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#"Fifteen": ''I Cried While Recording This''
#"Fifteen": ''I Cried While Recording This''
#"Love Story": ''Someday I'll Find This''
#"Love Story": ''Someday I'll Find This''
#"Hey Stephen": ''[[Love and Theft (band)|Love and Theft]]''
#"Hey Stephen": ''Love and Theft''
#"White Horse": ''All I Ever Wanted Was the Truth''
#"White Horse": ''All I Ever Wanted Was the Truth''
#"You Belong with Me": ''Love Is Blind So You Couldn't See Me''
#"You Belong with Me": ''Love Is Blind So You Couldn't See Me''

Revision as of 23:16, 15 September 2009

Untitled

Fearless is the second studio album by American country pop artist Taylor Swift, and was released on November 11, 2008 on Big Machine Records. The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 592,304 copies in its first week, the best first-week sales for a female artist in 2008. Fearless became the first album to sell one million copies in 2009,[2] selling 1,608,000+ copies since January 1.[3] The album produced four top 10 hits - "Change" (#10), "Love Story" (#4), "Fearless" (#9) and "You Belong with Me" (#2). The album has also produced six top 20 hits, including "You're Not Sorry" (#11) and "White Horse" (#13). The official lead single has become the biggest hit of Swift's career, enjoying domestic and worldwide success. The album topped the Billboard 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks and topped the Billboard Top Country Albums for 22 non-consecutive weeks. The album will be re-released with 6 new songs on the 27th of October.

Release

Fearless was first released in the U.S on November 11, 2008. The album was then released in Australia on November 15, 2008, followed by the UK and New Zealand on March 9, 2009. The album was also released in Spain and Brazil in March, 2009.[4] The album was the first album since Santana(band)Santana's Supernatural to top the Billboard 200 for eleven non-consecutive weeks.[5] It spent seven consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, the most weeks since Weathered by Creed in 2001-2002. It was also the first album by a female artist in country music history to log more than seven weeks at number one on the chart and the seventh longest-running number-one album by a female artist in Billboard 200 history.[6][7] Its lead single "Love Story" reached number one on both the Canadian and US country charts, and 6 singles were top 20 hits. Swift solely wrote 7 out of the 13 songs on the album and co-wrote the remaining 6 tracks. The album won Album of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2009.

Re-release

On September 10th it was confirmed that Taylor Swift will be re-releasing the album, entitled 'Fearless Platinum Edition', on October 27 2009. It is set to include six new songs, a DVD of photos, tour footage, and her music videos, including her comedy parody of 'Love Story' called 'Thug Story' with T-Pain from the CMT Music Awards.[8]

Reception

Fearless has received generally positive reviews from music critics. According to the music review aggregator Metacritic, it has received an average score of 73.[9] Newsday gave the album an "A" rating, calling it "[w]ise beyond her years".[10] James Reed of the Boston Globe gave the album a strong positive review saying the "Young country star's 'Fearless' proves she's just that, and more".[11] Allmusic quote the way Swift writes her music and how she matured into her new album: "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."[12] Rolling Stone magazine said that her "music mixes an almost impersonal professionalism - it's so rigorously crafted it sounds like it has been scientifically engineered in a hit factory - with confessions that are squirmingly intimate and true."[13] Fearless is listed as the 39th best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone.[14] In the Philippines, the album was also listed #3 in Top 10 Best-Selling Album overall in the year 2009, also the album became the number one album of 2009. It is speculated that Fearless will undoubtedly be a nominee for Album of the Year at the 2010 Grammys. [15]

Promotion

Swift performed "Love Story" at the CMA Awards, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, and on Saturday Night Live. She also performed "Forever & Always" which was written about ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas, "Love Story", "Picture to Burn", and "Change" on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, and aside from "Love Story", Swift also performed "Forever & Always" on Saturday Night Live. "White Horse", was played during the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy on Thursday, September 25, 2008. She performed "White Horse" at the "American Music Awards" and at the Grammy's Live Concert and "Fearless" on Late Show with David Letterman and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Swift performed the song "Fifteen" with Miley Cyrus at the 51st Grammy Awards on February 8, 2009. She went to the UK in February 2009 to promote her new single "Love Story". She then appeared on music/talk show T4, Loose Women, BBC Breakfast and appeared on many radio shows. On April 5, 2009, Swift performed "You're Not Sorry" at the "Academy of Country Music" awards show, where she won the Album of the Year and Crystal Milestone Award. Swift also performed "You Belong With Me" at the CMT Award, where she won both "Female Video of the Year" and "Video of the Year" with Love Story on June 16, 2009.

