Domingo 24 Out 2010, 21h:00
Taylor Swift has done it again. Nearly 21 years old and already releasing her third album (this one all written by herself!), with a huge world tour set for next year, Swift really has risen in both the country and pop genres, and has built up a massive community of die-hard fans.
The question is: is Speak Now just hype or does it deliver?
Now, like many Taylor Swift fans, if we know something about her, is that she can't actually produce a bad album. It's proven: her self-entitled album sold little under 40,000 copies on the first week, back in 2006, and contained some of the best songs attached to the country genre. Fearless, the followup album of 2008, improved sales up to nearly 600,000 on the first week of release, and contained her biggest hit: You Belong With Me.
So how's Speak Now's hype measuring at? Well…Big Machine Records has shipped 2 MILLION units, and we're estimating sales around 700k - 1+ million. And now, we're just starting the first release week, and this might ascend to a grand total of 1-1.2 million copies sold when this week is over. That, for a country pop artist, is phenomenal.
I've had the privilege of listening to the album before it actually leaked on the Internet (though this review only came out on Sunday evening, to avoid major spoilers), and here is my opinion on each track on Speak's Now (deluxe edition):
Mine - Mine is the lead single of the album, but it actually doesn't feature the same sound as the single released back in August (this is referring to the Deluxe Edition, because the normal purple cover one is the same). While that version is on the deluxe album entitled Mine (US version), this one changes the melody a bit, maintaining the lyrics. It talks about how Swift tends to run away from commitment whenever she feels it's getting too serious and her confessions about that. It's a highly-loved track by many fans, including me, that features an upbeat theme, catchy lyrics ("You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter, You're the best thing that's ever been mine") and is an excellent way to start the album. It also is the most scrobbled song by Taylor Swift to date.
Sparks Fly - Sparks Fly has been a song that fans begged for Taylor to place on the new album (by doing a studio version, obviously), ever since she sung it live. However, she did change the lyrics a tad on this, so it's not exactly the same as the live version. This might be a factor of disappointment, but the song still retains it's magic touch. It's probably one of the best lyrically set songs of this album ("The way you move is like a full-on rainstorm"), and also one of the most upbeat. Definitely a fan favorite, as it verses about the magic of love at first sight.
Back to December - Ah, yes. Back to December was the second promotional single released on October 12th, and it instantly clicked for many people. Many people speculate it's about Taylor Lautner, and Taylor's carelessness with him. It's a beautiful ballad, with an unique beat that is pretty rare coming from Taylor. We get to a see a very intimate side of her ever, confessing her "sorrys" towards one the most influential people she has worked/dated with. The lyrics are mostly pretty magnificent and clearly show true emotions ("You gave me roses but I left them there to die").
Speak Now - We arrive at the album-named single. Released on October 5th, it was easily categorized one of Taylor's most "pop" soundings songs. Taylor wrote this to prove her point with the album: this album is about saying what you feel at the right moment, and she compared this to a preacher at a wedding saying "If anyone has any objection, Speak Now or forever hold your peace". Many find this song a bit cliché, but the main point is very well conveyed and the melody is extremely catchy, accompanied by decent lyrics.
Dear John - I actually thought this song would be your run-of-the-mill track with pop verses. However, this is obviously not the case. Extremely powerful lyrics, sung with an emotion never seen before by Taylor, convey a message so strong it's hard to remain indifferent to the solemn charm of "Dear John". It also is her longest song to record, with 6:44 minutes of duration. If Speak Now (song) was the introduction to a new era of fearless speaking, then Dear John is exactly the result of those emotions. This is, simply put, not only the best song on the album (in my honest opinion), but probably the best released song Taylor has ever produced in her career so far.
Mean - Mean spikes forth emotions that aren't generally characteristic of Taylor - spitefulness and bitterness. Here, she verses about generally about her haters (but someone in particular, as the song is predominantly written in the second person) and "why you gotta be so mean". This track is not only proof that Taylor can strike back hard with her words, but that they are the deadliest weapon she can use. Well written and catchy beat. It is her most country-sounding song on Speak Now, with banjo and cello sounds in the background.
The Story Of Us - Exactly sung like a story (with verses such as "Next chapter"), Taylor sings here about a boy moment that marked her and what it would be like if a story emerged between both and the degrading of such relationship as the song progresses. She doesn't make it evident who it's about, though. It's pretty catchy, neatly written and fans will most likely latch onto this track like bees and honey. It also was, according to Taylor, "the gut feeling the album was finished" .
Never Grow Up - Taylor sings this song to a baby, and how innocent life is the best of this world, begging him to "stay this little, stay this simple". It's the calmest song on this album, and (to me) the one I enjoyed the least here. Despite this, the lyrics are reasonable (they fit the context and make sense), even if it's not for everybody.
Enchanted - Originally, the album was to be called Enchanted, but it was renamed due to being too "fairytale". As far as the song goes, it builds a gradual attractiveness that is rare in a Taylor song (generally it's instant love for most people with a catchy, upbeat theme). Enchanted doesn't do this. Instead, it lures you in, and then when the chorus arrives, a very pleasant surprise is encountered ("I was enchanted to me"). This is also one of my favorite tracks, because the melody remains calm when needed but has that "oh my swiftness" moment at the chorus, which is exactly what I love about Taylor's ballads. (And because it's about one of my favorite artists of all time, Owl City (Adam Young)).
