Fearless - Dark Publications

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Album Description
2008 sophomore album from the young Country singer/songwriter who charmed the hearts and charts of America beginning with her debut single 'Tim McGraw'. Her triple-platinum self-titled debut release has scanned over 3.4 million units and spent more weeks at #1 than any other Country album this year: 24 weeks! Taylor is the only Country female artist to have five Top 10 singles from a debut album and the only Country female vocalist this decade to reach the Top 5 on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart. Needless to say, she's a sensation that has only just begun to show what she is capable of. 13 tracks including the single 'Love Story' and 'Change', first heard during the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Customer Reviews: Read 79 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

~brilliant songwriter~ November 11, 2008
17 out of 21 found this review helpful

Taylor Swift is one talented teen! She had a hand again in every song on her highly anticipated sophomore CD - this time she wrote 7, and co-wrote 6. The first single, "Love Story" is a good example of how she can combine great lyrics with a catchy beat - and then produce a smash crossover hit. The most remarkable thing about the album is that it is incredibly balanced...and almost every song is so good that it could be released as a radio single. I think it is now safe to say that she is a rising star who will just keep on rising!

Taylor opens the album with the strong title track "Fearless", and ends the album with the powerful theme song of the summer Olympics, "Change". In the middle is a sure huge hit "The Way I Loved You" - a song that she wrote with John Rich. "Fifteen" is her most personal song, a bittersweet gem where she sings about her freshman year and her best friend for the past 5 years, Abigail. "White Horse" (which has already been featured on Grey's Anatomy) is a well written tearjerker - a heartfelt song that is just waiting to become her next blockbuster hit. A good example of her more acoustic side is "Breathe" - a simple song written with Colbie Caillat who also sings background vocals in the song. Taylor's writing seems to have matured and grown in the past 2 years. Take "The Best Day" for example - which is a completely different but awesome song, which is written about her family. She appeals to a wide audience, and executes this so well here on Fearless.

It's incredible how quickly Taylor crossed over and became not only a big country star, but a huge pop star also. It took only her second single - Teardrops On My Guitar - for her to become amazingly popular in mainstream music! Then she continued to release 3 more hits (two of them #1) off her debut album. Talk about a hard act to follow - but I can't see this trend stopping anytime soon with Fearless - this album is a major home run. She isn't the same country artist who sang "Tim Mcgraw", and I understand that some people will not be happy about that. If there are any flaws here, it would be that many of the songs are pop-country hits which are about the same subject - teens. You can't please everyone, but look for her to just become even bigger and more popular, with more #1's and crossover pop smash hits. Taylor's sophomore CD is very well done...filled with excellent, self-penned, radio-friendly top 40 hits! Overall ~ 9/10 ~

3 out of 5 stars

Solid Songwriting, But Maybe Could've Used A Little 'Fear' November 19, 2008
14 out of 23 found this review helpful

"Even country music needs its own Britney Spears." That's what the store clerk who check me out said about the disk when I bought it. I was gonna spout off a quick reply, something like 'thanks but no thanks for your opinion,' but then I thought about it: if Britney represents her values to her fans thru singing and songwriting, then sure Taylor Swift represents her values to her fans in the same way ... so I let the comment pass.

Bursting onto the scene not very long ago (this is only her 2nd album), Taylor has quickly become a voice of empowerment for young women (and those young-at-heart!) everywhere. Her lyrics are real -- based on her own "fearless" living -- and she deserves every ounce of recognition she's receiving in both the country and pop music communities.

Fearless (4 out of 5)
"You take my hand and drag me headfirst fearless." Love, like life, is all about taking chances.

Fifteen (3.5 out of 5)
Reflective, poetic in a mildly melancholy way. "This is life before you know who you're gonna be."

Love Story (4.5 out of 5)
Ah, young love. It always seems so real when you're in it, and it always seems so unreal when you're looking back on it. William Shakespeasre's "Romeo & Juliet" never ended as happily as this confection sounds, but wouldn't the world be a better place if it did? Easily one of the best tunes here.

Hey Stephen (3.5 out of 5)
"I can't help it if you look like an angel." It sounds like someone named Stephen is getting lucky with Taylor, and deservedly so. More celebration of young love, and I gave it an extract .5 just for Taylor's opening and closing humming. Lovely. What gives the song much of its charm is she allows her voice to be a bit more 'raw' and real than anywhere else on the album, which matches the lyrics perfectly. (If my name were Stephen, it'd probably be a perfect 10 song!)

White Horse (5 out of 5)
"I'm not a princess, this ain't no fairy tale ..." Love gone bad and turned into disappointment never sounded quite so sorrowful as it does behind Taylor's youthful voice, tinking piano, soft guitar, and weeping strings. Jilted girls everywhere will be crying into their pillows at bedtime with this song playing in the background. "It's too late for you and your white horse to come around."