Tour

Swift is currently headlining her 50-city Fearless Tour in 2009. It officially began on April 23 in Evansville, Indiana, with special guests Kellie Pickler and Gloriana. "My favorite thing when I go to a concert is having lots of changing things to look at, so I've been working really hard to make this show as multi-dimensional as possible," Swift said in an announcement. According to the release, it will "feature an incredibly theatrical presentation of graphics, sets and visual elements designed by Swift herself. During each show, Swift will play five different guitars, as well as the piano. Multiple costume changes and a fairy-tale castle illuminated by more than a million lumens of light are just some of the highlights of the three-act show."[16] Most of her shows have sold out within hours. Tickets on sale for the May 22 Staples Center sold out in under 2 minutes and the August 27 Madison Square Garden sold out in less than 1 minute. Swift suggested while on a radio interview with Key 103 in Manchester, England that if Fearless is a success in the UK she will return in the fall for a UK leg of the tour. She then went on to play 2 one off dates at London's Shepherds Bush Empire on 6 and 7 May. In late June, she announced a new Fearless Tour date for Wembley Arena in London for November 23. Included in the tour is a stop at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, VA. The school won a performance with her as part of a promotional contest sponsored by Verizon.

Chart performance

First day sales of “Fearless” totalled 217,000,[17] with sales of 592,304 copies sold in the first week, 129,000 of them being digital downloads, the fourth biggest-week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking them in 2004.[18] The album debuted at number-one on the U.S. Billboard 200, U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums, Canadian Albums Chart, and Canadian Top Country Albums Chart. In its second week of release, the album dropped to number four. In the fifth week, The album made its ascent back to the number-one spot, where it stayed for the next seven weeks for a total of eight non-consecutive weeks at number-one, making it the longest-running album among the releases that topped the chart in 2008 and the first album by a female artist in country music history to log eight weeks at number-one on the Billboard 200.[5] It dropped to number two in its twelfth week, and in the next week it dropped further to number four, although it was the greatest gainer. In its 14th week, the album reclaimed the number-one position, spending a total of eleven weeks, the most weeks at the top since Santana's Supernatural remained atop the chart for twelve weeks. In its 15th week, it was bumped to the number two position by U2's No Line on the Horizon.[19][20][21] Fearless is the fifth longest-running number-one album by a female artist in the Billboard 200 history.[22] In addition she is the only singer to have achieved the longest-running album as a country female recording act in the Billboard 200 history.[23] The album has spent 37 weeks in the top ten on the Billboard 200, becoming the longest run for a country album in the top ten since Shania Twain's Come On Over, which had 53 weeks from 1997-1999.[24]

On July 3, 2009, it was announced by Yahoo! Music that Fearless was the top-selling album of the first half of 2009 in the United States.[25] In New Zealand, the album debuted at number two on March 16, 2009, jumping to number one the following week. The album was certified Gold after four weeks on the chart, selling over 7,500 copies. The album was then certified Platinum after seventeen weeks, selling over 15,000 copies.[26] In Australia, the album has been certified Platinum. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted strongly at number 5 and is currently placed strongly at number 11, so far spending ten consecutive weeks in the top 20. Whilst being interviewed on The Paul O'Grady Show in May 2009, she was presented with a Gold disc for sales of over 200,000 in the United Kingdom. On Tuesday September 8, 2009, it was announced that Taylor Swift's album sales in the U.S had passed the 10 Million mark in sales including 4,020,725+ copies of Fearless. [27][28][29][30]

