Speak Now is the third studio album from the four-time Grammy winning Taylor Swift who stormed the music industry at 15. She is a much recognised and awarded artist in both the country and pop genres. This year, at the age of 20, she became the youngest artist in history to win the music industry’s highest honor – the GRAMMY Award for Album of the Year.
She also took home the awards for Country Album of the Year, Best Country Song, and Best Country Female Vocal Performance. Fearless, her 5x Platinum album is the most awarded album in Country music history. This is only the beginning of the awards she has received for her first two albums.
Speak Now was released on October 29th 2010 and Taylor plans to tour in support of the album in 2011 with 85 shows in 18 countries.
Fans of the first two albums will definitely not be disappointed with Speak Now and the much more mature Taylor Swift that we meet on it.
Taylor Swift uses her music as her voice and her outlet for all the things she never said in life. Reading through the booklet enclosed with the CD you learn that each of these songs has a message and is directed at a particular person. It has long been said that you have to write from the heart and write what you know, whether it be poetry, prose or lyrics and this is something Taylor Swift really believes in. All of her songwriting is done from her own experience and this is something that really shines through in her music.
Speak Now is a very grown up voice, a lot more mature than I would have expected from Taylor Swift given her age. The majority of the subject matter is love, in all its shapes and forms whether it be of the happily ever after variety or the tragedies that litter the love lives of all of us. Taylor Swift’s lyrics are very personal and it really gives you an insight into her and where she was at when she was writing the album. I found that this helped the music strike a chord with me and drew me further in than I think I would have otherwise been.
The sound is a melodic and flowing balance between upbeat pop and the country feel. It is very easy listening and makes for enjoyable background music if that is what the situation requires. At the same time this would be an appropriate and appreciated choice of soundtrack for a pre-teen/teenage girls party.
The music and the mood is quite upbeat and uplifting even when the lyrics speak of a much more sombre mood. The sort of sound that would be a welcome addition to any occasion accompanied by music.
Track Listing
- Mine
- Sparks Fly
- Back to December
- Speak Now
- Dear John
- Mean
- The Story of Us
- Never Grow Up
- Enchanted
- Better than Revenge
- Innocent
- Haunted
- Last Kiss
- Long Live
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!