Fearless
| Taylor Swift
Fearless
Fearless is the second studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The album was released on November 11, 2008, by Big Machine Records. As with her first album, Taylor Swift, Swift wrote or co-wrote all thirteen tracks on Fearless. Most of the songs were written as the singer promoted her first album as the opening act for numerous country artists. Due to the unavailability of collaborators on the road, eight songs were written by Swift. Other songs were co-written with Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey, Colbie Caillat, and John Rich. Swift also made her debut as a record producer, co-producing all songs on the album with Nathan Chapman. - Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Fearless straddles the line between country and pop, clinging really only to Swift’s faint, faux-country accent which magically materialized at some point between her hometown of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania and Nashville, and a few bits of fiddle and banjo that flicker in and out of the record.
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Rolling Stone
Swift is a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture.
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Billboard
Why Taylor Swift's 'Fearless' Is Her Best Album
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The Guardian
A record that does something bland and uninventive but does it incredibly well.
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Slant Magazine
Taylor Swift possesses savant-like skill on precisely two fronts.
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Sputnik Music
While these flaws prevent Fearless from being one of the outstanding pop/country records of the decade, this album will forever be iconic in the history of Taylor Swift and country-pop at large.
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Vulture
It’s a marvel of craftsmanship.
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AllMusic
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.
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The Boston Globe
She's 18 - wide-eyed, naive, hopeful - and that's how she sounds on "Fearless," her superb new album
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BBC
So edgeless it doesn't touch the sides, it's best left to pre-teens as an introduction to pop music.
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Country Music Online
Taylor’s reign as country music’s newest superstar is nowhere near done.
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Music OMH
Fearless is the sound of sheer determination in musical form, a precision-tooled collection of catchy, wide-eyed pop songs made by a young lady who wants nothing more then to be the next big superstar.
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Naos
I didn’t think a musician barely considered an adult could impress me so much, but she showed strength in songwriting, that was at times sloppy, but honest.
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American Noise
Fearless is a bipolar album that dips its feet into both pools, Swift seemingly caught between the girl she was and the woman she’s becoming, unsure of which path to embrace musically.
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Female First
Whether you feel like chilling out after a hard day or having a good (boy-related) sob, this album is a perfect accompaniment.
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entertainment.ie.
It's corny, samey country-pop with songs that are overlong and overdone.
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Country Universe
A tentative, but ultimately promising step into pop superstardom for a young woman boldly sharing her diary with an eagerly anticipating worldwide audience.
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Snippets
A few more ballads are thrown in amongst a handful of airy country/pop songs, but, as a whole, Fearless is quite a good album.
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Creative Loafing
The album gives Swift a second building block in a strong foundation that is sure to lead to a lengthy career.
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Kurrent Music
Taylor Swift is your average pretty face with below average music.
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Independent
Self-penned maudlin Nashville pop songs soaked in mild high-school heartache.
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Urbanwire
Taylor may not have veered too much off her debut album in terms of artistry and lyrical themes, but Fearless is nonetheless a satisfactory offering from this teen superstar.
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Entertainment Weekly
Her supple, lightly twangy vocals fit the album’s lilting melodies and her sentiments, though sometimes naive, are refreshingly age-appropriate.
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Plugged In
An improvement over her last disc. Swift handles romantic love well, but really excels when focusing on the deep bonds of family and friendship.
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Apple Music
Making the shift from teen sensation to mature artist can be tough, but on her second album, Fearless, an 18-year-old Taylor Swift did it with style. The songs ring out with angst and delight in equal measure.
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INSIDER
Released in 2008, "Fearless" steps away from country and edges into pop in an impressive balance of the two as Swift continues to develop a style that is uniquely hers.
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The Flat Hat
Swift lacks the vocal chops of Carrie Underwood, or the fiery passion of Miranda Lambert, but she makes up for that by appealing to both the country and pop fans. . . . This album lacks artistic growth, but it succeeds in entertainment value.
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Taylor Swift Switzerland
Why "Fearless" Is Taylor's Best Album: Critic's Take | Billboard, 2017 If you’re into classic, country Swift, "Fearless" perfectly bridges the origin story of "Taylor Swift" and the superstar leanings of "Speak Now". On "Fearless", she’s still believable as a vulnerable everygirl, swinging between unrealistic romanticism and the dramatics of young love’s failings.
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HKolywood Life
. . . by the time the album came out in 2008, she had an established fan base — and the full record did NOT disappoint. Fearless is full of the types of songs Taylor does best: Tracks with gut-wrenching lyrics about heartbreak that just about anybody listening can relate to.
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METRO
Fearless is a classic country album, continuing the theme’s set out in Taylor’s debut album but taken to dizzying new levels.
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Newsday
Although they're written by a teenager, Swift's songs have broad appeal, and therein lies the genius and accessibility of her second effort, "Fearless" . . . .
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BBC
. . . the album is so wholesome it veers into Stepford territory, and so musically conservative it makes Eva Cassidy look like Cruella DeVille. So edgeless it doesn't touch the sides, it's best left to pre-teens as an introduction to pop music.