Singles

North America, Philippines UK, Ireland, and Asia Europe Oceania Latin America Italy
"Love Story"
September 12, 2008
"Love Story"
March 2, 2009
"Love Story"
March 2, 2009
"Love Story"
February 13, 2009
"Love Story"
May 18, 2009
"Love Story"
February 13, 2009
"White Horse"
November 11, 2008
"Teardrops on My Guitar"
June 1, 2009[31]
"You Belong with Me"
"You Belong with Me"
"You Belong with Me"
July 6, 2009
"Our Song"
June 6, 2009[32]
"You Belong with Me"
April 14, 2009
"You Belong with Me"
September 14, 2009[31]
"Fifteen"
September 1, 2009
  • "Love Story" was the lead single from Fearless and was released in September, 2008 to the United States as the lead single. The single was not released to any other continents until Spring, 2009. The song became Taylor's first top 5 single on the US charts, and was her third non-consecutive #1 on the US country charts. The music video for "Love Story" made its premiere on Friday, September 12, 2008 at 8:30 P.M. EDT on CMT.[33] On 22 February 2009, "Love Story" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 22 on downloads alone. On March 1, 2009, "Love Story" reached its peak number 2, behind Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You". Swift is the first country singer to have a top 10 hit in the UK since Shania Twain's "Party for Two", which charted at number 10 in 2004. The single stayed at number 2 for two weeks and in the top 5 for five weeks. Seven weeks into its release the single is still charted in the top 10. In the Philippines, "Love Story" hit the top spot for eight consecutive weeks in a popular music channel, MYX and became a nationwide favorite. "Love Story" is still in some radio charts in the Philippines, spending 22 weeks.[34]
  • "White Horse" was the second official US single from Fearless and was released in November, 2008 to the US as the second official single. The single has yet to be released to any other countries except Australia and the Philippines. When it was released to Australia, it was released as a single only two days after the release of the first official Australian single, Love Story. "White Horse" was next to "Love Story" for being popular in the Philippines' chart but only reaching the #2 spot for three consecutive weeks against David Archuleta's "Touch My Hand". The single was also very successful on the US charts, like its predecessor, but became successful before its single release, being a fan favorite. The song was not as successful as "Love Story", however, and did not became a #1 on the country charts, while still reaching the top 3. The single is presumed to be a US and Australia only single, due to having no planned releases anywhere else, and the upcoming single release of "You Belong With Me". White Horse Also Reached Number 60 on the UK Singles Chart but was not an official single. It charted one week after "Love Story" but only lasted one week on the chart.
  • "You Belong with Me" was the third official US single from Fearless and was released on April 21, 2009. The song will also serve as the third official single for the UK. It will be released in the UK on September 14, 2009. The music video was premiered on VH1's Top 20 Countdown on July 4, 2009 and debuted on the countdown the following week. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Swift's highest charting single to date, just above "Love Story", which peaked at #4. In the Philippines, "You Belong with Me" got the #1 spot in the MYX chart since "White Horse" didn't reach #1; defeating David Archuleta's "Touch My Hand" which stayed on top for eight weeks like "Love Story". This is also the second song of Taylor Swift from the album that reached the top spot.
  • " Fifteen" was announced to be the fourth official US single from Fearless and will be released for airplay on August 31, 2009 according to the MusicRow website. The single officially released on September 1, 2009.
Digital singles

Four digital-only singles were released from the album, and all reached the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart: "Change" (#10), "Fearless" (#9), "You're Not Sorry" (#11) and "You Belong with Me" (#12). The song "White Horse", without a single release and no promotion, debuted at #13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. With "White Horse", Swift made "a calendar-year record for any artist in the 50-year history of the chart - she is now tied for second place with Mariah Carey and the Beatles for the most top 20 debuts in a career. One more new entry inside this elite tier will put her in a three-way tie for first place with Janet Jackson and Madonna."[35]

  • In its debut week, seven songs in total on Fearless were charted on Billboard Hot 100, tying Swift with Hannah Montana for the most by a female artist in a single week. With "White Horse" charted at #13, this gave Swift her sixth top 20 debut of 2008, a calendar year record for any artist in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. Of the 13 tracks on Fearless, 11 have already spent time on the Hot 100.[18]
  • On the country charts, "Change" reached #57 based on unsolicited airplay, overlapping with the first country release, "Love Story", which became her third number one hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. Following it on the country charts was "White Horse".

