Fearless[Enhanced]

CD Details

Review

3 1/2 STARS
Ah, young love. Country sensation Taylor Swift, 18, chronicles her formative years’ romantic highs and lows on this stellar follow-up to her triple-platinum self-titled debut. Writing and coproducing all 13 cuts, the recent high school grad from Hendersonville, Tennessee – who just split from teen hunk Joe Jonas, 19 – tells the story of her freshman year on the sweet, midtempo “Fifteen” and ruminates on a deteriorating relationship (hello, Joe!) on the mature “Forever & Always.” — Us Weekly, October 31, 2008

Berks County native Taylor Swift’s new CD highlights new music releases by John A. Zukowski
Taylor Swift’s new CD “Fearless” comes out today. Other new releases include Enya, T-Pain, Tracy Chapman and David Archuleta. Taylor Swift is just 18 years old. But for me she’s done something really important for mainstream country music: she’s put some feeling and soul back into country.
Swift writes her own songs (unusual for a country singer). And a lot of her songs are about her hopes and her experiences. So it doesn’t matter that she’s just 18. It sounds real. And that honesty is what makes the best country music. And she makes other country singers older than her seem phony in comparison — even someone not so old like Carrie Underwood.
Swift’s second album “Fearless” comes out today. She played the title song from it on “The Late Show” with David Letterman last night and it sounded great. The lyrics were really heartfelt and direct. She really could have been a punk rocker if she wasn’t a country singer. I really like how she’s shaken things up in the mainstream country music genre. — Lehigh Valley Express Times, November 11, 2008

By Kevin Amorim
Those who thought Taylor Swift was a big deal after the release of her first record should be prepared: She’s about to get way bigger.
Although they’re written by a teenager, Swift’s songs have broad appeal, and therein lies the genius and accessibility of her second effort, “Fearless” (Big Machine).
The insightful “Fifteen” (“In your life you’ll do greater things than dating a boy on the football team”) will connect with teens looking for hope and with adult women looking back, while the sparse “White Horse” will appeal to anyone who’s experienced love lost, which is to say, everyone. “Hey Stephen” (“All those other girls, they’re beautiful but would they write a song for you”) displays Swift’s confident sense of humor, and “Breathe” (written with Colbie Caillat, who sings on the track) is a love-gone-wrong song suitable for women of all ages. – Billboard.
THE GRADE: A
BOTTOM LINE Wise beyond her years. — Newsday.com, November 11, 2008

By Rashod D. Ollison Seemingly out of nowhere in 2006, Taylor Swift did what is becoming almost impossible to do in today’s crumbling music industry: She sold more than 3 million copies of her first album. And the country-pop star did it all rather quietly, garnering a Grammy nomination for best new artist along the way.
Svelte and blond with a sculptured face the camera adores, the 16- year-old singer wasn’t a teen dream manufactured by the Disney machine. She also wasn’t packaged as a vampish pop tart, wailing suggestive songs that belied her years.
Her earnest but girlish vocals were ensconced in sympathetic arrangements that were more pop than country. But it was Swift’s gift as a songwriter that pushed her ahead of the pack. She wrote about her bad luck with boys in detailed, sometimes touching lyrics that never felt too precious. In fact, Swift’s songs are sturdy and universal enough to work in any musical context.
On Fearless, her hotly anticipated sophomore album, she basically sticks with what worked on the debut. She’s 18 now. And although her maturation on the album is deliberately pitched to the country-pop crossover crowd, Swift’s songs remain tightly crafted. The melodies may not always be immediate, but the tunes still worm their way into your head.
Lyrically, Swift is still boy-crazy. She achingly pines for the dreamy ones (“Love Story,” “You Belong With Me,” and the breezy title track) and dismisses the empty-headed ones (“Tell Me Why” and “White Horse”). She refreshingly eschews the role of diva wannabe and remains the down-to-earth girlfriend next door.
“The Best Day,” an affecting ballad, is a lovely valentine to her family. Simple and understated, it’s sure to be a hit with fans. — Baltimore Sun, November 11, 2008

Swift Fearless, taking the spotlight away from Rose BY WERNER TRIESCHMANN
This is so old-school pop star.
Three days before Christmas and a stop at west Little Rock’s Best Buy to snag Taylor Swift’s Fearless turns up empty – that’s right, not a single copy to be had in the whole store. Boxes of Guitar Hero and gleaming iNanos were still waiting to be bought. Then there were the well-stocked displays for a certain new album by Guns ‘N Roses.
Taylor Alison Swift, who turned 19 on Dec. 19, was only 4 years old when Axl Rose started working on Chinese Democracy. Today, however