Holistic Album Review – Taylor Swift ‘Fearless'

Next up, Taylor Swift turns FEARLESS. To be completely honest, the album Fearless is 100 times better than her debut album Taylor Swift. It seems that Taylor Swift is starting to find herself and the genre of music she places herself in. I know some people are critical of her tendency to cross between pop and country, but I think it’s admirable. She does what she wants and doesn’t feel the need to stick to the norm. What sets Taylor apart is her ability to connect with the audience during performances. After watching many videos of Taylor on her famous Fearless Tour, you would be amazed at the amount of girls (and guys) that would kill for a hug from her. This album features many more pop elements, especially the tracks ‘Fearless’ and ‘The Way I Loved You’. Taylor is starting to mature whether we like it or not, and it shows through this album. I would characterize Fearless as a way for Taylor to prove to herself and to the whole world that she isn’t a one-hit wonder kind of gal. Fearless is essentially the end of Taylor's high school stories and together, its like a yearbook. It's like at the end of the school year when you get other people to sign your yearbook and Taylor is the one that targets all of her exes. Time to dig deeper into this emotional masterpeice. 

The Not-So-Good

I definitely understand why the track ‘Change’ would appear at the end of the album, to wrap up her ideas and tell the listeners that she anticipates her songs to change along with her life after high school. I am a bit unsure about the actual song itself. It really doesn’t reflect Taylor as we all know her at this point. When I listen to it, I don’t get the feeling that it reflects the entire album, which it should do as it is the last track of the album. It is not the lyrics that make me unsure, it is the music itself. ‘Tell Me Why’ and ‘Change’ are similar in that the music seems to be a bit too overpowering for the words. Just like when you’re at a concert and the guitar and drums are drowning out the sound from the microphone, making it hard to follow along with the lyrics. The repeating ideas of the “face of an angel” and kissing in the rain are constantly popping up in her songs, which leaves the audience yearning for new and exciting tracks. We get it Taylor; you like to kiss boys in the rain. Many of the songs are about relationships, but each relationship is different, so it is more of a collection of tons of memories. There really aren’t many not-so-good elements in this album, so that’s all I have for you.

The Good

One thing that sets Taylor apart is that she is not afraid to mention someone’s name in a song. Stephen (the boy Taylor had a crush on) and Abigail (her bff) appear in this album. She is able to add these very personal elements since she either wrote or co-wrote every song in this album, as she did in her last album as well. Just as the listeners have expected, ‘Fearless’ is about many relationships cut short and some songs teach a lesson to younger girls that may experience some of the same relationship problems that Taylor does. I really enjoy how in this album, Taylor develops her role-model presence with all of her listeners while still maintaining a personal relationship with the audience. She sets an example for other teenage girls but also writes songs that relate directly to them, while building in her “big sister” advice. In 'Fifteen', as Taylor is singing about her best friend Abigail's breakup in the ninth grade, she warns teenage girls and tells them, "In your life you'll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team." I'm definitely biased because I was that girl that couldn't date someone unless they were on the football team (still am, oh no).

The GREAT

This was the first album that I personally bought (when I was 10, of course), so I know every song by heart. Taylor’s ability to put feelings into words in a song that flows is magical. One of my favorite songs on this album is ‘Breathe’. For some reason, it really does feel like a breath of fresh air, which is one of the reasons I would use this song as a representation of the whole album. It flows so nicely it just makes you want to sing, so much that I strongly considered singing it in my seventh grade talent show. Not to mention, I am a terrible singer with even worse stage fright. I’m also more of a pop lover than a country lover so I enjoy Taylor’s versatility. Everyone likes a good love story, take Romeo and Juliet in ‘Love Story’, where Taylor turns the tragic story into one with a good ending. ‘Love Story’ is one of those songs that teenage girls love to listen to because it is the ideal way to fall in love, just like in a fairytale.

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Fiddles to violins, one of the subtlest changes that makes a world of difference. The transition from country to pop becomes more apparent in this album. I have a lot of respect for this album because it solidifies Taylor’s goals and reassures the listeners of her abilities as a singer-songwriter. This whole album is a representation of what Taylor will become in the years following – successful. ‘Fearless’ is an album that parents can listen to with their teenage girls without worrying what Taylor will sing next. This is one of those things about Taylor Swift’s music that is so refreshing, and it became more evident in 'Fearless', her sophomore album. When it comes to the album itself, I can’t tell if Taylor really was fearless when she was dating different boys or if she just wanted to be fearless.

CS