Track listing

Hidden messages

Specific letters were capitalized in the lyrics in her cover booklet, spelling out hidden messages for each song. The messages were:

  1. "Fearless": I Loved You Before I Met You
  2. "Fifteen": I Cried While Recording This
  3. "Love Story": Someday I'll Find This
  4. "Hey Stephen": Love and Theft
  5. "White Horse": All I Ever Wanted Was the Truth
  6. "You Belong with Me": Love Is Blind So You Couldn't See Me
  7. "Breathe": I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry
  8. "Tell Me Why": Guess I Was Fooled by Your Smile
  9. "You're Not Sorry": She Can Have You
  10. "The Way I Loved You": We Can't Go Back
  11. "Forever And Always": If You Play These Games, We're Both Going to Lose
  12. "The Best Day": God Bless Andrea Swift
  13. "Change": You Made Things Change for Me
  14. "Our Song": Live In Love
  15. "Teardrops on My Guitar": He Will Never Know
  16. "Should've Said No": Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam

Personnel

As listed on backing card.[40]

Strings composed, performed and arranged by Jonathan Yudkin.

Finger snaps on "Hey Stephen" by Andrew Bowers, Nicholas Brown, Carolyn Cooper, Burlas Cox, Lauren Elcan, and Martina McBride's two daughters, Delaney and Emma McBride.

Production

  • Produced By Nathan Chapman & Taylor Swift
  • Mixed By Chad Carlson, Nathan Chapman & Justin Niebank
  • Mix Assistants: Steve Blackmon, Drew Bollman, Todd Tidwell & Shawn Daughtry
  • Engineering: Chad Carlson, Kyle Ford, Kyle Ginther, Matt Legge, Mark Petaccia, Todd Tidwell
  • Mastering: Hank Williams

Chart positions

The album has been on the U.S. Billboard 200 for 43 weeks (November 2008 - September 10, 2009. All consecutive weeks in the top 12, and is currently at #9.

Chart (2008/2009) Peak
position 		Certification Total sales
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[41] 2 3x Platinum[42] 210,000+[42]
Australian Country Chart[43] 1
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) 12 55,000[citation needed]
Canadian Albums Chart 1 3x Platinum[44] 320,000+[45]
Canadian Top Country Albums 1
Dutch Albums Chart[46] 10 25,000[citation needed]
German Albums Chart 6 40,000[citation needed]
Greek International Albums Chart[47] 11 35,000[citation needed]
Irish Albums Chart 2 40,000[citation needed]
Oricon Albums Chart(Japan) 4 120,000[citation needed]
Polish Albums Chart 13 25,000[citation needed]
Mexican Albums Chart[48] 9 50,000[citation needed]
New Zealand Albums Chart 1 4x Platinum 65,000+[26]
Norwegian Albums Chart[46] 3 Platinum [49] 30,000+[50]
Spanish Album Chart[51] 11 15,000
U.S. Billboard 200[18] 1 4x Platinum 4,020,725[52]
UK Albums Chart 2 Gold[53] 100,000+[54]
Swedish Albums Chart 5 — 15,000

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album (first run)
November 29, 2008 - December 6, 2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album (second run)
December 27, 2008 - February 7, 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album (third run)
February 28, 2009 - March 14, 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Top Country Albums number-one album (first run)
November 29, 2008 - February 14, 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Feel That Fire by Dierks Bentley
 Top Country Albums number-one album (second run)
February 28, 2009 - April 4, 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Top Country Albums number-one album (third run)
August 1 - August 22, 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Top Country Albums number-one album (fourth run)
September 19, 2009 		Succeeded by
incumbent
Preceded by Canadian Albums Chart Number-one album
November 29, 2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by New Zealand RIANZ albums chart number-one album
March 23, 2009 		Succeeded by

Release history

Country Date
United States November 11, 2008
Canada
Australia November 15, 2008
Australia (Limited Edition) February 27, 2009
Ireland March 6, 2009
Italy[55]
Taiwan
United Kingdom March 8, 2009
Philippines
India[56] Indian Edition March 2009
New Zealand March 9, 2009
Russia March 9, 2009
Sweden March 11, 2009
Belgium
Mexico March 17, 2009
Europe March 20, 2009
Brazil March 31, 2009
Spain
Germany May 15, 2009
Japan June 24, 2009
France[57] July 20, 2009

