Review Summary: “Fearless” isn’t flawless, but I’ll be fucked if it isn’t fantastic.
In the realm of pop music, honesty, to be perfectly honest, is not a coveted attribute. Performers often hide behind a mask, one that presents them as the ideal persona. The masses cling to this, desiring that perfection for themselves. Every once in a while, however, the industry welcomes a slice of truth into the mix. When this happens the response is usually the same as if the artist were lying, except the masses cling to it because it
is them. The singer in question presents themselves as the everyday persona, with the same desires and aspirations as the everyday person. Sometimes this is far more effective then the lie. Now, that can be partly attributed to the fact that the aforementioned honesty is something out of the norm. As humans we may crave regularity and the comfort of the well-known, but when it comes to the arts we often desire innovation and progression.
So now we come to the latest progression in the pop music world, the genre crossover of pop and country. Its not surprising that in the past we’ve rejected the initiative (Billy Ray Cyrus, I’m looking at you), but in 2009 there was a resurgence. Taylor Swift, a small town gal, arrived on the scene with an honest and innocent disposition that teenage girls could relate to and adults could appreciate as a wholesome alternative to the flood of not-exactly-wholesome R&B that was (and still is) dominating mainstream music. Of course, it must be noted that
Fearless is her sophomore effort, her debut selling only enough to gain her a meagre amount of respect while this album launched her to the top of the charts and planted her firmly into the public conscience.
When compared to many of the other pop and radio artists, Swift pulls ahead by an astounding degree. If I was given a choice between listening to Taylor Swift and, let’s say Ke$ha (who attempted to jump on a bandwagon and face-planted the ground instead), the decision is not a difficult one to make. Therefore, no matter how much I dislike Swift, since it is far better then something else the rating must automatically be higher than the alternative. Ke$ha gets a 1.5 at most, so it logically follows that Swift’s rating must be at least a 2.5 at worst. To put it simply:
“This could be worse, but its not.”
It’s mostly the standout songs (“White Horse”, “Fifteen”, “Love Story”) that help give the album that boost from a 2.5 to a 3.5, but there are a few other factors. If Swift could easily have done nothing more then write the same song 10 times and few people would have questioned her. She avoids that thankfully though, and the results are even better then expected. Admittedly there’s nothing too drastic in the musical side of this album, it’s all the same (ultimately basic) country-flavoured guitar, violin, and vocals. Don’t get me wrong, they all perform admirably, Swift’s slightly nasally twang isn’t as grating as you might believe, and she certainly has the power and talent to stand out in the crowd. While the music never falls beyond good, there isn’t a single moment where it even drops to tolerable. It’s always enjoyable and superbly treads that fine line between overshadowing Swift and sitting too far back.
Lyrically,
Fearless panders to the tween crowd without shame, but in a way that adults can relate to as well. “Love Story” is a perfect example of this, with lines like this:
“You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess/
It's a love story, baby just say yes.”
To adults its cute and harmless, a simple phase all girls go through, meanwhile the girls actually going through that phase naturally drink it up. As stated before, it would have been fine for Swift to do nothing more than make an entire album of that nature. Yet she doesn’t do that, she extends herself on several occasions, pushing the album to warrant an even higher rating. Take “Fifteen” as an example; it speaks of the first day of high school for a young girl of (obviously) fifteen. She meets new friends and dates a football jock, all while offering up an “average girl” persona (“Laughing at the other girls who think they're so cool/We'll be out of here as soon as we can”). The song takes another direction in the chorus, however. Rather then keeping that persona going, Swift breaks from it to speak to the listener directly. She tells them that dating might seem like the biggest thing in their life, but ultimately they’re destined for so much more. She admits that she “didn’t know it at fifteen”, but that she also wants them to understand and learn from her mistakes.
Taylor Swift cemented herself as one of the greatest pop artists of the 00’s by going beyond what the pop music scene expected from her.
Fearless could easily have been another fad but it isn’t. There is obvious potential here for Swift to grow as her listeners do. With any luck she’ll avoid choosing the “slut-pop” road, and remain where she belongs, with wholesome yet relatable pop music that people of all ages can enjoy.
