Taylor Swift - Fearless Review

1. This album is gonna be HUGE.  2. Taylor Swift is about to become one of the biggest stars in music. 3.  I'll be back later to tell you,"I told you so."   Fearless might be an appropriate title just because young artists often suffer a sophomore slump after a supremely successful debut album, which Swift's  self titled first album was, selling a cool 3 million copies and spawning 5 hit singles. Not gonna happen here.

In an age where we often hear young pop stars sing of adult things they have no idea about, soon to be 19 year old Taylor Swift writes her own songs, reflecting sensibilities of her peer group yet sounding somehow adult at the same time.  Perhaps the most impressive thing about Swift IS her songwriting.  It's not kiddie stuff at all and it probably helps she's been writing songs since she was knee high to a grasshopper. (She was actually writing songs as early as age12).   Taylor wrote or co-wrote all the songs on Fearless.  And she writes about what she knows.

Perfect example is Fifteen, with lines like "Cause when you're fifteen and/somebody tells you they love you/you're gonna believe them".  She's been there, done that and not so very long ago.  So, she knowingly reminisces about a young girl's first day in high school and a tendency to latch on to anyone who shows an interest.  And, looking back she can caution them, "don't forget to look before you fall."

Many of the songs on Fearless deal with love and relationships and often with an innocence only an 18 year old young woman can possess, but laden with truths profound enough for the rest of us.

The title track finds her wanting to not fall so hard so fast for her date, "I'm trying so hard not to get caught up now/But you're just so cool, run your hands through your hair/absentmindedly making me want you".  Who hasn't found themselves so excited  about someone they could hardly restrain themselves?

The lead single, and frankly one of the best  two or three songs of 2008, Love Story, was penned entirely by Swift.  She obviously paid attention to her Shakespeare in school as she analogizes her young love experience with Romeo and Juliet, wanting to be with a young man her father has forbidden her to see.  The lyrics and music are so well-constructed you can close your eyes and watch the fantasy play out before you, even if you've not see the video.

On Hey Stephen she disses the competition with the line, "All those other girls, well they're beautiful..but would they write a song for you", implying she might not be the best looking girl but she has something more substantial to offer.

A more melancholy offering is White Horse where she is mature enough to know she's fallen for the wrong guy and all the "I'm sorry's" in the world won't change that.  She knows she got suckered in by "the face of an angel", but that his actions spoke louder than his charming lies and "now it's too late for you and your white horse to catch me now".

One of her biggest hits from the Taylor Swift album was Teardrops on My Guitar, a true story about a guy she was crazy about but saw her only as a friend to confide in.  Part II is You Belong With Me, where she laments having to stand on the sidelines while the man of her dreams pursues the cheerleader wearing short skirts, "dreaming about the day you wake up and find/that what you're looking for has been here the whole time".

Also notable  is Breathe, co-written with Colbie Caillat.  Caillat's presence is dually felt here, with her trademark soothing seemly easy-going melody and Colbie lending background vocals.  The melody belies the message though, as Swift writes of the painful letting go of a relationship she thought would never end.

The Best Day is poignant and upbeat as she paints a picture of the her close relationship to her mother and her positive influence on her life.  Anybody who cherishes their Mom is bound to get a little tear and a lump in their throat as they listen to this thoughtful tribute.

THE BOTTOM LINE

If you liked Taylor Swift's debut album you will love the follow-up.  Fearless is also an appropriate title because she isn't afraid to wear her emotions on her songwriter's sleeve.  The music is country-pop, not in a slick, empty way like a lot of music these days, but because she's 18 and that's her influence.  I dare say every song on Fearless has single potential.  Teenage girls will flock to it because Taylor Swift puts into words what they feel.  Older women will like it because it will make them remember what it was like to be a teenage girl.  The rest of us will like it because it's just that good.  She's Lee Ann Rimes without quite the vocal range but more talent anyway.  GRADE: A-