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Robert Christgau
I'm moved nevertheless by what can pass for a concept album about the romantic life of an uncommonly-to-impossibly strong and gifted teenage girl, starting on the first day of high school and gradually shedding naiveté without approaching misery or neurosis. Partly it's the tunes. Partly it's the musical restraint of a strain of Nashville bigpop that avoids muscle-flexing rockism. Partly it's the diaristic realism she imparts to her idealized tales. And partly it's how much she loves her mom. Swift sets the bar too high. But as role models go, she's pretty sweet.
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Pandora
It’s small-scale 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.
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UnRated Magazine
The energy of Fearless is a slight departure from her first self-titled release, but still has the country roots intact. The sound is less fiddle and banjo and more violin and guitar, though all instruments are represented on this release. It's pop with a little twang thrown in and needs to be played a loud.
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entertainment.ie
It's corny, samey country-pop with songs that are overlong and overdone, with many of Swift's ideas being constantly recycled - and therefore repetitive and attention-numbing.
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Channel 24 City Press
It’s refreshing that the era of pop tarts singing about hitting and slaving is waning and new wholesome, all-in-one teen stars are making a comeback. And the fact that she’s stuck to country music adds to this appeal.
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USA Today
On its 10-year anniversary, Taylor Swift's 'Fearless' is still a classic
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Digital Spy
Accomplished it may be, but this album is rather lacking in surprises.
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TEEN INK
Fearless debuts a young Taylor Swift, who breathes life to a series of honest, handwritten songs. Each one weaves a story of its own, and begins the stunning evolution of a young girl who learns and lives in love. The album hits head-on with the titular track, “Fearless.” Shining and twinkling, it begins the album with a whirlwind of passion. The magic doesn’t stop there.
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Country Standard Time
Swift has not taken any great leap forward in direction with her soph effort, which veers away from her more countryish debut. The material stands up well in a slew of catchy songs as she continues telling teens what life is like through pop (very nominally country) songs.
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Rolling Stone
November 12, 2018. 10 Years Later, Taylor Swift’s ‘Fearless’ Still Slaps.
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The Guardian
. . . Fearless spent eight weeks at No 1, outselling Britney. But Swift's no tween firework. She writes everything, and has a feel for timeless songwriting that means she can cover Eminem's Lose Yourself live, and it works.
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Ultimate Guitar
Overall, I'd say this album was better than her first. It fits her voice a whole lot better. The best thing about this album is it's laid back feel, it's a good CD to listen to if you just want to relax, or go to sleep.
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Bullz-Eye
Taylor Swift may yet turn out to be just another teen artist swallowed up by hype and boundless promise, but at the ripe old age of 17, she’s already turned out a pair of essentially flawless pop records – and triumphed over the sophomore jinx to deliver one of the best of 2008.
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Country Music Central
Her sophomore album has more heart and vocal power behind it than her first, which wasn’t all that bad either in its entirety, and shows of a much more experienced and woman-like Taylor Swift. To sum up everything that this album stands for for Taylor, it proves that when she approaches her artistic form and her creative nature to do what she wants to do in the career that she has formed at this age she really is fearless and if this album is any sign of what’s to come I can’t wait to see what’s next.
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Half Deaf Guitarist
This is country pop teenage sensation Taylor Swift’s second full length. Forget her age for a second and just listen, this album is solid. Very polished and very well put together.
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npr music
It's not just the words, which of necessity are conversational to the point of barely bothering to rhyme. Swift's overwriting goal was to create a feeling of intimacy among her peers, which precludes fancy rhetorical flourishes. But it's also in the music. Her melodies combine country, soft rock, and hard-edge folk to create a fine confessional mode.
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Sputnik Music
July 25, 2010. That's the thing about Fearless; it is cheesy and it is universal, and it's almost a wonder that Taylor Swift doesn't come from a Disney Channel show, but at the end of the day it's clear why she doesn't; there is nothing artificial or fake about the music she makes.
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Slant Magazine
It’s troubling that the album does not show significant refinements of the promise she demonstrated on her debut, but Swift’s age still gives her ample time to hone her craft into something more substantial and more sophisticated.
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American Noise
Taylor Swift’s much anticipated sophomore album finds her at a point of transition, on the brink of two very different and conflicting musical directions—one of which builds on the foundation of her enormously successful self-titled debut, while the other dismisses that foundation entirely. Fearless is a bipolar album that dips its feet into both pools, . . . .
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Sputnik Music
January 7, 2009. . . . what Fearless has definitely proved, if nothing else, is that she’s the real deal when it comes to solid songwriting and an assured knowledge of her target audience. And with songs like the charming first single “Love Story,” one can assume that Swift will no doubt keep on selling enough records to continue getting all those guy problems out of her system. Review by Rudy K., STAFF
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AllMusic
It's small-scale 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.
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Sputnik Music
April 10, 2010 In the end, Fearless is an album that accomplishes a great deal of things both for Swift as an artist and for listeners everywhere. From a career standpoint, this is a record that could easily stand as the most successful pop/country album of all time. Review by SowingSeason, STAFF review
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Rolling Stone
November 13, 2008. With her second album, Swift aims to extend her dominion beyond the country-music-loving red states. Songs like “Fearless” and “The Way I Loved You” are packed with loud, lean guitars and rousing choruses.
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