Better Than Revenge - Positively aggressive since the first note and that introductory speech that is a first for Taylor, this song fuels emotions that merge to produce a very upbeat country rock-ish song. This is one of the better songs of the album, because it not only follows up the emotions of "Mean" at a more subtle lyrical level, but does it so in a different way than going strictly pop - which, all things considered - is not exactly the best way for these types of feelings. It really sounds like a Paramore song.
Innocent - Innocent was a song written to calm fans a year after the Kanye 2009 VMA fiasco. Taylor assures fans that she "had many options coming into the VMA's". However, since this is album is "all about saying what you think", what better way to perform a song no one had heard before? And the execution is actually bittersweet. The resentment is clearly audible in Taylor's voice, and it serves as a fake "sorry", even if the lyrics state "you're still an innocent".
Lyrically, this is very well written, with extremely memorable passages such as "Your string of lights is still bright to me". Despite many emotions clearly escaping the vocal passage, I can easily say that Innocent is my second favorite song of this album, with an extremely melodramatic theme that easily gets stuck in anyone's head. Taylor's option to place this song on her album was wise, because it develops on the forgiveness subject, even if it's not fully resolved.
Haunted - "Come on, come on, don't leave me like this…I'm haunted." This is the way Taylor sums up a pretty obscure track that verses about a romance that "gone terribly wrong." The melody is absolutely awe-struck though, and even if it's a theme that won't probably be super popular (compared to say, Mine, which was released as a single), it finds its niche inside this album in a very comfortable position as one of my favorite tracks.
Last Kiss - Another ballad. I don't especially find it groundbreaking, and it's possibly one of the least "Speak Now" contextual themes, but it certainly is pretty personal, and the lyrics transmit the passion and desire to avoid that "last kiss" (which typically seals the end of a love story). It's a very good way to slowly calm us down as we approach the final track of the (regular) album, which is…
Long Live - It is noticeable that Long Live, even though being the last track of the album, wasn't the one intended by Swift (actually, Story of Us was - due to that last verse, stating "The End"). Despite this, there is that nostalgia feeling: "it was the end of a decade, but the start of an age". And Taylor couldn't be more right. End of Fearless decade, and we start off with Speak Now in 2010! This is an absolutely marvelous track, the melody fits like a glove, and the writing here is flawless. The changes in tempo are very well done and this is again one of my favorite themes ever recorded by Swift.
This track prepares us all for the future and it will possibly be a staple song on this album, that will always remind me of a nostalgia long gone, but still lived everyday.
Additional bonus tracks (only present in Deluxe Edition):
Ours - A cheerful melody to start off the bonus tracks. It talks about the difficulties of love as a relationship progresses, and that the most important thing is that it belongs only to two people, regardless of what others opinate ("They can't take what's Ours"). This actually reminds me of "Our Song", four years later - we see a more mature Swift, between genres but with a songwriting experience that is carefully placed in this song. Consequently, as this is a personal album, the upbeat theme is not as present.
If This Was A Movie - Taylor compares a long lost love with the desire to have it back, like in the movies (where they come back and realize that leaving was a huge mistake). Nostalgic track once more, well executed, and melody is spot on. Easily one of my favorites.
Superman - And the bonus tracks reach the end with this catchy, upbeat theme that also has to carry the nostalgia factor with it. Superman actually compliments the male species by comparing it to a "superman", that has the ability to do multiple things. However, the main issue is that he shouldn't forget that love (obviously!) is the most important thing, which intensifies Taylor's desire to be with the aforementioned person. Fantastic.
The rest of the bonus tracks are either acoustic versions of reviewed tracks, or the original single versions of themes (Mean and Story of Us).
Final thoughts: The biggest expectation I had for Speak Now was that this album would be as good as Fearless, which I dearly love and cherish. After listening to 5 full singles before the release (Mine, Speak Now, B.T.December, Mean and Innocent), I was confident this would be a highly anticipated album, but I wondered just how Taylor had changed in these two years.
Now that the album is out, and listening critically to all the tracks, I have to say that Speak Now has blown me away, completely. It's not exactly comparable to Fearless because Taylor's songwriting has matured so much it's phenomenal. Instead of upbeat songs like You Belong With Me, we can experience personal tracks like Back to December and Speak Now.
The bottom line is: Speak Now will make history. I predict it will take at least one Grammy and tons of other awards. But those are just the surplus of her talent, because the real talent is the one fans can appreciate everyday as soon as we listen to any Taylor song, be it from her self-entitled album from 2006 or this awesome Speak Now.
Thank you, Taylor, for such an amazing album. Words cannot express the love I have for all that you have managed to convey into song.
Every Swifty alive is extremely thankful for all that you have achieved and will accomplish in the future.
Final Rating: A+ (full marks)
Recommended Tracks: Mine, Dear John, Enchanted, Haunted, Back to December, Innocent, Long Live, Better than Revenge, Superman (bonus)
The bottom line: "Get it now, absolutely groundbreaking."