Swift keeps her streak going with 'Speak Now'
FILE - In this June 17, 2010 file photo, Taylor Swift attends the 2010 Songwriters Hall of Fame awards gala in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, file) Credit: AP Photo/Peter Kramer
Only Taylor Swift could make beefing sound this adorable. Only Taylor Swift, country's brightest star and owner of the top-selling album for the past two years, could still make her underdog status sound this believable.
Yeah, "Speak Now" (Big Machine) is that good.
Swift's third album is arguably her best - still packed with extraordinarily catchy songs about her recent past and her still-growing dreams, but told with increasing skill as a lyricist and a songwriter.
It doesn't hurt that the 20-year-old's life is incredibly interesting, either.
Though it won't be the biggest hit from "Speak Now," the most talked-about song is "Dear John," a six-minute-plus kiss-off to an older former boyfriend. Is it about John Mayer, who she reportedly dated around the time they worked on his song "Half of My Heart"? "Don't you think I was too young to be messed with?" she asks, while appropriating Mayer's acoustic blues style.
Over the course of 14 tracks, Swift also takes on boyfriend-stealing actresses ("Better Than Revenge") and critics who say she can't sing in the charming, Dixie Chicks-ish "Mean," declaring, "Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city and all you're ever gonna be is mean." She also forgives Kanye West for his MTV dis in "Innocent."
Swift adds more musical styles to her arsenal - the new-wavey "The Story of Us" and the Evanescence-like "Haunted" - though she's at her best with the effortless country of "Mine" and clever pop of the title track.
In a year of uncertainty, "Speak Now" is a rarity - a surefire smash.
Taylor Swift: "Speak Now"
The grade: A
Bottom line: Ready to battle, using her developing artistic voice
