whoever packaged her was searching with this album, maybe there was pressure on her to sound like every other Pop Country dribble coming from Nashville these days. If they want Taylor to succeed give her the acoustic guitar and let her sing, take note from the songs that became singles. This girl has talent don't bury it under a bunch of cliche Nashville assembly line canned production template.

1 out of 5 stars

Not very good February 7, 2007
12 out of 51 found this review helpful

The best song on this album is "Tim Mcgraw", and even that doesn't sound very good. Taylor sounds & looks like any other girl. There isn't anything special about her that makes her stand out from the rest of the crowd. She can't sing well, the music is mediocre, the tunes become headache makers after a while, and this album just isn't worth buying (to me anyway). What I don't understand is why did Taylor get the big break into the country music industry when thousands of other Talented & prettier girls (who are much more deserving) begging for the position were turned down. My guess, is that Taylor or her parents must have known somebody in the country music industry and that's probably how she got her big break. That's not fair! She doesn't deserve it!

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