References

  1. ^ http://www.musicrow.com/calendars-2/single-releases/
  2. ^ "Week Ending April 26, 2009: 3 Million Downloads In Record Time". Yahoo Music Blog (written by Paul Grein). 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
  3. ^ Grein, Paul (2009-08-05). "Week Ending Aug. 2, 2009: Not Since "Double Fantasy"". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
  4. ^ http://www.universalmusic.es/artista/taylorswift/biografia
  5. ^ a b http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/swift-makes-it-lucky-seven-atop-billboard-1003932876.story
  6. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/chart-beat-bonus/chart-beat-flo-rida-atlantic-mac-mcanally-1003943129.story
  7. ^ "Week Ending Jan. 11, 2009: Eat Your Heart Out, Loretta Lynn". Yahoo Music Blog (written by Paul Grein). 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  8. ^ www.facebook.com/taylorswift
  9. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/swifttaylor/fearless
  10. ^ http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/ny-ettaylorswift1111,0,3028872.story
  11. ^ http://www.boston.com/ae/music/cd_reviews/articles/2008/11/10/rise_and_shine/
  12. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Fearless". All Music.
  13. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/taylorswift/albums/album/23658659/review/23947375/fearless
  14. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/24958695/albums_of_the_year/31
  15. ^ http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/40484/week-ending-aug-9-2009-better-than-a-crystal-ball/
  16. ^ http://www.countrystandardtime.com/news/newsitem.asp?xid=2531
  17. ^ Caulfield, Keith (2008-11-12). "Taylor Swift On Track For No. 1 Debut". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
  18. ^ a b c Cohen, Jonathan (2008-11-19). "Taylor Swift Soars To No. 1 Debut". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
  19. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/u2-tops-the-billboard-200-1003950115.story
  20. ^ Katie Hasty (2009-02-18). "Swift Back To No. 1 As Plant/Krauss, Coldplay Soar". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
  21. ^ Katie Hasty (February 25, 2009). "Taylor Swift Remains Atop Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  22. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/thisday/chart-beat-miley-cyrus-billy-ray-cyrus-taylor-1003948403.story
  23. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/chart-beat-bonus/chart-beat-ai-taylor-swift-annie-lennox-1003945958.story
  24. ^ Aug. 9, 2009: Better Than A Crystal Ball Yahoo Music Blog (written by Paul Grein): Retrived August 12, 2009
  25. ^ http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/35920/chart-watch-extra-the-top-10-songs-and-albums-at-mid-year/
  26. ^ a b http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart_facts.asp
  27. ^ http://bigmachinerecords.com/taylorswift/index.cfm?id=33&viewStory=226
  28. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS238032+08-Sep-2009+PRN20090908/
  29. ^ http://wcharts.blogspot.com/search/label/Billboard%20200
  30. ^ http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/39922/week-ending-july-19-2009-daughtry-makes-idol-history/
  31. ^ a b http://www.radio1.gr/music/forthcoming_uk_singles.htm
  32. ^ http://www.radiowebitalia.it/notizia.php?id=1244127000
  33. ^ "Taylor Swift Premiering New Video on CMT". CMT.com. September 12, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
  34. ^ UK TOP 40: BBC Radio 1 Chart Show
  35. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSTRE4AK18H20081121
  36. ^ Taylor Swift to Re-Release 'Fearless' With New Songs
  37. ^ http://www.billboard.com/news/taylor-swift-to-re-release-fearless-with-1004011180.story#/news/taylor-swift-to-re-release-fearless-with-1004011180.story
  38. ^ "Fearless (Japan Import)". HMV. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  39. ^ http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=304891651&s=143444
  40. ^ Fearless (Media notes). Big Machine Records. 2008. {{cite AV media notes}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |bandname= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |publisherid= ignored (help)
  41. ^ http://ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display_album.asp?chart=1G50
  42. ^ a b http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display_physical_album.asp?chart=1A50
  43. ^ http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display_country.asp?chart=1F20
  44. ^ "CRIA - Audio and Video Certification January 2009". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
  45. ^ http://www.cria.ca/goldplat.php%7Ctitle=CRIA
  46. ^ a b http://acharts.us/album/40447
  47. ^ http://www.ifpi.gr/chart01.htm
  48. ^ Top 100 Albums in Mexico - 10th April 2008
  49. ^ [1]
  50. ^ [2]
  51. ^ http://www.promusicae.org/listassemanales/albumes/top%20100%20albumes_w15.2009.pdf
  52. ^ http://www.billboard.com/news/taylor-swift-to-re-release-fearless-with-1004011180.story#/news/taylor-swift-to-re-release-fearless-with-1004011180.story/
  53. ^ http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx
  54. ^ http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx
  55. ^ [3]
  56. ^ [4]
  57. ^ [5]
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