You Belong with Me (5 out of 5)
We've all been here before (in the middle of a friendship that coulda/shoulda/woulda been so, so much more), and perhaps that's why Taylor sounds so strong here. She's a lyrical 'everyman,' capturing how we've all felt in the simplest terms. Big refrain. Crank it up.

Breathe (4.5 out of 5)
Sorry, folks, but humming in music is so sexy, and Taylor works it to great effect here. Unexpectantly. Breathy. And, yet, wholesome. "You're the only thing that I know like the back of my hand." Getting past the mistakes made in a relationship pose the greatest challenges, and that's what this tune is all about.

Tell Me Why (2.5 out of 5)
"You could write a book of how to ruin someone's perfect day." Ouch. Getting past some of the mistakes made in a relationship (whoa ... deja vu) pose some challenges not quite worth enduring.

You're Not Sorry (2.5 out of 5)
Wow. Taylor Swift has an awful lot to say about being jilted in a relationship ... and at such a young age, too. I'm starting to feel real bad for this gal. Sad piano turns into a reflection on ending love. Good song, but fairly repetitive to sentiments already explored on the disc. Not the strongest tune here.

The Way I Loved You (5 out of 5)
One of the strongest tracks here b/c, musically, it builds into something that you never expected. A girl finds the perfect man (opens her doors, treats her like a lady, loves her parents, etc.) ... "but I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain, it's 2 am and I'm cursing your name, I'm so in love that I acted insane, and that's the way I loved you." It's tragic when you realize that you love someone else more than the one you're with, and Taylor Swift hits a homerun of a hit here.

Forever & Always (2 out of 5)
Sorry, but this is WAY too repetitive for the same themes already explored on this album. And for Pete's sake, give this girl a hug! Go and kiss her in the rain, already! Heaven knows she needs it at this point!

The Best Day (2.5 out of 5)
A young girl reminiscing about being an even younger girl. Wonderfully poetic lyrics.

Change (4.5 out of 5)
Pop country belted out the Taylor Swift way. Sure, maybe it's a bit predictable, but it's a good kind of predictable. All things change, and the true leaders predict it, welcome it, embrace it, celebrate it. It's about making the world a better place. "It's a revolution, throw your hands up 'cause we never gave in ..."

So what's Taylor so FEARLESS about? Clearly, it's love, and, while anyone can learn a world of lessons by plunging fearlessly into life's greatest mystery, there's a whole other series of lessons waiting for Taylor once the tempering effect that fear has on age. Don't let my 3-star-rating scare you: this is one classy effort and deserves to bought, sold, and celebrated. But what I'm more interested in is Taylor's command of lyrics. I really want to see where this young soul will be in ten year's time. I want to see her develop her skills beyond where she is today, and there's plenty of room (and time) for that to happen ... fearlessly or not.

2 out of 5 stars

Cute girl, but voice needs some work November 20, 2008
14 out of 32 found this review helpful

While I think Taylor has some good songwriting skills and is a cute girl,her voice is seriously lacking. While her voice on the CD sounds ok, I caught her live on a CMT special. I couldn't believe it was the same person! Her voice was off key, scratchy and sounded like she was straining on the higher notes (and again, off key!) Like another reviewer mentioned, she needs some voice lessons. If you're a big fan, stick to the CD. I wouldn't pay a cent to listen to her in concert!

2 out of 5 stars

At first it was cute, but the formula has been exhausted November 12, 2008
12 out of 24 found this review helpful

With the release of her first single, "Tim McGraw", Taylor Swift was a refreshing new young artist with a pure sound. As her singles progressed, she never improved vocally, but her songs remained insanely catchy. On "Fearless", Taylor Swift does nothing to establish herself as an artist that can be taken seriously. The songs are all formulaic, cutesy, and have lyrics along the lines of teenage melodrama that is all too familiar for her. Upon listening to these new songs, it is difficult to distinguish not only one from the other, but a few from tunes on her old album. She just doesn't quite have the pipes to impress and her songwriting doesn't make up for the deficiency. Don't get me wrong, Taylor Swift is a beautiful, great role model for young girls everywhere. One just gets the feeling that her label is trying to sell out now.

1 out of 5 stars

So far to go November 17, 2008
11 out of 27 found this review helpful

Taylor is a beautiful girl and a great role model for young girls everywhere. I am impressed with her songwriting ability for her young age, but she does need to diversify her writing efforts into other areas than teenage romantic melodrama. That being said, I am still not a fan of this young ladies voice...live, her voice is pitchy and incredibly out of tune, on this cd she sounds strained and trying to push her voice where it isn't meant to go. She may have a career in the record industry (amazing what computer enhancement can do) , but I don't see this young lady having a long lasting career until she gets some serious vocal lessons.

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