Taylor Swift - Fearless (CD)

All Music Guide

Taylor Swift abandons any pretense that she's a teen on her second album, Fearless which isn't to say that she suddenly tarts herself up, running away from her youth in a manner that's all too familiar to many teen stars. Swift's maturation is deliberate and careful, styled after the crossover countrypop of Shania Twain and Faith Hill before they turned into divas. Despite the success of her selftitled 2006 debut, there's nothing at all divalike about Swift on 2008's Fearless: she's softspoken and considerate, a big sister instead of a big star. Nowhere is this truer than on "15," a kind warning for a teen to watch her heart sung from the perspective of a woman who's perhaps twice that age a sly trick for the 18yearold Swift. There may be a hint of youthfulness to her singing but that's the only hint of girlishness here; her writing and she had a hand in penning all 13 tracks here, with six of them bearing her solitary credit is sharply, subtly crafted and the music is softly assur...ed, never pushing its hooks too hard and settling into a warm bed of guitars and keyboards. Like many countrypop albums of the 2000s, the pop heavily outweighs the country there aren't fiddles here, there are violins yet Fearless never feels garish, a crass attempt at a crossover success. It's smallscale and sweetly tuneful, always seeming humble even when the power ballads build to a big close. Swift's gentle touch is as enduring as her songcraft, and this musical maturity may not quite jibe with her age but it does help make Fearless one of the best mainstream pop albums of 2008. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Read more Less